Another film from a female director has been selected to compete for a best foreign-language film nomination at the 2018 Academy Awards. “Tempestad,” a documentary about the human trafficking trade from Tatiana Huezo, has been selected as Mexico’s Oscar submission, The Hollywood Reporter writes. The doc is also Mexico’s pick to compete for the best foreign picture prize at Spain’s Goya Awards, which will be held in February.
“Tempestad” centers on two women, Miriam and Adela, who have been personally affected by human trafficking. “A morning on a quite normal day: Miriam is arrested at her workplace and is accused, without proof, of ‘people trafficking,’” the doc’s official synopsis summarizes. “The violence she suffered and was exposed to during her imprisonment has left a profound gap in her life. Adela works as a clown in a traveling circus. Ten years ago, her life was irreversibly transformed; every night during the show, she evokes her missing daughter, Monica. ‘Tempestad’ is the parallel journey of two women. Mirror-like, it reflects the impact of the violence and impunity that afflict Mexico.”
Huezo’s previous work includes several shorts and the award-winning 2011 feature documentary “El lugar más pequeño.” “El lugar” focuses on the residents of a village in El Salvador as they share their memories of the country’s civil war and commemorate the loved ones they lost in the conflict.
Other women-helmed films selected for the Oscars’ foreign-language race include Agnieszka Holland’s crime drama “Spoor,” Petra Volpe’s women’s rights drama “The Divine Order,” Ildikó Enyedi’s unconventional romance “On Body and Soul,” Ana Urushadze’s psychological thriller “Scary Mother,” and Annemarie Jacir’s “Wajib,” a dramedy about a father and his estranged son.
