Valeria Sarmiento’s Final Film ‘Behind the Rain’ Premieres at Karlovy Vary Film Festival

Valeria Sarmiento’s final film “Behind the Rain” is premiering in the Crystal Globe Competition at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, which runs July 3-11, Variety reported. The story centers on psychology professor Sofia, played by Paula Prado, who returns to her hometown after postgraduate studies only to face painful memories when a girl’s body is discovered there.

Sarmiento has directed more than 30 feature films across a career spanning over 50 years.

She has won awards at the San Sebastián Film Festival and earned Golden Bear and Golden Lion nominations while collaborating on dozens of projects with her late husband Raúl Ruiz. ” Rodríguez, who has worked with Sarmiento since the 2008 film “Secrets,” said the project took seven years to develop and that she became deeply involved because of its sensitive themes.

Sarmiento chose monochrome photography because she sees the past in black and white.

The title stems from her mother’s childhood instruction to look “behind the rain” and pay close attention to details. The film includes elements of detective stories, cop thrillers, and film noir but contains no patrols or arrests, Sarmiento said. Rodríguez described securing funding as very difficult because of the project’s ambitious scope and sensitive subject matter.

Rodríguez’s company Poetastros produced the film. She noted that Chile maintains a vibrant new generation of filmmakers yet still faces resource constraints and called for greater state support for culture and film production. Sarmiento and Rodríguez have started restoration, post-production, and completion of Ruiz’s “La Colonia Penal,” with plans to premiere the restored film in 2027.