AWARDS BUZZ
THE MOVER Tevs Nakts LATVIA, 2018 87 minutes Director: Davis Simanis Cast: Arturs Skrastins, Matiss Kipluks, Ilze Blauberga Print Source: Menemsha Films
Nuestras Madres BELGIUM, 2019 77 minutes Director: César Díaz Cast: Armando Espitia, Emma Dib, Aurelia Caal, Julio Serrano Echevarría, Victor Moreira Print Source: Outsider Pictures
Living in Soviet-occupied Latvia, Zanis (Arturs Skrastins) adheres to a strict code of ethics despite an illegal moonshine operation. When Germany invades in June 1941, Zanis is approached by a Jewish friend with desperate pleas to hide his daughter from the Nazis. Fearful of the consequences to his own family, he refuses, but soon after finds himself harboring Jewish families in a German-owned movie theater, then eventually in a bunker he builds in his own basement. Consumed with a profound guilt over the child he could have saved, he becomes determined to redeem himself by providing refuge for as many as possible, refusing no one. Elegantly helmed with escalating tension by documentarian Davis Simanis, The Mover explores the harrowing circumstances of a family in crisis and their transformative struggle to resistance. This powerful adaptation of a true story is the Latvian submission for the Academy Awards®.
In a troubled country where a person needs to be either “drunk or crazy” to live, forensic anthropologist Ernesto (Armando Espitia) has been given an assignment that takes him directly to the heart of a nation’s madness. Tasked with exhuming and identifying the remains of the forgotten victims of Guatemala’s devastating, decades-long civil war just as the officers accused of genocide are brought to trial, Ernesto is approached by Nicolasa (Aurelia Caal), an elderly Mayan woman in desperate need of help finding the remains of her husband. After traveling to her mountain village, Ernesto soon discovers that his long-lost father, known simply as “The Boss,” might have been involved in Mateo’s death. Despite warnings to let the dead rest, Ernesto digs deeper, driven by a fervor to uncover the truth, leading to a devastating revelation in this powerful first narrative feature from acclaimed editor and documentarian César Díaz.
Selected Filmography: Exiled (2016)
Winner: Caméra d’Or, Critics’ Week Society of Authors and Dramatic Composers (SACD), Cannes
In Latvian, German, Russian and Yiddish with English subtitles.
Sunday, January 5 • 9:45 am • MP Monday, January 6 • 4:45 pm • CAM Friday, January 10 • 4:15 pm • PSHS
98
OUR MOTHERS
In Spanish with English subtitles.
Saturday, January 4 • 10:30 am • CAM Monday, January 6 • 3:45 pm • MP Sunday, January 12 • 3:15 pm • REG