Tempestad

Built around interviews with two women, Tatiana Huezo’s Tempestad uses asynchronous sound and evocative cinematography to suggest the omnipresent effects of organized crime in Mexico. Beginning with her release, Miriam describes her detention at a cartel-operated prison far from her home and son. Her voice is accompanied by images of an assortment of travelers on their own journeys, dark clouds, and rain. Adela speaks about life in the circus and her ongoing search for a daughter who disappeared a decade earlier. Adela and her colleagues—all women and children—are shown preparing, rehearsing, and driving in the tent stakes to secure the big top against the blustery weather.

“It’s an artful and lyrical assembly . . . filming random strangers rather than the speaker, Ms. Huezo seeks to create a sense that ‘what happened . . . could happen to anybody living in Mexico today,’ she writes in her director’s statement.” —Ken Jaworowski, New York Times