Video Interview: Dominga Sotomayor – Too Late to Die Young

The hype machine officially began on Chilean filmmaker Dominga Sotomayor‘s third feature back in August when she won Best Director at Locarno. Since then, she has moved onto prestige fest slots of TIFF and NYFF, but its at Pingyao Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon Intl. Film Festival where I finally saw what all the buzz was about. Humming along to The Bangles’ Eternal Flame, Too Late to Die Young (Tarde para morir joven) taps into that murky area where the heart skips a beat and the awkwardness of being a teen has a head-on collision with irresponsible adults in a very hands off  commune and set in 1990, the first couple of months after the 17-year rule of Augusto Pinochet came to an end. A tale that is close to the filmmaker as there are certain biographical elements (she too was raised in such a setting), I sat down with Sotomayor.