Director Laura Citarella (b.1981) is not the only Laura involved in her bisected chronicle Trenque Lauquen; Laura is the central character played by Laura Parades, who is also the co-writer. And of course, Laura is the 1944 Otto Preminger film which begins, as this tale does, with a missing Laura. Citarella and Paredes—part of El Pampero Cine, the same Argentine collective that released Mariano Llinás’ sweeping, multi-genre epic La Flor (2018)—worked closely together for five years sculpting Trenque Lauquen into a dense, digressive, magical wilderness with a central character elusive in more ways than one.

The Harvard Film Archive is thrilled to welcome Laura Citarella to the HFA after the second part of Trenque Lauquen to discuss the puzzles, insights and delights of her extraordinary creation.