Lingua Franca (film)
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''Lingua Franca'' is a 2019 drama film written and directed by
Isabel Sandoval Isabel Sandoval is a Filipina filmmaker and actress who lives in the United States. She directed the films ''Señorita'' (2011), ''Aparisyon'' (2012) and ''Lingua Franca (film), Lingua Franca'' (2019). She also directed a short film called ''Women ...
. The film stars Sandoval,
Lynn Cohen Lynn Harriette Cohen (née Kay; August 10, 1933 – February 14, 2020) was an American actress known for her roles in film, television and theater. She was especially known for her role as Magda in the HBO series ''Sex and the City'', which she ...
, Eamon Farren,
Lev Gorn Lev Gorn (russian: Лев Горенс; born 1971 in Stavropol) is a Russian-born American stage, film, and television actor. He is best known for his role as KGB officer Arkady Ivanovich Zotov in ''The Americans''. Later, he had a recurring rol ...
, and Ivory Aquino. The plot follows an undocumented
Filipina Filipinos ( tl, Mga Pilipino) are the people who are citizens of or native to the Philippines. The majority of Filipinos today come from various Austronesian ethnolinguistic groups, all typically speaking either Filipino, English and/or other ...
trans woman A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and s ...
who works as a caregiver for Olga, an elderly
Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
woman in Brooklyn's Brighton Beach. When Olivia runs out of options to attain legal status in the US, she becomes romantically involved with Alex, Olga's adult grandson, in the pursuit of a marriage-based
green card A green card, known officially as a permanent resident card, is an identity document which shows that a person has permanent residency in the United States. ("The term 'lawfully admitted for permanent residence' means the status of having been ...
. ''Lingua Franca'' premiered at the
Venice Days The Giornate degli Autori or simply the Giornate, formerly also known in English as Venice Days, is an independent film festival section held in parallel to and in association with the Venice Film Festival. It is modeled on the Directors' Fortnight ...
sidebar of the 2019 Venice Film Festival. In July 2020, the film was acquired by
Ava Duvernay Ava Marie DuVernay (; born August 24, 1972) is an American filmmaker, television producer and former film publicist. She is a recipient of a Primetime Emmy Award, a NAACP Image Award, a BAFTA Film Award and a BAFTA TV Award, as well as a nominee ...
's distribution company
ARRAY An array is a systematic arrangement of similar objects, usually in rows and columns. Things called an array include: {{TOC right Music * In twelve-tone and serial composition, the presentation of simultaneous twelve-tone sets such that the ...
and was later released on Netflix on August 26.


Plot

Olivia is a Filipina trans woman who works as a live-in caregiver for the elderly Olga in Brooklyn's Brighton Beach neighborhood. Olga, a Russian-Jewish woman, is in the early stages of
dementia Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...
and relies on Olivia to confirm her surroundings, which she initially suspects is not her own home. As an undocumented immigrant, Olivia harbors fears of being detained and deported by ICE agents at any moment. Olivia's earnings go towards supporting her family in the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
, in addition to installment payments to Matthew, her American-born boyfriend, with the hope of Olivia securing a
green card A green card, known officially as a permanent resident card, is an identity document which shows that a person has permanent residency in the United States. ("The term 'lawfully admitted for permanent residence' means the status of having been ...
through a
marriage of convenience A marriage of convenience is a marriage contracted for reasons other than that of love and commitment. Instead, such a marriage is entered into for personal gain, or some other sort of strategic purpose, such as a political marriage. There are ...
. Olivia's plans are disrupted just as Alex, Olga's adult grandson, arrives to come live with Olga after a stay in rehab. While Olivia is patient with Olga and understands Olga's needs, Alex is hotheaded and doesn't know how to handle his grandmother's care. Alex tries to maintain his sobriety and secures work at his uncle's slaughterhouse. Olivia and Alex form a bond despite their differences, and one night Olivia fantasizes about Alex after he reads his late grandfather's love letters out loud. She confides to him about her undocumented status and how she would need a green card in order to stay in America, which Alex is sympathetic to. The two enter into a romantic relationship, with Alex unaware of Olivia being trans. Alex brings home a drunken male friend, Andrei, who snoops around Olivia's room and steals her money while she is in the shower. Here Andrei discovers Olivia's passport which reveals Olivia's pre-op identity. Andrei shows the passport to Alex, who does not disclose his relationship with Olivia and instead tells Andrei to keep quiet. Alex does not tell Olivia he knows she's trans. When Olivia realizes her belongings were rummaged through, Alex makes up a story that a masked intruder went through her things, increasing Olivia's fear that ICE will do a raid on her. Alex shows up to his job at the slaughterhouse drunk and is fired on the spot by his uncle. Although Alex is initially distant from Olivia, he eventually comforts her after he sees her watching the nonstop news on TV about ongoing immigration raids and deportations. He considers marrying her and looks up marriage license procedures in New York state online. He gets his job back with his uncle after promising to stay sober. While on a overnight trip to Atlantic City, Alex drunkenly offers to marry Olivia the next day and talks about his wishes to have a big family with her. Olivia is hesitant and tells Alex she has something to tell him, but he reassures her that he already knows about her being trans and would still marry her. The next morning in their motel room, Olivia demands that Alex return her passport to her. The ending is left ambiguous; though it is understood Olivia has decided not to go through with the marriage, as she tells her mom in the Philippines she has a new job and has met someone new, with her earnings again going towards financially supporting her family and securing a green card. The film ends with Olga again forgetting her surroundings.


