MEXICO CITY.- Just as the literary world turned its gaze towards Latin America and the Caribbean by some writers who played with realism and magic, in recent years filmmakers have dealt with the supernatural to talk about issues such as violence
, challenges for women, health systems and the ravages of colonialism
have reverberated in the cultural world.
They are making use of genres such as horror, suspense and fantasy, which have long been popular with Latin American audiences, but have not commonly been produced in Latin America.
Mexican
Michelle Garza Cervera
, for example, has received awards for
Huesera
, only the second horror film to be released in Mexico directed by a woman in a century (it can also be rented in the United States as
The Bone Woman
).
Huesera
, whose title refers to a fable from the north of Mexico about a woman who creates creatures using bones, uses physical and psychological terror to question the expectations that women have regarding motherhood.
A scene from 'Huesera'.Photo by Nur Rubio Sherwell.
Courtesy of Michelle Garza Cervera
Chilean
Christopher Murray
was invited to the Sundance Film Festival in January with his film
Brujería/Sorcery
, which
It is already in theaters in Mexico and Chile.
The film portrays a real trial at the end of the 19th century against indigenous people accused of witchcraft on the island of Chiloé, to talk about how the native peoples were (and still are) forced to leave behind their traditions.
The fact that such films resonate outside of Latin America "shows how powerful genre cinema is," Garza Cervera explained to Noticias Telemundo, since "it gives us a license to talk about everything uncomfortable, the unmentionable, the difficult, breaking down the everyday." .
"They explore processes that are still open, wounds that are still open, conflicts that are still open."
Christopher Murray Filmmaker
Previously, the film
La Llorona
, by
Guatemalan director Jayro Bustamante
, caused a stir, which plays on the legend (also portrayed very differently by Hollywood) to tell a story of indigenous resilience in the face of generals who committed atrocities against Mayan peoples.
She was nominated for a Golden Globe in 2021 and was on the short list of Oscar nominees for International Film that year.
They come back
, the film by the
Mexican Issa López
about children who live with the ghosts of drug violence, was also acclaimed at its world premiere in 2019;
Lopez was inundated with invitations, including directing the new season of
True Detective
.
"It's exciting that auteur
films
that could have been so small or so specific to one place have
so much response from audiences in different parts of the world
that they manage to connect," says Garza Cervera, who won a Sundance Institute grant in March and two awards. of the Tribeca Festival.
Recommendations from syncretism
For Murray, the interest in these films is due to the fact that they reflect the
syncretism of Latin American nations
, the mixture of ancient indigenous traditions and other Christian colonial ones, with commemorations such as Day of the Dead.
