Cinema Releases - The Chambermaid
Eve is a conscientious hotel chambermaid. Punctual and enterprising, paying close attention to the details, she hopes her impeccable professionalism will bring her promotion to the Hotel Presidentes exclusive penthouse floor. Long, laborious shifts prevent Eve from caring for her child while she helps guests with their own children. Avilés records her day-to-day activities, from the detail of ensuring rooms are immaculately presented each morning to enrolling in the hotels adult education programme, which will help her chances of promotion. When things dont result as planned, Eve transforms her lonely explorations and newfound courage into the necessary strength to face a life outside the glimmering tower.
Avilés impressive debut profits from a spare script and nuanced direction, while Gabriela Cartols breakout performance brings charisma and warmth to Eve. With its dry humour and sly observations about class, privilege and exploitation, The Chambermaid is a confident, compelling and deeply resonant piece of filmmaking.
World Premiere Toronto International Film Festival 2018 Discovery
European Premiere San Sebastian International Film festival 2018 - New Directors Competition
Mexico's International Film Oscar entry
Winner Marrakech International Film Festival - Prix du Jury
Winner Palm Springs International Film Festival - Cine Latino Award
Winner Portland International Film festival - Audience Award
Length 102 min
Original language Spanish
Week Commencing 26th Jul Also available on Curzon Home Cinema & BFI Player
Curzon Bloomsbury | Brunswick Centre | London WC1N 1AW | 0333 321 0104 | all week |
ICA Cinema | The Mall | London SW1Y 5AH | 020 7930 3647 | all week |
Barbican Cinema | Beech St | London EC2Y 4DS | 020 7638 8891 | all week |
HMV Curzon Wimbledon | 23 The Broadway |
London SW19 1RE |
0333 321 0104 | all week |
HOME | 2 Tony Wilson Place | Manchester M15 4FN | 0161 200 1500 | all week |
GFT |
12 Rose St |
Glasgow G3 6RB |
0141 332 6535 |
all week |
Arthouse Crouch End | 159a Tottenham Lane |
London N8 9BT |
020 8245 3099 |
all week |
IFI | 6 Eustace St |
Dublin 2 |
01 679 3477 |
all week |
Week Commencing 2nd Aug Also available on Curzon Home Cinema & BFI Player
Curzon Bloomsbury | Brunswick Centre | London WC1N 1AW | 0333 321 0104 | all week |
Barbican Cinema | Beech St | London EC2Y 4DS | 020 7638 8891 | all week |
ICA Cinema | The Mall | London SW1Y 5AH | 020 7930 3647 | all week |
HMV Curzon Wimbledon | 23 The Broadway | London SW19 1RE | 0333 321 0104 | all week |
Tyneside |
10 Pilgrim St |
Newcastle NE1 6QG |
0191 228 5500 |
all week |
HOME | 2 Tony Wilson Place | Manchester M15 4FN | 0161 200 1500 | all week |
Arthouse Crouch End | 159a Tottenham Lane | London N8 9BT | 020 8245 3099 | all week |
IFI | 6 Eustace St | Dublin 2 | 01 679 3477 | all week |
Chapter |
Market Rd |
Cardiff CF5 1QE |
029 2030 4400 |
all week |
Castle Cinema, Hackney | 64-66 Brooksby's Walk | London E9 6DA | all week |
Week Commencing 9th Aug Also available on Curzon Home Cinema & BFI Player
Curzon Bloomsbury | Brunswick Centre | London WC1N 1AW | 0333 321 0104 | all week |
Barbican Cinema | Beech St | London EC2Y 4DS | 020 7638 8891 | 9-13 Aug |
HMV Curzon Wimbledon | 23 The Broadway | London SW19 1RE | 0333 321 0104 | all week |
ICA Cinema | The Mall | London SW1Y 5AH | 020 7930 3647 | all week |
Showroom |
15 Paternoster Row |
Sheffield S1 2BX |
0114 275 7727 |
all week |
DCA |
152 Nethergate |
Dundee DD1 4DY |
01382 432444 |
9-13 Aug |
HOME | 2 Tony Wilson Place | Manchester M15 4FN | 0161 200 1500 | all week |
Arthouse Crouch End | 159a Tottenham Lane | London N8 9BT | 020 8245 3099 | 9,11,12 Aug |
