Lunar Lunacy: Camila Beltrán Begins Production on “Mi Bestia”

A Colombian filmmaker we’ve been keeping track of every since she grabbed some production fund coin (winner of the Arte Kino Prize) at the Europe-Latin America Co-production Forum at San Sebastián, we’re pleased to learn (via the Cineuropa folks) that production has indeed began on a Camila Beltrán‘s feature film debut. A French-Colombian production (that was originally prepped for 2021) is being coined as a Carrie meets Martel’s The Holy Child. The alluring sounding Mi Bestia is going to shoot for the entire month in Bogotá with Beltrán teaming with cinematographer Sylvain Verdet (Critics’ Week selected Goutte d’or – read review). This is being produced by Films Grand Huit’s Lionel Massol and Pauline Seigland along with prod company Bells Medios.

Written by Camila Beltran and Silvina Schnicer (a co-director on the TIFF-preemed Tigre – see trailer below), this is set in Bogotá in 1996. A rumor is circulating: during a lunar eclipse that will take place in a few days, the devil will arrive. The population is frightened. Mila, 13, is troubled by this prophecy. The world around her seems stranger, and Mila feels that she herself is changing. Could she not be the cursed being that has been foretold?