Nudo Mixteco

(Nudo mixteco)
Ángeles Cruz | Drama, Fiction

2021 | 91 minutes | Mexico

A quietly powerful triptych of stories that speak about the impact of migration and the plight of indigenous women in a rural Mixtec village in Oaxaca.

Synopsis

Taking place in a rural Mixtec village in Oaxaca, southern Mexico, Nudo Mixteco follows the return of María, Esteban, and Toña, each from a different direction. Each of them has a different reason for coming back, just like each had a different reason to leave in the first place. However, all three face a confrontation that will force a turning point in their lives.

María buries her mother, her father rejects her, and in uncertainty, she asks her childhood love, Piedad, to leave with her. Esteban returns after three years to discover that Chabela, his wife, is living with another man. Enraged he calls the village people to prosecute her in an assembly. Toña, faced with her daughter's abuse, relives her own pain when she returns to confront her family to protect her.

Narrated from the point of view of the women, the three stories momentarily intersect with each other and together paint an exceptional picture of the local culture, in which filmmaker Ángeles Cruz herself grew up. Festivities, rituals, and a village council that acts as a tribunal – these elements make up the fabric of a community that should offer protection, warmth, and security. However, the fates of the three protagonists will reveal a constant fight against age-old patriarchal power and prejudice.

Reviews

"A quietly powerful triptych of stories that speak about the plight of indigenous women." — Screen International

"In her impressive narrative feature debut, Mexican actor-filmmaker Ångeles Cruz examines the impact of migration, and the difficulties women face in a small village in the Mexican state of Oaxaca." — Ed Meza, Variety

"Offers a unique insight into women's experiences in a traditional Mixtec village and upholds the power of listening for understanding one another and building better futures for the whole of society." — Rebecca Wilson, Sounds and Colors

"These are three impeccably well-written stories" — Alejandro Alemán, El Universal

"Cruz's compassionate and skillful storytelling, assisted by strong performances, results in a lighter, engaging alternative to the often-hardcore Mexican approach to drama." — Demetrios Matheou, Screen Daily

Citation
Main credits

Cruz, Ángeles (film director)
Cruz, Ángeles (screenwriter)
Bravo, Myriam (actor)
Hernández, Noé (actor)
Couoh, Sonia (actor)
Ovando, Lola (film producer)
Carreras, Lucía (film producer)

Other credits

Cinematography, Carlos Correa; editor, Miguel Salgado; music, Ruben Luengas.


Citation
Cataloging
Keywords
People, places, romance, bullying, violence, LGBTQ+, return, Mexico, spanish, spanish language, latin america, latin american cinema, latin american film, ibero america, latin, latinx, latino, latina,,sociology, anthropology, psychology, sociological, sociological perspectives, conflict theory, human conflicts, sociological thinking,conflict perspective, topics in sociology, sociology topics, sociology studies, social studies, people and cultures, human relations, human relationships, cultural studies, culture studies ,women, womanhood, gender, girl, girlhood, mother, motherhood, female, cis woman, cis female, trans woman, trans female, women’s rights, women’s issues, lady, ladies, gentlewoman, madame, miss, missus, mrs., dame, damsel, ingenue, lass, maid, maiden, belle, gal, ladyfriend, girlfriend, dear, darling, widow, matron, dowager, gender, gender equality, gender pay gap, women’s liberation, women’s rights,indigenous peoples, indigenous people, indigenous, native, native people, native peoples, aboriginal people, aboriginal, aborigine, indigene, indigeneity, tribes, tribal, tribal people, tribal peoples,migration studies, migrant studies, immigration studies, refugee studies, diaspora studies, resettlement studies, settlement studies, migration, migrant, immigration, refugee, diaspora, resettlement, settlement, refugees, international migration, continental migration, resettling, settlers, settler, migrant, migrant studies, first generation immigrant, first generation immigration, new americans, new spaniards,anthropologically, cultural anthropology, forensic anthropology, anthropologist, human nature, physical anthropology, ethnocentric, ethnography, functionalism, cultures, societies, human people, human society, functionalism, globalization, ideology, pragmatism, dogmatism, social change, society,family, kin, fellowship, household, immediate family, extended family, multigenerational family, multigenerational household, kinfolk, family tree, genealogy, nuclear family, modern family, family tree,culture, identity, identity politics, culture wars, left wing, right wing, intersectionality, identity groups, civilization, literacy, humanism, cancel culture, online culture, cultural revolution, cultural diffusion, culture shock, popular culture, pop culture, material culture, cultural capital, cultural assimilation ,human rights, public rights, equal rights, freedom of expression, basic human rights, united nations, activism, human rights activism, human rights council, human rights commission, universal human rights, universal rights; "Nudo Mixteco"; Pragda Films
Clips
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Festivals

Morelia International Film Festival - Audience Award Best Screenplay
San Francisco International Film Festival - Critics' Jury Award
Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival - Emerging Filmmaker Competition
International Film Festival Rotterdam
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival - Audience Award
BFI London Film Festival

DIRECTOR: Ángeles Cruz

NATIONALITY: Mexico

YEAR: 2021

GENRE: Drama, Fiction

LANGUAGE: Spanish; Indigenous languages

COLOR / B&W: Color

GRADE LEVEL: College, Adults

SUBTITLE/CC: AVAILABLE

AUDIO DESCRIPTION: NOT AVAILABLE

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