Tyneside | 10 Pilgrim St | Newcastle NE1 6QG | 0191 228 5500 | shows tbc |
IFI | 6 Eustace St | Dublin 2 | 01 679 3477 | all week |
Week Commencing 16th Aug Also available on Curzon Home Cinema & BFI Player
Curzon Bloomsbury | Brunswick Centre | London WC1N 1AW | 0333 321 0104 | all week |
ICA Cinema | The Mall | London SW1Y 5AH | 020 7930 3647 | all week |
Barbican Cinema | Beech St | London EC2Y 4DS | 020 7638 8891 | 17,19,20 Aug |
Showroom | 15 Paternoster Row | Sheffield S1 2BX | 0114 275 7727 | all week |
Mareel Shetland | North Ness | Lerwick ZE1 0WQ | 01595 745500 | 18, 21 Aug |
Chichester Cinema | New Park | Chichester, PO19 7XY | 01243 786650 |
20 Aug |
Capitol | North St |
Horsham RH12 1RG |
01403 750220 |
18.20.22 Aug |
Tyneside | 10 Pilgrim St | Newcastle NE1 6QG | 0191 228 5500 | 16 & 19 Aug |
Palace | Harbour St |
Broadstairs CT10 1ET |
01843 865726 |
17,20,22 Aug |
Week Commencing 23rd Aug Also available on Curzon Home Cinema & BFI Player
Curzon Bloomsbury | Brunswick Centre | London WC1N 1AW | 0333 321 0104 | all week |
ICA Cinema | The Mall | London SW1Y 5AH | 020 7930 3647 | |
Watershed | 1 Canons Road, | Bristol, BS1 5TX | 0117 929 5100 | all week |
Filmhouse |
88 Lothian Rd |
Edinburgh EH3 9BZ |
0131 228 2688 |
23-26 Aug |
Showroom | 15 Paternoster Row | Sheffield S1 2BX | 0114 275 7727 | all week |
Genesis | 93-95 Mile End Rd | London E1 4UJ | 020 7780 2000 | 27th Aug |
Brewery Arts | 122a Highgate |
Kendal LA9 4HE |
01539 725133 |
27th Aug |
Week Commencing 30th Aug Also available on Curzon Home Cinema & BFI Player
Curzon Bloomsbury | Brunswick Centre | London WC1N 1AW | 0333 321 0104 | all week |
Prince Charles | 7 Leicester Place | London WC2H 7BY | 020 7474 3654 | 30/8 ,2-4/9 |
Filmhouse |
Derngate |
Northampton NN1 1TU |
01604 624811 |
30/8, 2/9 |
Firstsite | Lewis Gdns, High St | Colchester CO1 1JH | 01206 713700 | 3rd Sept |
Week Commencing 6th Sept
Broadway |
14-18 Broad St |
Nottingham NG1 3AL |
0115 952 6611 |
6-8 Sept |
Gulbenkian |
University of Kent |
Canterbury CT2 7NB |
01227 769075 |
8th Sept |
Curzon Clevedon |
46 Old Church Rd |
Clevedon BS21 6NN |
01275 871000 |
8th Sept |
Week Commencing 13th Sept
Lila Avilés studied Direction and Performing Arts with some of the leading theatrical figures in México such as Martin Acosta, Sandra Felix and Juliana Faesler. She also studied film writing with Beatriz Novaro and Paula Marcovich. After her beginnings as a theater actress she moved into directing. Her work as a director includes Gardenia Club, Microdermoabrasión (National Theater Award), Antígona and The Chambermaid that would become the inspiration for her first feature film. She has also directed the operas Cossi Fan Tutte and Alcina by Mozart and Händel respectively. Lilas latest play as a producer and actress, Nothing and Everything by Janne Teller, opened in January 2018 at the UNAM theater in Mexico City.
2018 THE CHAMBERMAID (La Camarista)
2017 NENA (documentary)
2016 DEJAVU (short)
CAST | |
Eve | Gabriela Cartol |
Minitoy | Teresa Sánchez |
CREW | |
Director | Lila Avilés |
Producers | Limerencia (Lila Avilés & Tatiana Graullera) |
FROPOCINE México | |
Bad Boy Billy Production (Axel Shalson) | |
L A Panda Productions (Jana Diaz-Juhl & Pau Brunet) | |
Bambú Audiovisual | |
Scriptwriters | Lila Avilés and Juan Carlos Marquéz |
Cinematography | Carlos Rossini |
Editor | Omar Guzmán |
Sound Design | Guido Berenblum |
Production design | Vika Fleita |
Mexico 2018 | |
98 mins - HD - 1:2.35 - 5.1 | |
Spanish with English subtitles | |
★★★★★
'This quiet profile of Mexico's working class is close to perfect.'
