Ana and her friends live in a Mexican village menaced by gangs and people traffickers in this complex and subtle story
Tatiana Huezo’s film, adapted from the 2012 novel by Jennifer Clement, was Mexico’s official submission for the Oscars: a complex, subtle, tender and heart-rending story of a young girl’s upbringing in a village menaced by the drug cartels and people traffickers.
Ana (Ana Cristina Ordóñez González) is a kid whose careworn mum Rita (Mayra Batalla) tells her to cut her hair short and pretend to be a boy – because the gangsters like to take young girls away for reasons she needn’t explain. One girl nearby has already been taken away, her parents gone, too, and her abandoned home is eerily empty, with toys and clothes strewn all over the floor. Rita even shows Ana the shallow grave with branches over it in the back yard she...
Tatiana Huezo’s film, adapted from the 2012 novel by Jennifer Clement, was Mexico’s official submission for the Oscars: a complex, subtle, tender and heart-rending story of a young girl’s upbringing in a village menaced by the drug cartels and people traffickers.
Ana (Ana Cristina Ordóñez González) is a kid whose careworn mum Rita (Mayra Batalla) tells her to cut her hair short and pretend to be a boy – because the gangsters like to take young girls away for reasons she needn’t explain. One girl nearby has already been taken away, her parents gone, too, and her abandoned home is eerily empty, with toys and clothes strewn all over the floor. Rita even shows Ana the shallow grave with branches over it in the back yard she...
- 4/6/2022
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Mexico’s entry for Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards, “Prayers for the Stolen,” gives a glimpse into life in a town at war seen through the eyes of three young girls on the path to adolescence. Director Tatiana Huezo was compelled to step away from documentary filmmaking to shoot her first narrative feature about a rural village dominated by the drug trade and human trafficking.
“This story presented me with a lot of challenges and risks,” Huezo admits. “It was my first feature film and first fiction. But what I loved the most was that it demanded of me to look at the world through the eyes of a young girl. I’ve been in this territory of childhood and adolescence for a while now. I’m a mother to a growing girl. Her magic, her first pains are really what have been a growing motor...
“This story presented me with a lot of challenges and risks,” Huezo admits. “It was my first feature film and first fiction. But what I loved the most was that it demanded of me to look at the world through the eyes of a young girl. I’ve been in this territory of childhood and adolescence for a while now. I’m a mother to a growing girl. Her magic, her first pains are really what have been a growing motor...
- 12/1/2021
- by Denton Davidson
- Gold Derby
Young girls hide from drug cartels in Prayers For The Stolen, Mexico’s powerful entry to the International Feature Oscar race. Directed by Tatiana Huezo and loosely based on Jennifer Clement’s novel, the film, which screens at AFI Fest on November 14 and releases theatrically and on Netflix in the U.S. and select regions on November 17, centers on three girls living in a remote mountaintop. Rich in atmosphere, it captures the sights and sounds of their daily lives, balancing the charming details of their childhood bonding with the terrible impact of the drug trade on their community.
Eight-year-old Ana (Ana Cristina Ordóñez González) plays with her friends Paula (Camila Gaal) and Maria (Blanca Itzel Pérez) while their mothers work in the poppy fields, bleeding the bulbs for opium. The children still have a carefree air; but their mothers rarely smile. Ana’s mother Rita (Mayra Batalla) is constantly on guard,...
Eight-year-old Ana (Ana Cristina Ordóñez González) plays with her friends Paula (Camila Gaal) and Maria (Blanca Itzel Pérez) while their mothers work in the poppy fields, bleeding the bulbs for opium. The children still have a carefree air; but their mothers rarely smile. Ana’s mother Rita (Mayra Batalla) is constantly on guard,...
- 11/12/2021
- by Anna Smith
- Deadline Film + TV
The trailer for Prayers for the Stolen has just been released. The film is Mexico’s official submission for International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards. You can check out the film’s new trailer above and the poster for the film below.
In a solitary town nestled in the Mexican mountains, the girls wear boyish haircuts and have hiding places underground. Ana and her two best friends take over the houses of those who have fled and dress up as women when no one is watching. In their own impenetrable universe, magic and joy abound; meanwhile, their mothers train them to flee from those who turn them into slaves or ghosts. But one day, one of the girls doesn’t make it to her hideout in time. Liberally adapted from Jennifer Clement’s eponymous 2014 novel.
About The Film Genre: Drama Running Time: 110 minutes MPAA Rating: R (for some...
In a solitary town nestled in the Mexican mountains, the girls wear boyish haircuts and have hiding places underground. Ana and her two best friends take over the houses of those who have fled and dress up as women when no one is watching. In their own impenetrable universe, magic and joy abound; meanwhile, their mothers train them to flee from those who turn them into slaves or ghosts. But one day, one of the girls doesn’t make it to her hideout in time. Liberally adapted from Jennifer Clement’s eponymous 2014 novel.
