Working in film production sounds glamorous but often isn’t, a truth Paula González-Nasser explores in her absorbing directorial debut. This incisive, grounded feature follows Sofia (Mimi Davila), an exhausted and underappreciated location scout working in New York City. Inundated by voicemails, parking tickets, and demands from producers, Sofia struggles to find artistic validation in the monotony of her below-the-line role. Although The Scout is tinged with an everyday sort of melancholy, it’s also a striking character study. Each location Sofia visits throughout the day is a vignette that opens a window into the life of the film’s protagonist as well as those of the people she meets. Rooted in González-Nasser’s own experiences working on shows like Difficult People and Mrs. Fletcher, The Scout boasts gorgeous cinematography and an impressively lived-in feel that makes this nuanced, observational debut a perfect ode to filmmaking—both the lonely and beautiful parts. —Kate Bove
Paula González-Nasser
Paula González-Nasser (she/her) is a Colombian director-producer based in Brooklyn. She is the co-founder of 5th Floor, a production collective through which she has produced short and feature films like Weapons and Their Names (Sundance 2023) and Free Time(2023), which was nominated for three Indie Awards. Paula also worked as a location scout for many years on projects such as HighMaintenance, Search Party, Never Rarely SometimesAlways, and Broad City. She is a two-time Gotham Film Week participant and a 2023 Sundance Producers Intensive Fellow. Her debut feature, The Scout, premiered at Tribeca.