Caméra d’Or winner director César Díaz on Our Mothers and Guatemala’s recent history

Ernesto (Armando Espitia) is a young Guatemalan anthropologist tasked with identifying the bones of the people killed by the military government in the 1980s. One day, while hearing the account of an old woman, he thinks he has found a lead that might guide him to his father, a 'guerrillero' who went missing during the war. Meanwhile, his mother Cristina (Emma Dib), is about to testify at the trial of former soldiers who took part in the genocide.

 

Our Mothers is one of the rare films looking at the massacre carried out by the US backed military against the indigenous population.

 

Our Mothers won the Camera d'Or and the SACD Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. It received six nominations at the 10th Magritte Awards, including Best Film and Best Director for Díaz, winning Best First Feature Film.

César Díaz talks to Pablo Navarrete from Alborada and our audience about the film. The screening is part of our New Central American Cinema season.