Interviews

Interview: Lila Avilés – The Chambermaid (La Camarista) | 2018 Marrakech Intl. Film Festival

Published on June 26, 2019

Going beyond dirty towels and fully stocked mini bars, Lila Avilés’ The Chambermaid shines a white sheets bright light on an a workforce that are mostly invisible. Perhaps a grandchild to Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, this debut film is a container piece — with an aestheticism and discourse that evokes a certain hamster wheel non-progression for more than just the film’s central character. Influenced by photographer Sophie Calle’s book Hotel, Avilés offers a pensive look at how it feels to be below the ground floor and going up or down. I had the chance to sit down with the filmmaker at the 2018 Marrakech Intl. Film Festival.

Eric Lavallée

Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).