With human justice absent in the awful political bloodshed in Central America, Guatemalan director Jayro Bustamente finds payback in cinematic fantasy. A crooked government exonerates a genocidal general, but his estate is besieged around the clock by Mayan-Ixil Indio protesters. Into the house comes a new maid — a tiny young woman who may nevertheless wield supernatural powers. The moody art-horror show is as delicate as The Innocents or a Val Lewton chiller — horror once again becomes an excellent means to address political evil. Slow and deliberate, it reverberates with horror history without copying the classics.
La Llorona (2019)
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1156
2019 / Color / 2:39 widescreen / 96 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date October 18, 2022 / 39.95
Starring: María Mercedes Coroy, Sabrina De La Hoz, Margarita Kenéfic, Julio Diaz, María Telón, Juan Pablo Olyslager, Ayla-Elea Hurtado.
Cinematography: Nicolás Wong
Production Designer: Sebastián Muñoz
Costume Design: Beatriz Lantán
Film Editors: Jayro Bustamante, Gustavo Matheu
Original...
La Llorona (2019)
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1156
2019 / Color / 2:39 widescreen / 96 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date October 18, 2022 / 39.95
Starring: María Mercedes Coroy, Sabrina De La Hoz, Margarita Kenéfic, Julio Diaz, María Telón, Juan Pablo Olyslager, Ayla-Elea Hurtado.
Cinematography: Nicolás Wong
Production Designer: Sebastián Muñoz
Costume Design: Beatriz Lantán
Film Editors: Jayro Bustamante, Gustavo Matheu
Original...
- 10/22/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Jayro Bustamante on La Llorona, co-written with Lisandro Sanchez: “I wanted to give women that honor to be in the center of looking for justice in the film.”
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Monday, March 15, the nominations for the 93rd Oscars. Best International Feature Film nominees are from Denmark, Thomas Vinterberg’s Another Round; From Hong Kong, Derek Tsang’s Better Days; From Romania, Alexander Nanau’s Collective; from Tunisia, Kaouther Ben Hania’s The Man Who Sold His Skin, and from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Jasmila Žbanic’s Quo Vadis, Aida?.
Jayro Bustamante: “I can understand victims. And I can feel empathy with them.”
The Oscar-shortlisted film from Chile, Maite Alberdi’s The Mole Agent snared a Best Documentary nomination. From Norway, Maria Sødahl’s Hope...
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Monday, March 15, the nominations for the 93rd Oscars. Best International Feature Film nominees are from Denmark, Thomas Vinterberg’s Another Round; From Hong Kong, Derek Tsang’s Better Days; From Romania, Alexander Nanau’s Collective; from Tunisia, Kaouther Ben Hania’s The Man Who Sold His Skin, and from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Jasmila Žbanic’s Quo Vadis, Aida?.
Jayro Bustamante: “I can understand victims. And I can feel empathy with them.”
The Oscar-shortlisted film from Chile, Maite Alberdi’s The Mole Agent snared a Best Documentary nomination. From Norway, Maria Sødahl’s Hope...
- 3/17/2021
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
This review of “La Llorona” was first published following its premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.
For his third and most tonally adventurous feature to date, socially perceptive writer-director Jayro Bustamante repurposes one of Latin America’s most ubiquitous supernatural legends to fiercely examine genocide against indigenous people in his native Guatemala. Invoking genre narrative devices, the entrancingly evocative “La Llorona” (“The Weeping Woman”) walks between fact and myth to engender a shrewdly frightening piece of political horror.
Sadistic military dictator General Enrique Monteverde (Julio Diaz), a fictionalized incarnation of the country’s former president Efraín Ríos Montt, stands accused of sanctioning the murder of thousands of Maya Ixil people in the Central American nation between 1982 and 1983. Battling health complications but still refusing to accept any fault, Monteverde is found guilty thanks to the courageous testimony of Ixil women still mourning their dead. Bustamante shoots the courtroom as a spiritual confessional devoid of natural light.
For his third and most tonally adventurous feature to date, socially perceptive writer-director Jayro Bustamante repurposes one of Latin America’s most ubiquitous supernatural legends to fiercely examine genocide against indigenous people in his native Guatemala. Invoking genre narrative devices, the entrancingly evocative “La Llorona” (“The Weeping Woman”) walks between fact and myth to engender a shrewdly frightening piece of political horror.
