Almost four years after debut feature, “I Have Electric Dreams,” won big at Locarno, French-Costa Rican filmmaker Valentina Maurel makes her Cannes debut with “ Forever Your Maternal Animal .” The film, selected for Un Certain Regard, follows Elsa (Daniela Marín Navarro), who returns to her home in Costa Rica after years studying in Europe. There, she reconnects with younger sister, Amalia (Mariangel Villegas), who is drifting further into introspection as their parents prioritize their own existential preoccupations.   Maurel says she was “very surprised” to be selected for the French festival. To Maurel, the selection is a “huge” accomplishment as it signals a broadening of space for Latin American filmmakers at major festivals, particularly female directors.   Popular on Variety “I have the feeling we are getting out of a certain paradigm with Latin American cinema,” she adds. “We are getting over cinema where the focus is always on male violence, misery, war, drugs.…