FILM
La pasión de María Elena (The Passion of María Elena)
Mercedes Moncada
Mexico, 2003
DVD (35mm). 76min. Color19:30h
Casa AméricaProduction: Mercedes Moncada, Javier Morón, Chango Films, CONACULTA, IMCINE, U de G, [email protected]
Photography: Javier Morón Tejero
Editor: Viviana García-Besné & Mercedes Moncada
Screenplay: Mercedes Moncada
Music: Café Tacuba, Martín Chávez, Samuel LarsonSinopsis:
María Elena, a Rarámuri woman from the Tarahumara mountains, loses her eldest son when he is run over by a white woman who is acquitted in two successive trails -one traditional and the other official. María Elena does not conform to the conventions for Rarámuri women in the community, and her son's death is the catalyst for her to leave her community and move to the city of Chihuahua. Despite her obvious difficulties, María Elena has her own way of structuring the world so she can get on with her life.
This is a story about cultural identity, the clash of two opposing worlds within the geography of one country. Mercedes Moncada's debut feature documentary won Best Documentary at the São Paulo Film Festival (2003) and Best Mexican Feature at the Guadalajara Film Festival (2003).
