Film Festivals

Off Set 2018 TIFF Portrait Series: The Chambermaid

Published on September 18, 2018

This year’s TIFF presented two portraits about Mexico’s working class. We have Alfonso Cuaron’s take and then we have theatre director turned filmmaker Lila Avilés‘ directorial fiction debut in The Chambermaid (La camarista). The Discovery programme (will move onto the San Sebastian Film Festival) offering showcases Gabriela Cartol (she is having a remarkable 2018 with several titles to be released). This is inspired by Avilés’ theater play of the same name—in turn inspired by Sophie Calle’s 1980 artistic project The Hotel.

Lila Avilés, THE CHAMBERMAID / Photo © Marie France L’Ecuyer IONCINEMA

Gabriela Cartol, THE CHAMBERMAID / Photo © Marie France L’Ecuyer IONCINEMA

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).