Doña Bárbara

1943 | B/N | 138:00

Based on the novel of the same name by Rómulo Gallegos, this film tells the story of a woman who, after having witnessed the murder of her fiancé and raped by some sailors, transforms into an implacable, fearful and violent woman. Years after her disastrous event, the young woman, now called Doña Bárbara, is a wealthy landowner in the Altamira region who manages men with her beauty, and the authorities with her money. However, her tough character softens when she meets Santos Luzardo, a lawyer who has arrived to claim the lands that the protagonist appropriated through tricks. However, Luzardo falls in love with Marisela, the daughter that Doña Bárbara abandoned. Unhappy again and with her daughter as a love rival, the powerful landowner is willing to do anything to win the heart of the man she loves.

Country: México
Direction: de Fuentes; Fernando
Script: Gallegos; Rómulo. Basado en la novela homónima
Photography: Phillips; Alex
Sound: González Gancy; Jesús, Randall; Howard
Music: Domínguez; Francisco
Art direction: Bracho; Jesús
Participation year at FICM: 2023

Director Movies

Let’s Go with Pancho Villa

During the Mexican Revolution, a group of brave peasants known as the Leones de San Pablo join Pancho Villa’s army. After a few battles, with more defeats than victories behind them, the original group has shrunk in number, and a series of troubles leads them to rethink their position.

El prisionero 13

Marta leaves her drunkard husband, Colonel Carrasco, taking their young son with her. The child, Juan, grows into an admirable young man. Years later, Carrasco accepts a bribe to free a revolutionary from his prison and asks to have him replaced by absolutely anyone. That anyone turns out to be his own long-lost son. When Carrasco finds out, he desperately attempts to prevent Juan’s execution at the hands of his very own officers.

The Phantom of the Monastery

Married couple Cristina and Eduardo, along with their friend Alfonso, get lost in the woods at dusk. When they encounter a mysterious monk, who offers them shelter at the old monastery of the Order of Silence, Eduardo is scared and refuses to go inside the building, but Cristina and Alfonso—who are having an affair—convince him to spend the night there. A series of abnormal events will make the lovers regret their decision.