Olivia (2025 film)

Olivia is a 2025 film written, directed and edited by the Argentine filmmaker Sofía Petersen.

Shot in 16mm Ektachrome, in south Argentina, with a crew of 6 and over 40 local non-actors. It's Sofía Petersen's first feature film.

The film had its world premiere at the 78th Locarno Film Festival on 13 August 2025, as part of Concoso Cineasti del Presente section, where it was nominated for a Golden Leopard – Filmmakers of the Present.^[1][2]

• Tina Sconochini as Olivia
• Dario del Carmer Haro Santana as Father
• Carolina Tejeda as Mari
• The Workers of the Municipal Slaughterhouse of Río Grande

Alone in the mountains: Olivia, her Father, and their home. By the foothills, a slaughterhouse, where Father works. She dreams by day and lives by night; they share only dusks and dawns before the rising sun lulls her to sleep. When Father disappears, Olivia descends the mountains in search of him.

The film was one of two recipients of the Hubert Bals Fund+Europe program of the International Film Festival of Rotterdam post-production support in 2024.^[3] It is an Animitas (Argentina/United Kingdom) co-production with Vitrines Films (Spain).^[4]

Giona A. Nazzaro, artistic director of the Locarno Film Festival, regarded Olivia as "one of the strongest of all films in the entire edition of Locarno"^[5][6] in the 2025 Official Selection announcement.

For Micropsia,^[7] Diego Lerer wrote that "mysterious and evocative, Olivia is a distinctly original and personal Argentine film, the kind that reveals a filmmaker with a singular creative world. Complex and ever-shifting, it can be viewed linearly as the story of a woman’s search for her father, but it also seems intent on conveying an atmosphere—a set of sensations—rooted in a specific place: Argentina’s Patagonia, inhabited by curious characters and prone to the unexpected". He stated that Olivia "marks the arrival of an Argentine director who is sure to spark conversation in the years ahead".^[8]

Kiara Warmerdam of Caligari magazine remarked that "beyond the beauty of the film and the depth it offers, it's inevitable to highlight the precision with which it's crafted. When conceiving a shot, one can draw an analogy with the work of a painter. One can look at a painting as one looks at a shot. Olivia's shots reminded me of the painter's craft. The painter chooses, creates every detail that appears in the painting. The film's control over the elements that have the privilege of appearing is remarkable"^[9]