LINGUA FRANCA

Directed by Isabel Sandoval
2019, 95 mins
Sunday 7th Feb, 7pm
Only Available in the UK

Olivia, a Filipino transwoman living in Brooklyn, goes through each day with the agonising threat of deportation weighing on her shoulders. When not surreptitiously working as a caregiver for Olga, an elderly Russian woman in the early stages of dementia, Olivia spends her time documenting a staged relationship with the man who has agreed to marry her so she can obtain legal status in the US. Having been disappointed before, she worries that the nuptials will never materialise. One day Olivia meets Olga’s grandson Alex, a despondent slaughterhouse worker battling his own inner demons and over time the pair develop a strong connection. When plans for her Green Card unsurprisingly fall through, Olivia is left feeling hopeless about her future. But perhaps Alex can offer her the security she so desperately needs? Both a beautifully performed character study and an incisive critique on race and immigration in Trump’s America, writer-director Isabel Sandoval (who also takes on the role of Olivia) has crafted a deeply moving work of great intimacy and insight. Deftly exploring complex themes around identity, sexual desire and structural disempowerment, Lingua Franca is a timely portrait of struggle and of hope. (BFI)

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