Natalia Solórzano Vásquez’s ‘Spells to Revive a Witch,’ About Mythical Fortune Teller Soralla de Persia, Gets Backing from Spain, Uruguay (EXCLUSIVE)
Natalia Solórzano Vásquez’s new hybrid documentary, “Spells to Revive a Witch”, has secured backing from Spanish company Testaferro and Uruguay’s Guay Films ahead of the Costa Rica Media Market. The film centres on Soralla de Persia, a Costa Rican fortune teller who became famous in the 1960s and was later largely forgotten. The project matters because it uses Soralla’s story to explore how women who once held public visibility can disappear from collective memory, and how cinema can recover those erased histories.
Produced by Costa Rica’s Sputnik Films, the documentary is described as a “casting call to embody” Soralla, with different women invoking her through memories, interpretations and personal experience. It marks the first collaboration between Solórzano Vásquez and Sputnik Films; the director previously premiered her debut feature, “Avanzaré tan despacio”, at IDFA in 2019, while Sputnik is known for backing Sofía Quirós Ubeda’s Cannes-selected “Land of Ashes” and is currently in post-production on “Madre Pájaro”. Solórzano Vásquez said she discovered Soralla while researching women in Costa Rican media and saw her disappearance from public memory as a way to reflect on the women whose lives were not considered worth preserving, as well as on the social cost for women who defy expected roles.
In short
- New partners back a film about a forgotten Costa Rican fortune teller
- The documentary explores memory, reinvention and women’s erasure
- The project is heading to the Costa Rica Media Market
Explained simply
This documentary film centres on Soralla de Persia, a Costa Rican fortune teller who achieved prominence in the 1960s before fading from public consciousness. The film, titled "Spells to Revive a Witch", examines how women who once held public visibility can disappear entirely from collective memory.
The project uses Soralla's story as a lens to explore how women whose lives don't conform to social expectations are often erased from history, and how cinema might recover those lost narratives. Rather than a traditional biography, the documentary works as a "casting call" through which various women invoke Soralla via their own memories, interpretations and personal experiences.
The film is being produced by Costa Rica's Sputnik Films and directed by Natalia Solórzano Vásquez, whose debut feature previously premiered at a major international festival in 2019. The project has now secured backing from production companies in Spain and Uruguay, helping move it towards completion.
Art Culture Entertainment Europe Film World