Guatemalan Film 'Ixcanul' Might Be the Most Feminist Movie of the Year
PHOTO: Courtesy Kino Lorber
In Guatemala today, something like half of the population is indigenous Mayan, but those people exist on the fringes of society,
cut off from their country by racism and, often, a language barrier—the
country's official language is Spanish, and many Mayans speak one of
their many native languages. Mayan women face double discrimination:
First for their culture, and then for their gender.Which is what makes the newest hit movie out of Guatemala so spectacular.The film, Ixcanul,
is a coming-of-age story about Maria, a shy 17-year-old Mayan girl who
lives with her parents on a coffee plantation at the foot of an active
volcano in Guatemala. It stars María Mercedes Coroy,
who is a young Mayan woman herself—most of the actors, in fact, are
Mayans who were cast out of their local communities and then trained as
actors. The film is in Kaqchikel, a language spoken by some indigenous
Mayans, including Coroy. The director, 38-year-old Jayro Bustamante,
grew up in this part of Guatemala and learned Kaqchikel from his
nanny—though he says he was warned not to use it in public, for fear of getting bullied.But
despite all the prejudice against indigenous people in Guatemala, the
film has been a tremendous hit both in that country and on the overseas
film festival circuit. And it's not hard to see why: The film is gritty
and gorgeous, steeped in quiet suspense.
The
movie has made Coroy a star in her country—a huge feat for an
indigenous woman there. This spring, she even became the first Mayan
woman to grace the cover of a Guatemalan fashion magazine. And Ixcanul is the first Guatemalan film that has ever been nominated for the Academy Awards, in the foreign film category.This
might just be the rare film that isn't just telling an empowering story
on-screen, but could actually help change attitudes toward indigenous
people—especially Mayan women—in Guatemala. That's enough to make it a
must-see. And lucky us, it opened in the United States this fall. Check
for a local screening here.
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