Bonsái (2011)

Cast: Diego Noguera, Nathalia Galgani, Gabriela Arancibia, Trinidad Gonzalez, Hugo Medina, Andres Waas

Director: Cristian Jimenez

Rating: NR

Running Time: 95 min.

Synopsis: Alejandro Zambra's celebrated novella of love and literature comes to the screen in this film adaptation from director Cristian Jimenez. Julio (Diego Noguera) was an aspiring writer attending college in the town of Valdivia, Chile. While Julio had an interest in literature, he was a lackadaisical student, and when asked in class if he'd read Marcel Proust, he said yes even though it wasn't true. Julio told the same lie to his beautiful classmate Emilia (Natalia Galgani), and the two fell into a relationship that was destined to end badly. Years later, Emilia is out of Julio's life, and he's living in Santiago while trying to pursue a career as a novelist. Julio is dating Blanca (Trinidad Gonzalez), a neighbor who shares his interest in the written word, and he's in the running for a job helping well-respected author Gazmuri (Hugo Medina) transcribe his hand-written rough drafts into printed manuscripts on his computer. Julio is passed over for the project, but rather than tell Blanca the truth, he begins writing his own version of Gazmuri's novel as a cover, with the story inspired by his failed romance with Emilia. Bonsái received its world premiere at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.