On Monday evening, the World Film Studies program hosted the third installment of the five-movie Hispanic World Film Festival.
The feature movie of the night, “Ixcanul,” is set in Guatemala and highlights the lives of coffee plantation workers and the struggle some young women face when finding a partner in marriage.
“It’s an amazing example of how the Indigenous culture, how [they are] being invisibilized in Guatemalan culture,” said Xavier Dapena, assistant professor of the world languages and cultures department. “I think from my point of view as a professor here… we can bring to the students and the ISU community the specific things that television [can show], like domestic labor and how it evolves in our societies, specifically from a Latino American perspective, and from Spain.”
The movie follows protagonist Maria and her family as they navigate working at a coffee plantation that becomes overrun by venomous snakes. As the film progresses, Maria becomes pregnant, believing that her pregnancy has blessed her with a light that can drive the snakes away.
Following this belief, Maria risks her life to attempt to remove the snakes, getting bitten in the process and escorted to a nearby hospital. The hospital claims Maria lost her child due to the bite, but Maria later discovers that her child did not pass away and was instead missing from the coffin the family was ordered to take home from the hospital.
The local authorities urge Maria and her family not to file a report, as antagonist Ignacio, the plantation foreman, sabotages the meeting while performing the role of translator for Maria. The film ends with Maria marrying Ignacio.
The festival offers the Iowa State community an opportunity to view four Latin American films and one film from Spain. Free snacks and drinks are provided for all movie-goers.
“[I’m most excited for] the story and the plot of it,” Emilea Johnson, a junior studying psychology, said. “It seemed really interesting… it’s about a woman in society trying to figure out her role and balance it in between her culture.”
Some students attended the event without any prior knowledge of the film or experience speaking Spanish.
“I don’t really know Spanish, I’m not studying it at all, so I just came here for the ride,” Erich Belden, an attendee, said.
To watch the next installment of the Hispanic World Film Festival, attend the next film showing at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Carver 0001.
For more information on the World Film Studies program, visit their website.
