The Movie Teller

European stars Bérénice Bejo and Daniel Brühl headline this drama from Danish director Lone Scherfig (An Education) centred around a girl whose gift for recounting events in Hollywood movies transforms her family’s fortunes in rural 1960s Chile.

María Margarita is the youngest of four siblings in a family living in a mining town in the Atacama Desert in Chile. The most special time of the week for this family is Sunday, when they all go to the movies to enjoy stories that let them escape their everyday lives by transporting them to other worlds.

The girl’s parents soon realise that the little girl has a very special gift: an almost uncanny ability to recount movies. The girl’s extraordinary talent will spread throughout the village, changing the fortunes of her family as the country is transformed forever.

“It’s just a lovely film, and it really is about how storytelling and movies in particular can help take us away from our lives for a little while.” ~Dan Slevin, RNZ