Interview: Agustina San Martín – To Kill The Beast

An already celebrated filmmaker (and cinematographer) on the fest circuit due to her short films that landed in Berlinale and Cannes, Matar a la bestia (To Kill the Beast) receives it world premiere launch at this year’s Toronto Intl. Film Festival. It’s a moody, atmospheric piece of cinema – a sensorial dive into a double search of sorts – peering into lost family and one’s identity. Argentinean filmmaker Agustina San Martín utilizes the gaze — generously creative degrees (think early Julio Medem).

A debut that explores the central young adult character through her relationships and set of fears, the text then takes hold of what is lurking out there in the woods – man or beast and tames it. I had the chance to sit down with the filmmaker in Toronto – only had the chance to touch upon some brief points — but there is a lot of matter in this film.