Four Columbia-trained directors make their first theater debut – The Hollywood Reporter

The summer box office season is usually filled with milestones of the blockbuster variety, but in July, Columbia University’s film program toasts one of its own. Four international female filmmakers (and MFA graduates) have their first feature film in theaters this month.

The roster includes Nathalie Alvarez Mesen’s Clara AloneAntoneta Alamat Kusijanović’s MurinaMounia Akl’s Costa Brava, Lebanonand Anna Gutto’s Paradise Highway. The last film, about a truck driver who reluctantly agrees to smuggle illegal cargo (a little girl), is the most star-studded film. Juliette Binoche, Morgan Freeman, Cameron Monaghan and Frank Grillo. Also of note: Columbia grad Ellie Foumbi’s debut film Our Father the Devil won an audience award at the Tribeca Festival in New York last month.

Jack Lechner, chair of film at Columbia University School of the Arts, says that every film made and distributed is “a beacon to everyone else,” and that these four have accomplished something that “will shine a light for those who come. .” Lechner added: “We are just so proud. It’s a moment that reminds you that this process really works and that we send filmmakers out into the world so that they can be competitive and fulfill their artistic ambitions.”

Columbia University film professor Annette Insdorf is equally enthusiastic about the alumnae. “It was a pleasure to teach Nathalie Alvarez Mesen, Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović, Mounia Akl and Anna Gutto in my course Analyzing Film Language. They came to CU’s School of the Arts from different countries,” she adds, “and each found her own voice and went on to create a personal and resonating story.”

Murina, which won a Camera D’or at the Cannes Film Festival for Best First Picture, centers on the tensions between a teenager and her oppressive father when an old family friend arrives at their Croatian island home. It screened at Laemmle Theaters in LA and the Metrograph in New York. Clara Alone, who played at New York’s IFC Center and the Landmark Westwood in LA, focuses on a remote village in Costa Ric where Clara embarks on a journey to break free from social and religious conventions to become the master of her sexuality and newfound powers.

Costa Brava, Lebanon tells the story of a free-spirited family escaping the toxic pollution and social unrest of Beirut by seeking refuge in a utopian mountain home. It hit the screen at New York’s Quad Cinema and opens July 22 at Laemmle Monica in Santa Monica.

Lionsgate Releases Paradise Highway on July 29 in select theaters and on-demand.

A version of this story first appeared in the July 15 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.