About The Film Genre: Drama Running Time: 110 minutes MPAA Rating: R (for some...
- 10/22/2021
- by Editor
- CinemaNerdz
"What do you think will happen when one of us is suddenly gone?" Netflix has debuted an official US trailer for the acclaimed Mexican drama titled Prayers for the Stolen in English, originally known as Noche de Fuego (which translates directly to Night of Fire) in Spanish. This first premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, and recently played at both the New York & London Film Festivals. Prayers for the Stolen is about life in a solitary town nestled in the mountains that is at war, seen through the eyes of three girls on their path to adolescence. "In their own impenetrable universe, magic and joy abound; meanwhile, their mothers train them to flee from those who turn them into slaves or ghosts. But one day, one of the girls doesn't make it to their hideout in time." Starring Mayra Batalla, Ana Cristina Ordóñez González, Marya Membreño, Norma Pablo,...
- 10/22/2021
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
After winning the Best International Feature Film Oscar a few years ago with Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma, Mexico has another notable contender this year. Tatiana Huezo’s Prayers for the Stolen, which premiered at Cannes Film Festival this summer and recently played at NYFF and BFI London, was picked up by Netflix and will now arrive next month. Ahead of the release, the new trailer has arrived.
Backed by Roma producer Nicolás Celis along with Jim Stark, the film is set in a mountain town in Mexico where three young girls take over the houses of those who have fled. Led by Ana Cristina Ordóñez González, Marya Membreño, Mayra Batalla, Norma Pablo, Eileen Yáñez, and Memo Villegas, see the trailer below.
Prayers for the Stolen comes to theaters in November and hits Netflix on November 17.
The post U.S. Trailer for Mexico's Oscar Entry Prayers for the Stolen first appeared on The Film Stage.
Backed by Roma producer Nicolás Celis along with Jim Stark, the film is set in a mountain town in Mexico where three young girls take over the houses of those who have fled. Led by Ana Cristina Ordóñez González, Marya Membreño, Mayra Batalla, Norma Pablo, Eileen Yáñez, and Memo Villegas, see the trailer below.
Prayers for the Stolen comes to theaters in November and hits Netflix on November 17.
The post U.S. Trailer for Mexico's Oscar Entry Prayers for the Stolen first appeared on The Film Stage.
- 10/22/2021
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Mexico has become the latest country to make its submission to this year’s International Oscar race, selecting Tatiana Huezo’s Prayers For The Stolen.
The pic debuted at Cannes this year, receiving a special mention in the Un Certain Regard program. The film was also a multi-award-winner at the San Sebastian and Athens film festivals. Netflix picked up rights and will release in select theaters and online in November.
Vaguely based on Jennifer Clement’s 2014 novel, the film is set In a solitary town nestled in the Mexican mountains, where the girls wear boyish haircuts and have hiding places underground. Ana and her two best friends take over the houses of those who have fled and dress up as women when no one is watching. In their own impenetrable universe, magic and joy abound; meanwhile, their mothers train them to flee from those who turn them into slaves or ghosts.
The pic debuted at Cannes this year, receiving a special mention in the Un Certain Regard program. The film was also a multi-award-winner at the San Sebastian and Athens film festivals. Netflix picked up rights and will release in select theaters and online in November.
Vaguely based on Jennifer Clement’s 2014 novel, the film is set In a solitary town nestled in the Mexican mountains, where the girls wear boyish haircuts and have hiding places underground. Ana and her two best friends take over the houses of those who have fled and dress up as women when no one is watching. In their own impenetrable universe, magic and joy abound; meanwhile, their mothers train them to flee from those who turn them into slaves or ghosts.
- 10/20/2021
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Mexico has witnessed over 80,000 disappearances since former President Felipe Calderon declared a war on drug cartels in 2006. A quarter of the missing are women — the majority of them teenage girls. “Prayers for the Stolen,” Mexican-Salvadorian director Tatiana Huezo’s first narrative feature, takes place amidst this national nightmare, depicting the dangers and deep-seated fears that families have long endured. Told through the lens of three girls as they grow up in a rural town in the Guerrero mountains, Huezo’s film is , and where the adults are as powerless as the children.
As a documentary filmmaker, Huezo has immersed herself in communities across Mexico and her native El Salvador to show the human consequences of their seemingly endless wars. In “Tempestad” (2016), she tells the story of two women exploited by the drug war in Mexico, and here she brings the same harrowing overtone of urgency to her fiction debut.
“Prayers for the Stolen...
As a documentary filmmaker, Huezo has immersed herself in communities across Mexico and her native El Salvador to show the human consequences of their seemingly endless wars. In “Tempestad” (2016), she tells the story of two women exploited by the drug war in Mexico, and here she brings the same harrowing overtone of urgency to her fiction debut.
“Prayers for the Stolen...
- 9/30/2021
- by Susannah Gruder
- Indiewire
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