Leonera (2008)

Director:

Pablo Trapero

Writers:

Alejandro Fadel (writer) &
Martín Mauregui (writer) ...

Release Date:

29 May 2008 (Argentina)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Motherhood Behind Bars

Plot:

An incarcerated woman struggles to raise her son from prison.

Plot Keywords:

Jail | Murder Suspect | One Word Title | Zoo | Mother And Child

Awards:

10 wins & 12 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Thur. Dec. 3

4:30 AM

MAX

Cast

Martina Gusman	...	Julia
Elli Medeiros	...	Sofia
Rodrigo Santoro	...	Ramiro
Laura García	...	Marta
Tomás Plotinsky	...	Tomás VI (as Tomas Plotinsky)
Leonardo Sauma	...	Ugo Casman
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Walter Cignoli	...	Perito Psicólogo
Roberto Maciel	...	Abogado de Oficio
Ricardo Ragendorfer	...	Juez de Instrucción (as Ricardo Raguendorfer)
Clara Sajnovetzky	...	Elsa

Also Known As:

Desencuentro (Argentina) (working title)
Leonera (Brazil)
Lion's Den (International: English title)
Misencounter (International: English title) (working title)

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

Argentina | South Korea | Brazil

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Netherlands:12 | Belgium:KT | France:U | Hong Kong:IIB | Poland:15 | Germany:12 | Spain:13 | USA:Not Rated | Brazil:14

Filming Locations:

Batán Penitentiary, Batán, Buenos Aires, Federal District, Argentina

Company:

Matanza Cine

Trivia:

Argentina's 2009 Academy Awards official submission to Foreign-Language Film category.

Soundtrack:

El Bombon

Women in Prison Movie Dardenne Brothers style

The women in prison genre is often associated with cat-calling girl-fights and the guilty pleasure to the audience of women talking dirty and acting, actions supposed to be the purview of Tarzan aping men. Trapero's Leonera offers something else, an inquisition into how a life behind bars can change the human psyche and create a bond between a child and a mother. Echoing the early movies of the French New Wave that placed the gyneco-issues front and center and the point of view objectivity of the Dardenne Brothers, it is a worthy addition to what can be called the post-modern woman's picture. What is it like to give birth to your child behind bars? To have your child taken away, the rejoinder and enjoinder are all explored. With a wonderful performance by Martina Gusman, it is another worthy canon to 21st Century Argentine cinema.