Nicaraguan Director Laura Baumeister Breaks Down Toronto Discovery Title ‘Daughter of Rage’
Holly Jones A vast landscape of refuse and the community that survives by salvaging its waste is central to the plot in the debut feature from Nicaraguan writer-director Laura Baumeister. “Daughter of Rage,” which world premiered at the Toronto Film Festival on Saturday, will also make its European premiere as part of the New Directors competition at the San Sebastian Film Festival later this month. The narrative follows 11-year-old María (Ara Alejandra Medal) and her mother, Lilibeth (Virginia Sevilla), who pick through a littered shore to ensure their survival. Lilibeth, forced to travel to town to settle debts, leaves María to fend for herself at a sweatshop where children sort garbage for resale. With newfound pal Tadeo by her side, María grapples with an uncertain future, dreaming up fantastic scenarios to cope with the abandonment that looms over her head like an eerily dark sky before a storm.