Sadistic military dictator General Enrique Monteverde (Julio Diaz), a fictionalized incarnation of the country’s former president Efraín Ríos Montt, stands accused of sanctioning the murder of thousands of Maya Ixil people in the Central American nation between 1982 and 1983. Battling health complications but still refusing to accept any fault, Monteverde is found guilty thanks to the courageous testimony of Ixil women still mourning their dead. Bustamante shoots the courtroom as a spiritual confessional devoid of natural light.
- 3/4/2021
- by Carlos Aguilar
- The Wrap
Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars from Film Awards Editor Clayton Davis. Following Academy Awards history, buzz, news, reviews and sources, the Oscar predictions are updated regularly with the current year's contenders in all categories. Variety's Awards Circuit Prediction schedule consists of four phases, running all year long: Draft, Pre-Season, Regular Season and Post Season. Eligibility calendar and dates of awards will determine how long each phase lasts and will be displayed next to revision date.
To see all the latest predictions, of all the categories, in one place, visit The Collective
Draft>>>Pre Season>>>Regular Season>>>Post Season
2021 Oscars Predictions:
Best International Feature
Updated: Mar. 4, 2021
Awards Prediction Commentary: Denmark has dominated the season with “Another Round,” even presenting itself as a film that can show up in other categories like best actor (Mads Mikkelsen). While “Honeyland” made history last year when it...
To see all the latest predictions, of all the categories, in one place, visit The Collective
Draft>>>Pre Season>>>Regular Season>>>Post Season
2021 Oscars Predictions:
Best International Feature
Updated: Mar. 4, 2021
Awards Prediction Commentary: Denmark has dominated the season with “Another Round,” even presenting itself as a film that can show up in other categories like best actor (Mads Mikkelsen). While “Honeyland” made history last year when it...
- 3/4/2021
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Jayro Bustamante on his Oscar shortlisted and Golden Globe nominated La Llorona: “There are a lot of things coming from the classic mythology.”
Jayro Bustamante deftly and imaginatively places his La Llorona (co-written with Lisandro Sanchez) at the intersection of history and legend. The ancient tale of the weeping woman who has haunted Latin American childhoods for centuries, here gains footing in recent Guatemalan history. General Enrique (Julio Diaz), now an old man, is among those on trial for the genocide of thousands. In 1982/83 one third of the Mayan population in Guatemala were exterminated, 38% were children under 12. Enrique’s wife Carmen (Margarita Kenéfic), daughter Natalia (Sabrina De La Hoz), granddaughter Sara (Ayla-Elea Hurtado), and Valeriana (María Telón), the only servant who remains loyal in the house, have to open their eyes to the family legacy.
Jayro Bustamante on Alma (María Mercedes Coroy): “I give to my Llorona that princess aspect,...
Jayro Bustamante deftly and imaginatively places his La Llorona (co-written with Lisandro Sanchez) at the intersection of history and legend. The ancient tale of the weeping woman who has haunted Latin American childhoods for centuries, here gains footing in recent Guatemalan history. General Enrique (Julio Diaz), now an old man, is among those on trial for the genocide of thousands. In 1982/83 one third of the Mayan population in Guatemala were exterminated, 38% were children under 12. Enrique’s wife Carmen (Margarita Kenéfic), daughter Natalia (Sabrina De La Hoz), granddaughter Sara (Ayla-Elea Hurtado), and Valeriana (María Telón), the only servant who remains loyal in the house, have to open their eyes to the family legacy.
Jayro Bustamante on Alma (María Mercedes Coroy): “I give to my Llorona that princess aspect,...
- 2/28/2021
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Horror is woven into political drama in La Llorona, the riveting Golden Globe Foreign Language Film nominee and shortlisted International Feature Oscar contender from Guatemala’s Jayro Bustamante. An elderly wealthy man hears ghostly noises in the night. He is revealed to be former army general Enrique Monteverde (Julio Diaz), on trial for genocide. In court, Mayan-Ixil women give heartbreaking testimonies about systemic rape and murder by his men. At home, his own family begins to question his innocence of sex crimes and war crimes. Is Enrique being haunted by the eponymous La Llorona, the weeping woman of legend who cries for her lost children?
This question is not directly posed, but most of the domestic staff soon bolt out of fear. Enrique is left at home with his wife, daughter and granddaughter — trapped as protesters surround the mansion. Aside from his increasingly necessary security guard, the former general’s...
This question is not directly posed, but most of the domestic staff soon bolt out of fear. Enrique is left at home with his wife, daughter and granddaughter — trapped as protesters surround the mansion. Aside from his increasingly necessary security guard, the former general’s...