Tim Robey, The Daily Telegraph
★★★★★
The Chambermaid is every bit as cinematic as any Fast & Furious flick. No trace of the literary or theatrical remains in Aviléss long takes and snatched, blank dialogue. The picture wraps a whole world around us. A perfect, cinematic sketch of a working life
Donald Clarke, The Irish Times
★★★★
Film of the Week -' Lila Avilés is the Mexican actor-turned-director who makes a terrifically assured feature debut with The Chambermaid: an eerily atmospheric, poignant, disquieting movie about 21st-century luxury and the invisible servant class required to maintain it. It is a film to put alongside Alfonso Cuaróns Roma, in that its about the emotional cost of submission.'
Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
★★★★ 'She doesnt rescue anyone and she isnt rescued. How refreshing....wry, delicately austere debut.'
Charlotte O'Sullivan, The Standard
Film of the Week - Debut director Lila Avilés and lead actress Gabriela Cartol have crafted a subtle and compelling story about a young hotel worker, with wry humour and a keen understanding of exploitative labour economics. Lucrecia Martels regular sound designer Guido Berenblum creates a sonic poetry to accompany the visuals. Cartol is hugely impressive as the enterprising and unassuming Eve, with her keen smile and calm demeanour.
Maria Delgado, Sight & Sound
'Maid in Mexico - Bored of brain-dead summer blockbusters yet? Of course you are. So why not skip the multiplex, hit the art house and watch The Chambermaid, the critically adored latest from frighteningly talented young Mexican director Lila Avilés?
ES Magazine
★★★★
A poignant portrait of a have not, sensitively played by Cartol as a woman slowly sinking into non-existence. Ian Freer,
EMPIRE magazine
★★★★
Offering more questions than answers but strong world-building and beautifully drawn characters
Owen Richards,The i
A cool, calm and collected film about a subject often spoken about loudly and angrily. A young hotel maid is the captivating subject of Mexican filmmaker Lila Avilés bone-dry social satire.
LITTLE WHITE LIES
★★★★
'Due to the mesmerising ways of Eve its gentle and meticulous approach in shooting the daily drudge makes it a weirdly relaxing and fulfilling cinema experience'
Dan Carrier, Camen New Journal
Mark KERMODE BBC SOUNDS
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0006v91
The Chambermaid is a great analogy for modern Mexican and Latin American society showcasing the severe disparity between the leisurely lifestyles of the affluent guests and the poor staff working ungodly hours to support and provide basic necessities for their families.
Rocio Cadena, SOUNDS & COLOURS
Read Interview with Lila Aviles
Aurelie Knecht, SOUNDS & COLOURS
'Lila Aviléss modest and miraculous first feature finds pathos and a hint of magic in the routines of a young hotel worker.'
...Quietly stunning...it is a work of closely observed workplace realism, but at times it achieves the strangeness and intensity of science fiction.' Even when nothing much is happening, there is the lurking sense that anything might.'
"The Chambermaid brims with empathy and life."
Robert Abele, The Los Angeles Times
A beautifully observed film of rich detail...The Chambermaid salutes the invisible women caretakers who are the hardworking backbone of society.
Minimalist yet sumptuous
Kate Erbland, IndieWire
Gives Powerful Voice to Invisible Laborers.
Actress Gabriela Cartol and first-time director Lila Avilés bring a hotel maids dreams and ambitions to vivid life.
'Marvellously honest sympathetically achieved. The Wrap
'Avilés refuses to present us with an upward trajectory, to allow Eve to break from the hermetic, albeit multiple, worlds of the hotel. In doing so, The Chambermaid exposes not only the often-occluded labour of the hotel chambermaid, but also the restricted field of agency and the precarious alignments these conditions of labour can produce.'
Hannah Paveck, Another Gaze
'Slow, steady, and with an exacting eye for detail, Lila Aviles' The Chambermaid is a painfully astute observational drama...'
Monica Castello, Rogerebert.com
A fascinating observational drama and occasional allegory for the haves and have-nots.
Nuanced and natural, it has a quiet and modest power A character study free of pretense.
John Fink, The Film Stage
Coolly unsentimental to the point of being glacial, but possessed of a deadpan wit and downplayed humanistic warmth of its own.
Jonathan Romney, Screen InternationalTrailer on YouTube - link or embed
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