La Hembrita
POSTER DESIGN
END-CREDIT SEQUENCE
La Hembrita expands on my ongoing working relationship with Dominican filmmaker Laura Amelia Guzmán. A relationship where film development, production, and design have gone hand-in-hand for the past nine years.
Dominique — a well-to-do middle-aged Dominican woman — finds herself alone after her sons move out of the family home. One day, Dominique’s housemaid brings home her granddaughter and, shortly after, inexplicably disappears. The little girl re-awakens Dominique’s maternal instinct — but neither her relatives nor her friends support her desire to keep the child.
In designing the poster, I wanted to question Dominique’s impulsive decision-making, while also leaving room to appreciate the film’s tenderness.
Is the flower Dominique offers the girl an empty promise? An ill-fitted band-aid to an empty nest? Or is it the promise of real motherly (or grandmotherly) devotion? By leaning heavily on the color pink, I also wanted to express Dominique’s stereotypical idealization of what having a daughter would be like.
In designing the poster, I wanted to question Dominique’s impulsive decision-making, while also leaving room to appreciate the film’s tenderness.
Is the flower Dominique offers the girl an empty promise? An ill-fitted band-aid to an empty nest? Or is it the promise of real motherly (or grandmotherly) devotion? By leaning heavily on the color pink, I also wanted to express Dominique’s stereotypical idealization of what having a daughter would be like.
The line work in this sequence is inspired by the delicate, but expressive flute motif that scores the film and pairs well with the ballad by Bola de Nieve chosen by Guzmán for the credits.