Jayro Bustamante

Writer
Producer
Director

María, a 17-year-old Mayan Kaqchiquel girl, lives with her parents on a coffee farm on the slopes of an active volcano in Guatemala. An arranged marriage awaits her, a project that she does not want to accept, but from which she cannot escape. María will try to change her destiny despite her status as an indigenous woman. But a complication with her pregnancy will force her to go in search of a hospital: the modern world that she dreamed of so much will save her life, but at too high a price.

Play demo reel2:14

Trailer Ixcanul

Born in Guatemala. He studied Film Directing in Paris at the Conservatoire Libre du Cinema Francais, and continued his studies in screenwriting at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome. In 2009 he returned to Guatemala and founded La Casa de Produccion. He produced four short films and his debut feature, Ixcanul, which won him the Silver Bear at the 2015 Berlin Film Festival and more than 60 awards in international festivals. In 2018 he produced and directed his second film, Tremors, which premiered at the 2019 Berlin Film Festival and received several international awards. In September 2019 he premiered his third film, La Llorona, in Venice, winning the Best Director award in the Giornate degli Autori. Jayro is currently developing a number of films and series, as well as producing for other Guatemalan and foreign directors. He has been juror at Berlinale 2016, Brussels Film Festival 2018, Biarritz Festival 2018, Platino Awards and Fenix Awards, and Los Cabos Film Festival. He was President of the Jury for Horizontes Latinos in the San Sebastiaan 2020 Festival, and President of the Jury at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia, 2021. His film La Llorona was nominated as Best Foreign Language Film at the Golden Globes and Best Ibero-American Film at the Goya Awards, both in 2021; it was nominated in eleven categories at the 2021 Platino Awards, and won five.