Prayers for the Stolen by Tatiana Huezo
Two Latin American films have moved closer to an Oscar nomination for Best International Feature as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has just announced its shortlist few minutes ago. The two Latin American films are the Mexican film Prayers for the Stolen / Noche de fuego by Tatiana Huezo and the Panamanian film Plaza Catedral by Abner Benaim, which becomes the first entry from the Central American country to get shortlisted.
Huezo’s debut fiction film, winner of a Special Mention in the Un Certain Regard competition at the Cannes Film Festival, and the Best Latin American Film Award at the San Sebastian Film Festival, is set in a solitary town nestled in the Mexican mountains, where the girls wear boyish haircuts and have hiding places underground.
Liberally adapted from Jennifer Clement’s eponymous 2014 novel, Prayers for the Stolen follows Ana and her two best friends take over the houses of those who have fled and dress up as women when no one is watching. In their own impenetrable universe, magic and joy abound; meanwhile, their mothers train them to flee from those who turn them into slaves or ghosts. But one day, one of the girls doesn’t make it to her hideout in time.
Starring Mexican actress Ilse Salas (The Good Girls) and Colombian actor Manolo Cardona (Narcos), Plaza Catedral tells the story of Alicia, who had "a perfect life” and lost it. Her 6-year-old son died in an accident. Her grief is plagued by guilt, which has made her disassociate from society, from married life, and from herself. She now lives in the Old Quarter of Panama, a rich colonial enclave surrounded by Panama's poorest neighborhoods. There she meets Chief, a street smart 13-year-old who takes care of cars in front of her apartment and insists on getting paid for his job. Alicia keeps a safe distance from him, until one night Chief arrives at Alicia's apartment bleeding from a gunshot wound and begs her to let him inside. How far would you go to help a stranger?
The nominees for the 94th annual Academy Awards will be announced on Tuesday, February 8, 2022, and the winners will be unveiled on Sunday, March 27, 2022.