Cast

*
Isabel Sandoval Isabel Sandoval is a Filipina filmmaker and actress who lives in the United States. She directed the films ''Señorita'' (2011), ''Aparisyon'' (2012) and ''Lingua Franca (film), Lingua Franca'' (2019). She also directed a short film called ''Women ...
as Olivia *
Lynn Cohen Lynn Harriette Cohen (née Kay; August 10, 1933 – February 14, 2020) was an American actress known for her roles in film, television and theater. She was especially known for her role as Magda in the HBO series ''Sex and the City'', which she ...
as Olga * Eamon Farren as Alex *
Lev Gorn Lev Gorn (russian: Лев Горенс; born 1971 in Stavropol) is a Russian-born American stage, film, and television actor. He is best known for his role as KGB officer Arkady Ivanovich Zotov in ''The Americans''. Later, he had a recurring rol ...
as Murray * Ivory Aquino as Trixie * P.J. Boudousqué as Andrei * Andrea Leigh as Daria


Reception

The film was received positively. The film has rating on
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, with the consensus: "''Lingua Franca'' brings warmth and humanity to its social issue-driven plot with sensitive performances and writer-director Isabel Sandoval's gently empathetic touch."
Stephanie Zacharek Stephanie Zacharek is an American film critic at ''Time'', based in New York City. From 2013 to 2015, she was the principal film critic for ''The Village Voice''. She was a 2015 Pulitzer Prize finalist in criticism. Early life Stephanie Zachare ...
wrote for ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'' that ''Lingua Franca'' is "a gorgeous and delicate picture, an understated work that opens a window on an intimate world" and Jude Dry wrote in ''
IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...
'' that the film "illustrates the woefully untapped potential of marginalized storytellers". For ''
The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...
'', Stephen Dalton wrote ''Lingua Franca'' is a "heartfelt personal statement rooted in timely, gripping issues that obviously resonate deeply with its author, notably trans rights and
Trump Trump most commonly refers to: * Donald Trump (born 1946), 45th president of the United States (2017–2021) * Trump (card games), any playing card given an ad-hoc high rank Trump may also refer to: Businesses and organizations * Donald J. T ...
-era immigration anxieties". ''Lingua Franca'' was nominated for the 2021 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Film (Limited Release).


References


External links

* {{Isabel Sandoval 2019 films 2019 LGBT-related films Films about trans women Brighton Beach Films about immigration to the United States English-language Netflix original films Philippine LGBT-related films Asian-American LGBT-related films Films about Filipino women 2019 drama films 2019 independent films Asian-American drama films Films about Filipino Americans 2010s American films