- 2/26/2021
- by Anna Smith
- Deadline Film + TV
Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars from Film Awards Editor Clayton Davis. Following Academy Awards history, buzz, news, reviews and sources, the Oscar predictions are updated regularly with the current year's contenders in all categories. Variety's Awards Circuit Prediction schedule consists of four phases, running all year long: Draft, Pre-Season, Regular Season and Post Season. Eligibility calendar and dates of awards will determine how long each phase lasts and will be displayed next to revision date.
To see all the latest predictions, of all the categories, in one place, visit The Collective
Draft>>>Pre Season>>>Regular Season>>>Post Season
2021 Golden Globe Predictions:
Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language
Updated: Feb. 24, 2021
Awards Prediction Commentary: The Golden Globes nominations were announced on Feb. 3, with Netflix’s “Mank” from David Fincher leading with six nods. As the ceremony approaches on Feb. 28, the categories have been analyzed to...
To see all the latest predictions, of all the categories, in one place, visit The Collective
Draft>>>Pre Season>>>Regular Season>>>Post Season
2021 Golden Globe Predictions:
Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language
Updated: Feb. 24, 2021
Awards Prediction Commentary: The Golden Globes nominations were announced on Feb. 3, with Netflix’s “Mank” from David Fincher leading with six nods. As the ceremony approaches on Feb. 28, the categories have been analyzed to...
- 2/24/2021
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Now streaming on Shudder, Jayro Bustamante's La Llorona will be released on Digital HD on March 2nd via Rlje Films.
Below, we have the official press release with additional details, and in case you missed it, read Heather Wixson's Sundance review and interview with Bustamante.
Press Release: Los Angeles – Rlje Films, a business unit of AMC Networks, has picked up select rights to LA Llorona from Shudder, AMC Networks’ streaming service for horror, thriller and the supernatural. LA Llorona was recently nominated for Golden Globe Awards for Best Motion Picture, Foreign Language and is Guatemala’s Official Entry for 2021 Academy Award® consideration for Best International Feature Film. LA Llorona will be released on Digital HD on March 2, 2021.
LA Llorona blends together the terror of both myth and reality into a devastating exposé of the genocidal atrocities against the Mayan community in Guatemala. Through a modern retelling of the classic Latin American legend,...
Below, we have the official press release with additional details, and in case you missed it, read Heather Wixson's Sundance review and interview with Bustamante.
Press Release: Los Angeles – Rlje Films, a business unit of AMC Networks, has picked up select rights to LA Llorona from Shudder, AMC Networks’ streaming service for horror, thriller and the supernatural. LA Llorona was recently nominated for Golden Globe Awards for Best Motion Picture, Foreign Language and is Guatemala’s Official Entry for 2021 Academy Award® consideration for Best International Feature Film. LA Llorona will be released on Digital HD on March 2, 2021.
LA Llorona blends together the terror of both myth and reality into a devastating exposé of the genocidal atrocities against the Mayan community in Guatemala. Through a modern retelling of the classic Latin American legend,...
- 2/8/2021
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Folklorists will tell you that la llorona is a ghostly figure said to be a crying mother doomed to grieve for her drowned, dead offspring in perpetuity, and it takes a while to figure out how the Latin American legend fits into Jayro Bustamante’s extraordinary, eerie-as-hell horror movie. (It streams on Shudder starting August 6th.) Is the weeping spirit being summoned by Carmen (Margarita Kenéfic), the matronly head of a household who we meet, via a slow, Kubrickian zoom out — the first of many — in the middle of a coven-like ritual?...
- 8/5/2020
- by David Fear
- Rollingstone.com
LA Llorona A Film By Jayro Bustamante Starring María Mercedes Coroy, Margarita Kénefic, Sabrina De La Hoz, Julio Diaz Available On Shudder August 6th Indignant retired general Enrique finally faces trial for the genocidal massacre of thousands of Mayans decades ago. As a horde of angry protestors threatens to invade their opulent home, the women …
The post New Trailer and Poster for Jayro Bustamante’s Political Horror LA Llorona – Available August 6th appeared first on Hnn | Horrornews.net.
The post New Trailer and Poster for Jayro Bustamante’s Political Horror LA Llorona – Available August 6th appeared first on Hnn | Horrornews.net.
