Known for her poetic visuals, Swedish-Costa Rican filmmaker Nathalie Álvarez Mesén made her first steps onto the film scene with her first trio of shorts in Filip (2015), Asunder (2015) – which was showcased at the Telluride Film Festival’s Calling Cards program curated by Barry Jenkins and she co-wrote Mariana Saffon’s 2020 Entre Tú y Milagros which received the Orizzonti Award for Best Short Film at the Venice Film Festival. Her breakout feature debut Clara Sola was met with critical acclaim at the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes 2021. Steadily moving forward with her sophomore feature working in the realms of decolonial horror with some impressive names both in front of and behind the camera, here is everything we know so far … for Nathalie Álvarez Mesén‘s The Wolf Will Tear Your Immaculate Hands.
In development since it was presented at the Torino ScriptLab 2021, the English language, Swedish-British-Beglian-Icelandic co-production would see Icelandic scribe Sjón (2019’s Lamb) join the project towards the end of the writing phase with full pre-production set for same time last year. Production took place in Belfast (to present the US Pacific Northwest of the 1880s) in December.
Co-written with Icelandic poet Sjón, in the 19th-century rural landscape of the Pacific Northwest, Isabel, a Native American governess (Contois), is sent to the home of an English family, expected to instil Christian values in their two young girls (Carmichael, LaTorre), following the tragic death of their mother. The upcoming arranged marriage of the eldest daughter, the father’s obsession with hunting wolves, and the unfolding of inexplicable events raise tensions in the household. Isabel, herself grappling with her own roots, starts to question the education she’s instilling in the young girls.
Alexander Skarsgård toplines. We also find Darla Contois, Pernilla August, Bronte Carmichael, Lily LaTorre, and Forrest Goodluck.
Hobab’s Nima Yousefi returns to produce with Mesén, and is joined by Anne-Laure Guégan, Emily Morgan, Géraldine Sprimont, Anton Máni Svansson and Alli McConnell. the project saw master cinematographer Hélène Louvart join the team. We also find Megan McCrea as the Art Director and Costume Designer Margrét Einarsdóttir (Lamb). Production Designer duties go to Lina Nordqvist and Ruben De Gheselle is the Composer.
Production began in December so we feel that the earliest major film fest entry could be a Venice followed by Toronto, San Sebastián and London BFI.
