Ixcanul
Bustamante’s film is downright Herzogian…in its surfeit of physical detail, observed ritual and looming clash of civilizations.
Ixcanul
Maria, a 17-year-old Mayan girl, lives and works with her parents on a Guatemalan coffee plantation in the foothills of an active volcano. An arranged marriage awaits her: her parents have promised her to Ignacio, the plantation overseer. But Maria doesn’t sit back and accept her fate. Pepe, a young coffee cutter who plans to migrate to the U.S., becomes her possible way out. Maria seduces Pepe in order to run away with him, but after promises and clandestine meetings, Pepe abandons her, leaving her pregnant, alone and disgraced. There’s no time to lose for Maria’s mother, who thinks abortion is the only solution. But again things do not go as planned.
Guatemala’s entry for the Academy Awards, Best Foreign Language Film
Winner Silver Bear Alfred Bauer Prize, 2015 Berlinale Film Festival
Official Selection, 2015 Telluride Film Festival
Official Selection, 2015 Toronto International Film Festival
**** (Four stars) “A fascinating blend of modernity and ritual.” —The Guardian
About the Director: Jayro Bustamante was born in Guatemala in 1977 and trained as a director in Guatemala, Paris and Rome. Bustamante’s short films have been awarded prizes in several festivals. The most recent, Cuando sea grande, debuted at the Clermont Ferrand Festival where it won the CNC Quality Award, and was broadcast on French, Swedish and Dutch television. His script El escuadrón de la muerte was selected in the San Sebastián, Guadalajara, Cartagena, Biarritz, Amiens and NALIP Film Festivals. Ixcanul is Bustamante’s first feature film.
Winner of the Silver Bear Alfred Bauer prize at the 2015 Berlinale—the most prestigious film prize ever received by a Central American production—Ixcanul was an official selection of numerous leading international film festivals, such as Toronto and Telluride, and was Guatemala’s Academy Awards entry for Best Foreign Language Film.
Guatemala’s entry for the Academy Awards, Best Foreign Language Film
Winner Silver Bear Alfred Bauer Prize, 2015 Berlinale Film Festival
Official Selection, 2015 Telluride Film Festival
Official Selection, 2015 Toronto International Film Festival
**** (Four stars) “A fascinating blend of modernity and ritual.” —The Guardian
About the Director: Jayro Bustamante was born in Guatemala in 1977 and trained as a director in Guatemala, Paris and Rome. Bustamante’s short films have been awarded prizes in several festivals. The most recent, Cuando sea grande, debuted at the Clermont Ferrand Festival where it won the CNC Quality Award, and was broadcast on French, Swedish and Dutch television. His script El escuadrón de la muerte was selected in the San Sebastián, Guadalajara, Cartagena, Biarritz, Amiens and NALIP Film Festivals. Ixcanul is Bustamante’s first feature film.
Winner of the Silver Bear Alfred Bauer prize at the 2015 Berlinale—the most prestigious film prize ever received by a Central American production—Ixcanul was an official selection of numerous leading international film festivals, such as Toronto and Telluride, and was Guatemala’s Academy Awards entry for Best Foreign Language Film.
Genre
Drama
Runtime
91
Language
Kaqchikel
Director
Jayro Bustamante
Cast
María Mercedes Coroy,
María Telón,
Marvin Coroy
Awards:
Nominee, Best First Feature Award, Berlin International Film Festival
Nominee, Golden Bear, Berlin International Film Festival
Nominee, International Jury Award ~ Best Feature Film, San Sebastián International Film Festival
Winner, Alfred Bauer Award, Berlin International Film Festival
MOREFEATURED REVIEW
Alan Scherstuhl, Village Voice
The most destructive villain in this year's summer movies isn't some super-powered fiend. It's us, the consumers of North America, whose desires have shaped the world in a pair of devastating new films from Guatemala and Peru. The U.S. looms over Jayro Bustamante's patient, observant, exquisitely ...
Played at
Monica Film Center 8.26.16 - 9.25.16
Playhouse 7 8.27.16 - 9.25.16
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