Two Latin American films were announced today winners at the 2022 edition of the Tribeca Festival: the Mexican film Huesera by Michelle Garza Cervera, which won the Best New Narrative Director Award and the Nora Ephron Award for Best Film directed by a woman; while the Bolivian film The Visitor / El visitante received the Best Screenplay Award in the international narrative competition.
Huesera, which had its world premiere in the Midnight section of the festival tells the story of Valeria (played by Natalia Solián, whose joy with becoming pregnant dissolves as she is cursed by a dark power. As danger surrounds her, she’s forced deeper into the occult, and a pact with a coven of witches may be her only hope.
The Visitor tells the story of Humberto (in an impressive performance by newcomer Enrique Aráoz), an ex-convict who makes a modest living by singing at wakes. Humberto’s greatest desire is to rebuild his relationship with his estranged daughter and provide her with a decent life, but the grandparents of the child—wealthy Evangelical pastors—are not willing to give up custody of their only granddaughter. Financially and ideologically bullied into a corner, Humberto is forced to face his own demons while simultaneously fighting a powerful ecclesiastical institution to which he once belonged.
The 2022 edition of the Tribeca Film Festival took place June 8-19 in New York City.
