You remember that feeling you get when you know your parents are on the verge of finding out some realish that you’ve desperately tried to hide? Yeah, I believe it’s called “impending doom,” and it’s about as universal to the modern adolescent experience as pre-marital kissing. Perhaps its that very universality that made Chilean director Ignacio Juricic’s film school project Locas Perdidas (Lost Queens) such a hit at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, earning the short film second prize in the Cinéfondation film school competition, and top honors as best LGBT short in the festival.
The film takes as its point of departure a real-life incident from the mid-90s in which the Chilean government bulldozed a gay nightclub and let sensationalist TV crews film the whole affair. Jurcic’s fictional protagonist, Rodrigo, is one of the crossdressing showgirls who get caught up in the raid and ends up spending the night in lockup. When he returns home the next morning he informs his unwitting parents that he’s going to be on T.V. and secretly prepares to abscond with his lover, an older man who also happens to be the family hairdresser.
In the great tradition of film school trailers, this one keeps things rather cryptic, but we can certainly appreciate the organic intimacy of the performances and Jurcic’s impeccable visual style. While this particular short might prove difficult to come across for general audiences, winning a couple of prizes at Cannes virtually guarantees that Jurcic will have a feature film in the works over the next year or two, and he will certainly be a director to keep an eye on.