- 8/3/2020
- by Adrian Halen
- Horror News
Shudder has a packed August lineup that should excite any horror fan, including exclusive premieres, classic titles, and special events. Here's a look at their offerings:
From the Press Release:
Host (premieres Thursday, July 30)
Six friends hire a medium to hold a séance over Zoom during lockdown but get far more than they bargain for as things quickly go wrong. Host was shot remotely during quarantine and features practical scares, stunts, and surprises, all filmed by the actors in their own homes. Director Rob Savage (Dawn of the Deaf) never set foot in the same room as his actors at any point during production and instead directed them remotely. Starring: Haley Bishop (Deep State), Radina Drandova (Dawn of the Deaf), Edward Linard (The Rebels), Jemma Moore (Doom: Annihilation), Caroline Ward (Stalling It) and Emma Louise Webb (The Crown). A Shudder Original (Also available on Shudder Canada and Shudder UK)
LA Llorona (premieres Thursday,...
From the Press Release:
Host (premieres Thursday, July 30)
Six friends hire a medium to hold a séance over Zoom during lockdown but get far more than they bargain for as things quickly go wrong. Host was shot remotely during quarantine and features practical scares, stunts, and surprises, all filmed by the actors in their own homes. Director Rob Savage (Dawn of the Deaf) never set foot in the same room as his actors at any point during production and instead directed them remotely. Starring: Haley Bishop (Deep State), Radina Drandova (Dawn of the Deaf), Edward Linard (The Rebels), Jemma Moore (Doom: Annihilation), Caroline Ward (Stalling It) and Emma Louise Webb (The Crown). A Shudder Original (Also available on Shudder Canada and Shudder UK)
LA Llorona (premieres Thursday,...
- 7/28/2020
- by Jonathan James
- DailyDead
"Not the ghost story you're expecting..." Shudder has unveiled an official US trailer for a Guatemalan horror film titled La Llorona, from talented filmmaker Jayro Bustamante. This first premiered at the Venice Film Festival last year, and also played at TIFF, San Sebastián, Bergen, Zurich, London, Stockholm, Thessaloniki, Tokyo, and the Chicago Film Festival. A tale of horror and magical realism, the film reimagines the iconic Latin American fable as an urgent metaphor of Guatemala's recent history and then tears open the country's unhealed political wounds to grieve a seldom discussed crime against humanity. Not to be confused with the horror movie The Curse of La Llorona from last year. The film stars Maria Mercedes Coroy, Margarita Kenefic, Sabrina de la Hoz, María Telón, and Julio Diaz. This looks damn good! A twist on the usual supernatural horror, connecting politics with a ghost story and adding some serious thrills. A must watch.
- 7/14/2020
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
If you read Heather Wixson's 4.5-star Sundance review, then you know we're excited for Daily Dead readers to experience Jayro Bustamante's La Llorona. With the film coming to Shudder on August 6th, the wait is nearly over, and we have a look at the trailer ahead of its streaming release.
Directed by Bustamante from a screenplay he wrote with Lisandro Sánchez, La Llorona stars María Mercedes Coroy, Margarita Kénefic, Sabrina De La Hoz, and Julio Diaz.
You can watch the new trailer below, and in case you missed it, check out Heather's Sundance interview with Bustamante.
Synopsis: "Indignant retired general Enrique finally faces trial for the genocidal massacre of thousands of Mayans decades ago. As a horde of angry protestors threatens to invade their opulent home, the women of the house—his haughty wife, conflicted daughter, and precocious granddaughter—weigh their responsibility to shield the erratic, senile Enrique...
Directed by Bustamante from a screenplay he wrote with Lisandro Sánchez, La Llorona stars María Mercedes Coroy, Margarita Kénefic, Sabrina De La Hoz, and Julio Diaz.
You can watch the new trailer below, and in case you missed it, check out Heather's Sundance interview with Bustamante.
Synopsis: "Indignant retired general Enrique finally faces trial for the genocidal massacre of thousands of Mayans decades ago. As a horde of angry protestors threatens to invade their opulent home, the women of the house—his haughty wife, conflicted daughter, and precocious granddaughter—weigh their responsibility to shield the erratic, senile Enrique...
- 7/14/2020
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
After breaking out with the drama Ixcanul, Guatemalan director Jayro Bustamante returned with the back-to-back features Temblores and La Llorona on the festival circuit the past year. The lattermost film, which played at TIFF, Venice, Sundance, London, and more, is now arriving in the U.S. next month via Shudder and the new trailer and poster have landed. Starring María Mercedes Coroy, Margarita Kénefic, Sabrina De La Hoz, and Julio Diaz, the film explores the scars of the Guatemalan Civil War in formally stunning, atmospheric ways.
