THE LIGHTHOUSE

Scoff away at Hollywood's 'coincidence' of two competing volcano movies, two planetoids-menace-Earth blockbusters, two Steve Prefontaine biopics, etc. This year the CIFF harbors two separate, exquisitely bittersweet features both with the beguiling Ingrid Rubio as a romantic lead – and lighthouses prominent in a dreamlike plot. What are the odds? One is “Water Easy Reach.” This is the other, a heartrending saga of sisterly devotion and misdirected passion from the creator of the international hit “Autumn Sun” (21st CIFF, 1997). A family car crash leaves only two young survivors, instant orphans. Lame, lovely Carmela (Rubio) embraces life in a high-risk whirl. With only one lung, she chain-smokes; unable to swim, she leaps into water. And her reckless affairs and infatuations similarly court disaster. Sensible little Aneta grows up alongside her headstrong elder sister and learns to cope, more or less, with 'Meme's' fierce moods and migratory quest for transcendence from her wounded body and spirit. But how will Carmela react when Aneta finds love? After THE LIGHTHOUSE, your question will be: have you got a third movie like this? (In Spanish with English subtitles)