El cuaderno de Sara (2018)

Laura Alonso is a Spanish lawyer from Madrid who sets off to Democratic Republic of Congo (center of Africa) after having seen a photo where Sara, her younger sister, appears alive after ... See full summary »

Director:

Norberto López Amado

Writer:

Jorge Guerricaechevarría

Stars:

Belén Rueda, Marian Álvarez, Iván Mendes

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Belén Rueda	...	Laura
Marian Álvarez	...	Sara
Iván Mendes	...	Jamir
Manolo Cardona	...	Sergio
Nick Devlin	...	Sven
Florin Opritescu	...	Davor
Alfredo Araoz	...	Cámara TV
Armando Jerez	...	Sonidista TV
Djédjé Apali	...	Battiste (as Djedje Apali)
Malcolm Sitté	...	Omar
Bella Agossou	...	Masira
María Luisa Mayo	...	Irene
Ramón Barea	...	Padre Laura y Sara
Astrid Jones	...	Lugarteniente
Santiago Adán	...	Tom (as Santi Adán)

Storyline

Laura Alonso is a Spanish lawyer from Madrid who sets off to Democratic Republic of Congo (center of Africa) after having seen a photo where Sara, her younger sister, appears alive after two years without clues about her location. While looking for contacts, Laura realizes that Sara was photographed in the region of Goma, one of the most troubled zones of the country due to the warlords and their civil war over coltan, a much appreciated and expensive mineral. Determined to go until the end despite not knowing the country nor the language, Laura contacts Sergio Rojas, a Latin businessman, to get the way to travel Goma. But after discovering the real interests of Sergio, Laura asks help Sven, a former part-time Sara's lover, to go Goma. Sven finds Jamir, a young former war-child who reluctant accept Laura's offer to help her. Together they both start a journey from Kinsasa (DR of Congo's capital) to Goma. Along the travel, Laura's life not only will be in danger several times, but her ...

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Plot Keywords:

congo | africa | slaughter | missing person | mysterious disappearance | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Details

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish French Swahili English Italian

Release Date:

2 February 2018 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Sara's Notebook

Filming Locations:

Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

€1,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cuaderno de Sara, El,Ikiru Films,Mediaset España

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Atmos

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The airport where Laura first lands states Entebbe, but it's not clear she's supposed to be in Uganda rather than the Republic of the Congo.

User Reviews

Manking the believable (and atrocious) unbeliebable and atrocious

This is right down there with other similarly poorly constructed titles. The problems with this film, which in principle could have actually worked had less to do with the plot than the way it was orchestrated. A blond white women in the savage heart of ruthless and bloodthirsty Africa could have worked but would have required a more sophisticated plot development.

Here are a few of the points with which I took exception:

She would have never stood a chance of avoiding being raped and probably chopped up into even slices as well in reality.

Her escapes from the horrors of the local militias are farcical and unrealistic.

The introduction of the female cadre of UN Soldiers was laughable at best this was so far-fetched. Probably some feminist fantasy, but it had absolutely nothing to do with reality. While there is nothing wrong with females being soldiers the idea of a contingent of females in the heart of violent Africa on a peace keeping mission beggars the imagination.

She was such a dolt who in their right mind extends their forearm to a mamba? Speaking of mambas, while the one that bit her was the less venomous variety, most likely the eastern green mamba. The use of stones is common both in African and Asia.

This was a great disappointment because the film concept had great potential..it was just too much of too little to make any impact at all.