Film at Lincoln Center has unveiled the film lineup for the 61st New York Film Festival, taking place from September 29 through October 15, 2023, and three Columbia filmmakers are presenting their short film at the festival this year.
Coral, written and directed by Sonia Oleniak ’21 and produced by Eda Çarikçi ’18 and Constanza Majluf ’21, is screening in the Currents section of the festival. The Currents program complements the festival’s Main Slate, tracing a more complete picture of contemporary cinema with an emphasis on new and innovative forms and voices.
Coral is a filmic song cycle that follows a cohort of sleepless solitaries through the night of a lunar eclipse. Strange singing and luminous images make mythopoesis of their labors and losses. In a boardwalk café, they convene for respite from their surreal nocturnal rituals, shot through with birds, salt, and violin rosin.
The film will be screening on both October 8 and 9 at the Howard Gilman Theater and tickets are available here. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers.
Sonia Oleniak is a filmmaker who was raised in three cultures and countries: Poland, France, and California in the United States. She holds an MFA in Film from Columbia University’s School of the Arts and a BA from UCLA’s School of Theater, Film, and Television with a concentration in Multimedia and Theater Direction. She recently participated in the La Fémis Producing Atelier & Cannes Film Market and is currently developing her first feature, a film adaptation of The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington.
Constanza Maljuf is a Chilean filmmaker based in the US with over ten years’ experience. Eager to promote collaboration with womxn filmmakers worldwide, she has participated in projects in Chile, Spain, Perú, Cuba, and the US. She is currently completing her MFA at Columbia University in New York City. The first time she walked onto a set was as part of the cast in The Motorcycle Diaries by Walter Salles. This marked the beginning of a career dedicated to filming on set, as an actress, assistant director, or producer, alongside acclaimed directors such as Eli Roth, Vincenzo Marra, Pablo Larraín, Sebastián Brahm and Cristián Jiménez, among others.
Eda Çarikçi is known for Öte (2023), Mendirek (2022) and Sentimental Journey.