Dan Mecca said in our review, “Ever since Hannah Arendt coined the term “the banality of evil” in her 1963 book Eichmann in Jerusalem, it’s been a phrase oft-used in an attempt to describe how seemingly rational humans can do truly awful things. One recalls Joshua Oppenheimer’s documentary The Act of Killing or Chris Weitz’s Operation Finale in recent years. Director Jayro...
Dan Mecca said in our review, “Ever since Hannah Arendt coined the term “the banality of evil” in her 1963 book Eichmann in Jerusalem, it’s been a phrase oft-used in an attempt to describe how seemingly rational humans can do truly awful things. One recalls Joshua Oppenheimer’s documentary The Act of Killing or Chris Weitz’s Operation Finale in recent years. Director Jayro...
- 7/14/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
While at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, this writer had the opportunity to take in a variety of genre films while in Park City, including Amulet from first-time feature filmmaker Romola Garai, Jayro Bustamante’s haunting La Llorona, as well as the latest project from Indonesian filmmaker Joko Anwar, Impetigore.
Here’s a rundown of my thoughts on this varied trio of terrors from around the world.
Amulet: For her feature film debut, writer/director Romola Garai gives us an unconventional cautionary tale of sorts, although I’m not sure if the lesson here is: a.) you reap what you sow, b.) nothing in life is free, or c.) if you find a weird bat creature in your toilet, it’s time to get the hell out of the house. Or maybe the lesson here involves all of the above. In any case, Garai has crafted a film that defies convention,...
Here’s a rundown of my thoughts on this varied trio of terrors from around the world.
Amulet: For her feature film debut, writer/director Romola Garai gives us an unconventional cautionary tale of sorts, although I’m not sure if the lesson here is: a.) you reap what you sow, b.) nothing in life is free, or c.) if you find a weird bat creature in your toilet, it’s time to get the hell out of the house. Or maybe the lesson here involves all of the above. In any case, Garai has crafted a film that defies convention,...
- 2/4/2020
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Reviews of Jayro Bustamante’s “La Llorona” (“The Weeping Woman”) are obligated to mention that this quiet and trembling phantasmagoria about the ghosts of the Guatemalan Civil War has virtually nothing to do with Michael Chaves’ “The Curse of La Llorona,” the schlocky jump-scare machine that Warner Bros. released last spring. Aside from their shared roots in the same piece of Latin American folklore, these two films couldn’t have less in common; one is a slow-burn séance for the victims of a recent genocide, and the other is a PG-13 studio programmer that was only produced because of its ridiculous margins ($122 million in ticket sales against a $9 million budget is a job well done).
And yet, maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if critics let their readers assume a more direct connection between these wildly different visions of death. While anyone who subscribes to...
And yet, maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if critics let their readers assume a more direct connection between these wildly different visions of death. While anyone who subscribes to...
- 1/25/2020
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Ever since Hannah Arendt coined the term “the banality of evil” in her 1963 book Eichmann in Jerusalem, it’s been a phrase oft-used in an attempt to describe how seemingly rational humans can do truly awful things. One recalls Joshua Oppenheimer’s documentary The Act of Killing or Chris Weitz’s Operation Finale in recent years. Director Jayro Bustamante wades in these same waters with La Llorona, an effective slow-burn that uses thriller tropes to explore the lingering scars of the Guatemalan Civil War.
An elderly general named Enrique (Julio Diaz) is put on trial for brutal war crimes decades earlier. After he is acquitted on a technicality, his family barricade themselves together in their home, under siege by protestors seeking proper justice. While his wife (Margarita Kénefic) and daughter (Sabrina De La Hoz) debate the legitimacy of the victims’ testimony, the members of the staff begin to resign. Enrique...
An elderly general named Enrique (Julio Diaz) is put on trial for brutal war crimes decades earlier. After he is acquitted on a technicality, his family barricade themselves together in their home, under siege by protestors seeking proper justice. While his wife (Margarita Kénefic) and daughter (Sabrina De La Hoz) debate the legitimacy of the victims’ testimony, the members of the staff begin to resign. Enrique...
- 1/25/2020
- by Dan Mecca
- The Film Stage
Summoning nature’s earth-shaking forces — first volcanic eruptions, now earthquakes — to serve as resounding signifiers of instability, Guatemalan auteur Jayro Bustamante’s two features to date roar as sobering assessments of systematic marginalization in a society unwilling to broaden its viciously narrow status quo. First, “Ixcanul” objected to corrosive misogyny and racism; now homophobia is the target in his sophomore social drama “Tremors,” which had its North American premiere last March at the Miami Film Festival and opens theatrically Friday.
