![]() ![]() Aerial shots of the surrounding mountains and jungle highlight the girls’ isolation from the rest of Mexico, but it is far from a safe haven. ![]() This film about female friendship and resilience should pride itself on the quietly powerful performances of Marya Membreño, Giselle Barrera Sánchez and Alejandro Camacho portraying the teenage Ana, Maria and Paula, with strong casting bringing excellent continuity from the actors playing the girls in their infancy. At the first sound of a rumbling engine crawling up the mountainside, they hide them in the ground like rabbits. To protect their daughters, the women of the villages cut the girls’ hair short and give them boys’ names. It is too dangerous for girls, owing to the regular visits from local narco gangs from Acapulco, who make their way up to the mountain villages in black SUVs with black-tinted windows, in search of girls to take back with them to the city. ![]() The mothers would have you believe that boys are born on the mountainside. Fathers and sons have left for the US in search of a better life, either dying en route or leaving their past, and their families, behind for good. There are no men living on the mountainside of Mexico’s Guerrera state. ![]() This is the first narrative feature for documentary maker Huezo, and in June 2021 it won a Special Mention in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes Film Festival. Prayers for the Stolen ( Noche de fuego, 2021) is a Mexican drama directed by Tatiana Huezo, based on a book by Jennifer Clement of the same title. ![]()
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