La Llorona, the third feature film by director Jayro Bustamante (Ixcanul, Temblores), has become the first Central American film to ever be nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture in a Foreign Language, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) announced this morning.
The Guatemalan political horror-thriller, which recently was named Best Foreign Language Film of 2020 by National Board of Review, was the only Latin American film nominated this year and will be competing for the Golden Globe against the Danish film Another Round, the Italian film The Life Ahead, the French film Two of Us, and the American film Minari (spoken mostly in Korean).
La Llorona is a tale of horror and magical realism that reimagines the iconic Latin American fable, a grieving indigenous woman seeking revenge for the death of her children, as an urgent metaphor of Guatemala’s recent civil war which left an estimated hundreds of thousands dead, missing and displaced. The bloodiest period was under the rule of Efraín Ríos Montt, from 1981 to 1983. Today, Central America remains a region hit by violence against indigenous peoples, social movements and marginalized communities.
The film follows indignant retired general Enrique, whose character is inspired by Montt, as he finally faces trial for the genocidal massacre of thousands of Mayans decades ago. As a horde of angry protestors threatens to invade his opulent home, the women of the house—his wife, daughter, and granddaughter—weigh their responsibility to shield the erratic, senile Enrique against the devastating truths being publicly revealed and the increasing sense that a wrathful supernatural force is targeting them for his crimes.
Bustamante’s film had its world premiere at Venice Days, the independent competitive section of the 2019 Venice Film Festival, and played to critical acclaim at the Toronto International Film Festival, the Sundance Film Festival, and BFI London Film Festival. With this nomination, the Guatemalan cements its possibilities to be shortlisted for the Academy Awards next week.