Bustamante’s social pariah, a white man from the upper crust of society, is far removed, at least in obvious parallels, from the teenage indigenous woman chastised by her community for an out-of-wedlock pregnancy in the director’s debut. Their personal hells, however, emanate from the same phallocentric well of hatred. In both instances, Bustamante lets his embattled protagonists unravel without the empty promise of a fortunate resolution.
A masculine fellow by all traditional parameters,...
Bustamante’s social pariah, a white man from the upper crust of society, is far removed, at least in obvious parallels, from the teenage indigenous woman chastised by her community for an out-of-wedlock pregnancy in the director’s debut. Their personal hells, however, emanate from the same phallocentric well of hatred. In both instances, Bustamante lets his embattled protagonists unravel without the empty promise of a fortunate resolution.
A masculine fellow by all traditional parameters,...
- 11/29/2019
- by Carlos Aguilar
- The Wrap
Guatamalan writer-director Jayro Bustamante had a dream debut with “Ixcanul” in 2015: The richly textured folk drama premiered in Competition at Berlin and won him the Alfred Bauer Prize, before going on to healthy international arthouse exposure. So it’s surprising that Bustamante’s subsequent work, while amply delivering on his first feature’s promise, has been comparatively sidelined in major festival programs. Earlier this year, his superb gay drama “Tremors” was demoted to Berlin’s lower-profile Panorama section; now “La Llorona,” his swift, thrilling, genre-expanding follow-up, has unspooled on the Lido in the external Venice Days sidebar — duly winning the top prize. By any measure, Bustamante’s latest is meaty, adventurous auteur cinema that would be of prime competition standard at any major fest: A nervy alternative horror film in which political ghosts of the past mingle with more uncanny phantoms, it ought to be the filmmaker’s most widely distributed work to date.
- 9/16/2019
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Plenty as twenty-one Golden Lion hopefuls can offer, leaving the Venice Film Festival without having ventured beyond the fest’s official lineup and into its parallel sidebars would be a missed opportunity. Aside from the notorious Horizons (Orizzonti)—a competitive selection running parallel to the official lineup and designed to showcase new trends in cinema—the festival invites you to explore a panoply of other programs and events, including Out of Competition slots, a selection of restored masterworks (Venice Classics), a virtual reality section (Venice Vr), and independent sidebars such as the International Critics Week and Venice Days (Giornate degli Autori), an independent program modeled on Cannes’ Directors' Fortnight. Now at my fifth year here on the Lido, I must confess I am yet to step foot on the island of Lazzaretto Vecchio, home to the Venice Vr screenings—a trip that would be well worth the ticket, if anything...
- 9/2/2019
- MUBI
Ana Isabel Bustamante’s “La Asfixia” has won Iff Panama’s 1st Fipresci prize for fest film in the “Stories from Central America and the Caribbean” section.
The jury, constituted by Joel del Río, from Cuba, José Teodoro, from Canada, and Daniel Domínguez, from Panama, said that they were impressed by the film’s “exploration of the language of cinema, diversity of perspectives and the reconstruction of Guatemala’s traumatic recent history and the corporality of the desaparecidos.”
Bustamante, cousin of fellow Guatemalan director Jayro Bustamente (“Ixcanal”) spent six years on her personal documentary about the desaparecidos during the civil war.
The pic won the Ibero-American Documentary special jury prize at Guadalajara and has also screened in Havana, Toulouse and Costa Rica.
Bustamante explained that the film is a personal journey of discovery because her own father was abducted while she was still in her mother’s womb and never returned.
The jury, constituted by Joel del Río, from Cuba, José Teodoro, from Canada, and Daniel Domínguez, from Panama, said that they were impressed by the film’s “exploration of the language of cinema, diversity of perspectives and the reconstruction of Guatemala’s traumatic recent history and the corporality of the desaparecidos.”
Bustamante, cousin of fellow Guatemalan director Jayro Bustamente (“Ixcanal”) spent six years on her personal documentary about the desaparecidos during the civil war.
The pic won the Ibero-American Documentary special jury prize at Guadalajara and has also screened in Havana, Toulouse and Costa Rica.
Bustamante explained that the film is a personal journey of discovery because her own father was abducted while she was still in her mother’s womb and never returned.
- 4/11/2019
- by Martin Dale
- Variety Film + TV
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