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Frameline37: Who’s Afraid of Vagina Wolf

Anna Margarita Albelo

Anyone who opens their film with themselves in the lead role in a vagina costume has already won best film!  Anna Margarita Albelo’s first feature, Who’s Afraid of Vagina Wolf, thus begins.

Another year has gone by and Anna, our heroine, is still stuck in a rut. She lives in her friend’s garage and her three resolutions, made on every birthday, of losing 20lbs, making a feature film and finding a girlfriend, have once again fallen flat on their face. This year Anna is going to help herself, by trying to at least accomplish two of these. One night, while showing her short films in an art gallery, Anna meets her muse. Katia quickly awakens Anna’s creativity. The solution is simple: write a movie for Katia and win her affections (obviously). After a number of days in her woman cave, Anna immerges from a smoky garage, script in hand and heads over to her best friend Penelope’s house for feedback. The lesbian revival of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf is a go.  But will Katia respond to Anna’s advances, and what about the beautiful camerawoman? What follows is a fresh, original, hilarious, and surprisingly very touching story.

Writing a movie about making movies has been done well and has been done really badly. Who’s Afraid of Vagina Wolf sits with the success stories of using this backdrop. The script is hilarious and honest. Anna Margarita Albelo as the lead actress manages to combine pathos and comedy perfectly. Guinevere Turner as her best friend Penelope shines. There are a number of hilarious and heartfelt moments between her and Anna. Carrie Preston lives up to the outstanding actress she always is by playing a charmingly neurotic woman.

Penned by the co-writer of Saved!, Who’s Afraid of Vagina Wolf plots its story admirably. What pulls at the heartstrings of its audience is the genuine feelings these characters seem to have for each other, that the situations are at their basis not so far fetched that they are unbelievable, and most importantly that you want Anna to succeed.

A world premiere at Frameline37 was the perfect setting for this film. Mostly that, for a large part of the audience who are filmmakers in progress, this could one day be their story… minus the costume, sadly.

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