Rodrigo Garcia Saiz directed this :40 in which a fear-stricken woman flees an unseen pursuer out to do her harm. But while her terror is real, a break out of the blue brings us back to reality, as we realize that her harrowing adventure has sprung from her reading a book.
“Woods” opens on the woman racing barefoot through a spooky forest: silhouetted trees, mist, penetrating moonlight. She pants and trips; an unseen threat nearing. She makes it to a tree and is about to be caught, if not killed, when a small hand reaches up with a jar. A child’s voice asks, “Mom, can you open the jar for me please?” The woman replies sweetly as if sitting in a comfortable kitchen, “Sure thing, honey.”
Then the action continues, accompanied by the super “Keep reading” and the Gandhi Bookstores logo.
“Woods” was one of two spots in the campaign directed by Garcia Saiz through his Mexico City company Central Films for Ogilvy Mexico. (Garcia Saiz is repped in the U.S. by Boxer Films.)
Karla Sofía Gascón Could Make Trans History For Role In “Emilia Pérez”
Karla Sofía Gascón's performance in "Emilia Pérez" as a Mexican drug lord who undergoes gender affirmation surgery to become a woman has brought her global acclaim and set Gascón on a path that may make her the first openly transgender actor ever nominated for an Oscar. But on this morning, she's feeling contemplative. "I woke up with such a philosophical streak," Gascón says, smiling. "In life, everything can be good or bad. We are a mix of so many things. There are things that make you happy and instead they make you sad, or the other way around." The dichotomies of life are a fitting subject for Jacques Audiard's "Emilia Pérez," a film that puts just about every genre — musical, crime thriller, melodrama — into a grandiose mixer, and, by sheer nerve, manages to coalesce into one of the year's most memorable movie experiences. "Emilia Pérez," which began streaming Wednesday on Netflix, is widely expected to be a best picture nominee. At the center of the "Emilia Pérez" phenomenon – which began with a barn-storming premiere at the Cannes Film Festival — is Gascón who plays both the menacing cartel kingpin Manitas and the woman who emerges after Manitas fakes his own death, Emilia Pérez. Years later, Emilia contacts the lawyer who facilitated her transition (Zoe Saldaña) to her reunite with her wife (Selena Gomez) and their children. The wild swings of "Emilia Pérez" – a movie that has earned comparisons to both "Sicario" and "Mrs. Doubtfire" – wouldn't be possible without Gascón. In Cannes, she and her co-stars shared in the best actress prize, which Gascón accepted. "We've been insulted, denigrated, subjected to a lot of violence without even knowing why," Gascón said that evening. "I think this is award is so much more... Read More