La Niña Santa

Lucrecia Martel

IndieLisboa 2004 •

Argentina, Fiction, 2004, 106′

Winter in La Cienaga. After choir rehearsals, the girls get together in the parish church to discuss faith and vocation. Amalia and Josefina are sixteen. In between the discussions, they whisper secretly about kissing. Josefina is from a conservative provincial family. Not far from Josefina’s house is the Hotel Termas owned by Amalia’s family, where she lives with her mother, Helena, a divorcée, and the rest of her family. A chance encounter between Amalia and Dr Jano, who is attending a medical conference at the hotel, allows the young girl to at last find her vocation – to save a man from sin. Dr Jano will be caught up in a web of good intentions. The respected provincial doctor’s world is on the brink of collapse.