By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Ángeles Cruz
Starring: Alexander Gadiel Mendoza Sanchéz | Danae Ahuja Aparicio | Myriam Bravo
Original language title: Valentina o la serenidad
Year: 2024
Running time: 86
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt28681319/reference/
Chris says: “A big draw of TIFF for me is an opportunity to see films from remote corners of the world that might not otherwise be available or on my radar. Sometimes they’re excellent and occasionally they’re atrocious, but this one, from an Indigenous Mixtec village in Oaxaca, Mexico, is neither—just a pleasant little film about a young girl who refuses to believe her father has died in a freak drowning accident, going so far to claim that he has spoken to her from the river where he met his maker. As Valentina, Danae Ahuja Aparicio is the best thing about it—she has a naturalness that can’t be faked or learned. Her optimism is as deeply felt as her stubbornness and through her, the film is a window onto a culture’s distinct rituals and sensibilities. Having said that, Ángeles Cruz’s direction is rarely more than capable and even at a slim 86 minutes, the premise would have been better suited to a short. At the very least, you’ll come away from it knowing the Mixtec body language to summon thunder and lightning at will. 3 cats