Natalie Morales at PIFF 2021 — Media Women Worldwide

Written By: Margaux Fortier

Provincetown International Film Festival 2021 continued their hybrid model of online streaming and some nights at the Wellfleet Drive-In Theatre, while excitingly adding some in-person screenings back to Provincetown’s Commercial Street. A staple of the last few years has been the presentation of the Next Wave Award, a unique award that celebrates those who have exciting, new, and distinctive voices. The 2021 recipient was actor/filmmaker Natalie Morales, whose directorial debut Language Lessons has been featured at many major festivals this year and landed awards along the way.

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Language Lessons, winner of the Warner Media Audience Award for Narrative Feature at PIFF 2021, is part of the ‘pandemic film’ lineup that has moved beyond the topic of the health crisis and brought out some fundamental themes that are universal. The importance of connection and support are brought out in the relationship between the characters played by Natalie Morales and Mark Duplass. Adam, played by Duplass, receives the gift of Spanish lessons from his husband and Cariño, played by Morales, enters his life as his teacher from Costa Rica and they start having regular video call lessons. Their calls become more personal and more important to keep in their wellbeing as they work through heartbreak and trauma and gain a friendship that is irreplaceable.

Language Lessons, Image Courtesy of PIFF

While Natalie Morales has been in many popular television shows and films, she recently moved into the role of director during the pandemic. In her PIFF conversation for her Next Wave Award, she said that the production was complicated to get right as the crew was trying to distance themselves and needed to create new techniques to make the ‘video call’ story come to life. As the entire film takes place over a series of video calls from a great distance away from one another, the creation of environment and sense of place was very important to making their circumstances believable. The characters gain so much from the calls that the technique of filming needed to be done carefully and Natalie Morales had the vision to make this happen.

Natalie Morales’ star is rising quickly. She has also directed Plan B, which came out on Hulu in 2021, and is looking forward to upcoming projects where she can spread her wings as a filmmaker. Though she is also acting, notably in many Netflix shows, television shows, and even lent her voice to the animated feature Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse, she hopes that she can continue work both in front of and behind the camera.

Her distinctive and versatile work has lent itself to the film and television world. She is also a strong advocate for social justice, specifically for gun violence and LGBTQ+ rights. Coming out as part of the queer community, Natalie has continued to show her authentic self and incorporates that into the work she does. Her career as a filmmaker is just getting started and we can’t wait to see what is next for her.

Language Lessons is being released in cinemas on September 10, 2021.

Watch the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoKmVFwaNek

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14031338/

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2295540/

https://www.provincetownfilm.org/festival/awards/natalie-morales/