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“Sublime,” “meditative and deeply romantic” UTAMA opens Friday the Royal. Plus: Current & coming competitors for the Best International Film Oscar.

November 9, 2022 by Jordan Deglise Moore

Winner of the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize this year at Sundance, Utama is set in the arid Bolivian highlands and follows an elderly Quechua couple that has been living the same daily routine for years. While he takes their small herd of llamas out to graze, she keeps house and walks for miles with the other local women to fetch precious water. When an uncommonly long drought threatens everything they know, Virginio and Sisa must decide whether to stay and maintain their traditional way of life or admit defeat and move to the city with their descendants. Their dilemma is precipitated by the arrival of their grandson Clever, who comes to visit with news. The three of them must face, each in their own way, the effects of a changing environment, the importance of tradition, and the meaning of life itself. (Watch the trailer.)

This visually jaw-dropping debut feature by photographer-turned-filmmaker Alejandro Loayza Grisi is lensed by award-winning cinematographer Barbara Alvarez (Lucretia Martel’s The Headless Woman).

We open Utama Friday at the Royal. Loayza Grisi and producer Santiago Loayza Grisi will participate in Q&As after the 7:30 PM screenings on Friday and Saturday, November 11 and 12. Moderators: Friday – Carlos Aguilar (Los Angeles Times, New York Times); Saturday – Katie Walsh (Los Angeles Times, The Wrap).

“Sublime. From the breathtaking opening shot… the film looks unlike anything else.” – Variety

“Meditative and deeply romantic. Rarely has the [climate] crisis been addressed as organically—or with quite so many llamas.” – RogerEbert.com

“Visually stunning… combines magical realism with gorgeously precise cinematography. The images conjured in Utama momentarily let us into the language of the unknown, of what we can not comprehend unless we are as in tune with the land as those whose existence is so deeply tied to it.” – IndieWire

Utama is one of several Best International Oscar competitors that we’re already screening, with more to come, including:

Holy Spider (Denmark)
Decision to Leave (South Korea) This one ends Thursday, though we’ll probably bring it back if it gets an Oscar nomination.
EO (Poland)
Return to Seoul (Cambodia)
Corsage (Austria)
Alcarras (Spain)
Last Film Show (India)
Cinema Sabaya (Israel)
BARDO, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths (Mexico)
Saint Omer (France)
Hirokazu Koreeda’s Broker will not be Japan’s submission but we’re going to show it anyway, of course!

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Filed Under: Featured Films, Featured Post, Filmmaker in Person, Films, News, Press, Q&A's, Royal, Theater Buzz

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Tickets: http://laemmle.com/film/thursday-murder-club | Subscribe: http://bit.ly/3b8JTym | Based on Richard Osman’s international best-selling novel of the same name, The Thursday Murder Club follows four irrepressible retirees - Elizabeth (Helen Mirren), Ron (Pierce Brosnan), Ibrahim (Ben Kingsley) and Joyce (Celia Imrie) - who spend their time solving cold case murders for fun. When an unexplained death occurs on their own doorstep, their causal sleuthing takes a thrilling turn as they find themselves with a real whodunit on their hands. Directed by Chris Columbus, the film is the latest to be produced through the Netflix and Amblin Entertainment partnership

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RELEASE DATE: 8/29/2025
Director: Chris Columbus
Cast: Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, Celia Imrie, David Tennant, Jonathan Pryce, Naomi Ackie, Daniel Mays, Richard E. Grant

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Tickets: http://laemmle.com/film/k-pop-demon-hunters | Subscribe: http://bit.ly/3b8JTym | When they aren't selling out stadiums, K-pop superstars Rumi, Mira and Zoey use their secret identities as badass demon hunters to protect their fans from an ever-present supernatural threat. Together, they must face their biggest enemy yet – an irresistible rival boy band of demons in disguise.

Tickets: http://laemmle.com/film/k-pop-demon-hunters

RELEASE DATE: 6/20/2025

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ABOUT LAEMMLE: Since 1938, Laemmle [Theatres] has been showing the finest independent, arthouse, and international films.

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Tickets: http://laemmle.com/film/lost-starlight | Subscribe: http://bit.ly/3b8JTym | In 2050 Seoul, an astronaut dreaming of Mars and a musician with a broken dream find each other among the stars, guided by their hopes and love for one another.

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RELEASE DATE: 5/30/2025
Director: Han Ji-won
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ABOUT LAEMMLE: Since 1938, Laemmle [Theatres] has been showing the finest independent, arthouse, and international films.

Subscribe to Laemmle's E-NEWSLETTER: http://bit.ly/3y1YSTM
Visit Laemmle.com: http://laemmle.com
Like LAEMMLE on FACEBOOK: http://bit.ly/3Qspq7Z
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Recent Posts

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