Nudo Mixteco

Mexicaans speelfilmdebuut over niet (meer) thuis zijn in je gemeenschap

Friday 17 June 2022 from 16:30 until 18:00

Filmhuis - zaal 2

€ 11,- regulier; € 9,- student/CJP; € 5,50 ooievaarspas; cinevillepas

In partnership with the Filmhuis Den Haag, during the Summer Edition of the Winternachten Festival we screened the Mexican film Nudo Mixteco three times. It was seen on Thursday 16 June, Friday 17 June and Saturday 18 June 2022. In this impressive debut feature, director Ángeles Cruz investigates the impact of migration and the difficulties women face in a traditional society. It is a fascinating portrait of a modern rural Mexico still living in the past.

About Nudo Mixteco
Three lives cross paths in a Mixtec commuity in the highlands of the Mexican state Oaxaca. The Sierra Mixteca - a mountainous area between Puebla and Oaxaca - is also called "Nudo Mixteco." The film title could be translated literally as "Mixtecan knot," in reference to its three intertwining stories. During the Festival of San Mateo, the patron saint of the village named after him, María, Esteban and Toña return to their place of birth from various directions. María has come to bury her mother while her father rejects her due to her lesbian relationship. Esteban is unexpectedly returning after five years of working the U.S., thinking he can just pick up where he left off with his wife Chabela. Toña had fled to the captial to get away from the uncle who abused her as a child; she later discovered that the daughter she left behind with her mother underwent the same fate. These three separate stories connect during one brief moment, combining into a mosaic-like tale that creats a unique picture of the local culture in which director Ángeles Cruz grew up. Celebrations, rituals and village meetings that function as a council for disputes form the fabric of a community that offers protection and comfort, but also has limitations and dangers that come to light through the fates of the protagonists. In this impressive debut feature, director Ángeles Cruz investigates the impact of migration and the difficulties women face in a traditional society. It is a fascinating portrait of a modern rural Mexico still living in the past.

Whose House is This?
This film was screened as part of the Summer Edition of the Winternachten Festival 2022. This year's theme was Whose House is This?, with which the festival aimed to investigate all possible forms of "(not) feeling at home." Nudo Mixteco wonderfully illustrates what happens when you return to a place that was once home but no longer seems to be.

Nudo Mixteco
Direction: Ángeles Cruz
Featuring: Sonia Couoh, Noé Hernández, Myriam Bravo
Mexico, 2021, 91 min. In Spanish with Dutch subtitles