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Childhood and Grief: Ángeles Cruz Premieres VALENTINA O LA SERENIDAD at the 21st FICM

Valentina o la serenidad, the second feature film by director and actress Ángeles Cruz, premiered at the 21st Morelia International Film Festival (FICM). The film is part of the competition in the Mexican Feature Film Section.

At a press conference attended by the director, producers Isis Ahumada and Myriam Bravo, cinematographer Carlos Correa, composer Alejandra Hernández, and the film's protagonist, Danae Ahua Aparicio, Ángeles Cruz said that the need to tell this story surfaced during the pandemic, as a result of the fear of loss and grief she experienced in 2020. 

"I had the urge to talk about death from that place: from childhood, from silence, which is part of my culture [...] That (mourning in childhood) is not talked about at home, because we assume it is obvious that children will not understand death."

Valentina, who has lost her father in an accident in the river, uses her imagination as a tool to try to overcome her grief. Not satisfied with the explanation that she will never see him again, she starts her own search, she calls him in the dark and talks to him in the river, but she can only hear an echo in return. Her friend Pedro will be her anchor and her mother tries to contain her until Valentina understands.

Danae Ahua Aparicio plays the role of Valentina. Originally from a town near Villa de Guadalupe Victoria, in Oaxaca, Danae learned to speak Mixtec under the guidance of Ángeles Cruz to prepare for the role.

For the director, the inclusion of Mixtec is particularly important because it represents a way of preserving the language.

When asked why she associated grief with calmness, Cruz answered: "To be able to survive when lightning strikes us and stay on our feet. That is serenity."