Ixcanul: 10th anniversary

Winner of the Berlinale’s Silver Bear, this brilliant debut by acclaimed filmmaker Jayro Bustamante (La Llorona) is set on the slopes of an active volcano. The Guatemalan drama follows María (María Mercedes Coroy, in her acclaimed breakthrough performance), a 17-year-old Kaqchikel Maya girl caught between ancestral tradition and an unforgiving modern world. Though she dreams of escaping to the city, María faces an arranged marriage and limited options as an Indigenous woman. A sudden snake bite forces her into the state health system, where her body is saved but her agency is stolen. A visually stunning, deeply moving portrait of resistance, desire, and cultural dislocation, Ixcanul stands as a landmark for Central American cinema.