‘Mr Saito’s Traveling Cinema’ published in Denmark
An infant is left in a shoebox on the doorstep of Buenos Aires’ Magdalene Monastery and is given the name Fabiola by the nuns. Early in life the rebellious Fabiola develops a propensity for finding the perfect pair of shoes for any given individual. Besides becoming the unlikely top seller of Buenos Aires’ most famous and affluent shoe store, she also – to the nuns’ dismay – becomes a teenage mother to the headstrong girl Lita.
Revolutionary times eventually force the mother and daughter-duo to flee Argentina with their sight set on Europe, but circumstances have them instead end up on a tiny, windswept island in North Foundland. Here Fabiola reluctantly takes up work selling unglamorous wellies and clogs in the island’s general store as they move into the sailor’s home of Bethlehem. Bethlehem, the beating heart of the island, houses a bountiful of eccentric and endearing characters; among them the hosts’ deaf daughter Oona McGregor that becomes Lita’s best friend. As Lita tries to navigate her way in the world it becomes the annual visits by Mr Saito’s traveling cinema – bringing moving pictures from around the world to the isolated isle – that will entirely change the trajectory of her destiny.
Mr Saito’s Traveling Cinema is an irresistible odyssey about heart rhythms, fisher boys with amber eyes and finding family in unexpected places. About runaway tango shoes, life’s outtakes and love in all its forms.