MEXICO 86

“I was born in 1978, during the civil war in Guatemala. My mother was involved in the struggle against the dictatorship and had to go into exile in Mexico when I was three years old. She did it for her own safety, but also in order to carry on the struggle. I remained in Guatemala with my grandmother. This is why I never was my mother’s son. I was my grandmother’s son, and I saw my mother as a friend, as a big sister. I never doubted her love for me, but I needed her presence, and she just couldn’t give it to me. […] I chose to set the story in 1986, the year of the World Cup in Mexico. That year is part of my childhood memories and offers an interesting contrast between the joyous popular atmosphere and the difficulties faced by the revolutionary militants. 1986 was also a pivotal year for Guatemala: the authorities had proclaimed an amnesty law which allowed the resistance fighters to surrender without punishment, as long as they collaborated with the government. Many militants who had grown tired of the struggle returned to Guatemala. Later, we learned that the government manipulated these reformed militants in order to strike the resistance even harder.” (César Diaz)

After studying in Mexico and Belgium, César Diaz (Guatemala, 1978) joined the script workshop at FEMIS in Paris. For over ten years, he has been editing fiction films and documentaries. Between 2020 and 2014, he also directed the short documentaries Semillas de cenizas, which have been shown at some twenty international festivals, and Territorio liberado, winner of the IMCINE prize in Mexico. Our Mothers, selected for the 58th Critics’ Week at Cannes and awarded the Caméra d’Or 2019, was his first feature-length narrative film.