Diego Luna is at the Cannes Film Festival as a director with ‘Ceniza en la boca’, a film about family, identity and migration, in a journey from Mexico to Spain that shows that more and more Latin America is looking to Europe because the exit to the United States is no longer possible.
“Donald Trump’s immigration policies and the violence and narrative of hate have made Latin America look to Europe,” said Thursday in an interview with EFE the Mexican actor, who has worked in major U.S. productions and considers it “very relevant” to talk about what is happening.
Because in his opinion, real problems can be dealt with in the cinema. “I do believe in that and I’m going to keep doing it, without a doubt,” said the director of films like ‘Abel’ (2010) or series like ‘Everything is going to be fine’ (2021).
For this reason, when she read Brenda Navarro’s book on which the film is based, Luna discovered in it a “very interesting story to tell”, that of Lucila, whose mother has emigrated to Spain and with whom she is reunited years later in Madrid, also fleeing violence in Mexico.
Diego Luna talks about Latino immigrants
The first idea was to show how she lives the distance with her mother, the problems that the separation causes between them. And that led directly to “talk about a migration that we talk little about in Mexico, which is migration to Europe, migration to Spain, and how Spain in particular has become a safe harbor for migrants from Latin America”.
Luna emphasized that “no film can pretend to talk about Latin American migration” as a whole due to its complexity, but it can do so through a very particular story, such as the one told by ‘Ceniza en la boca’.
“Nobody leaves their place of origin unless there is no other option, right? And this film talks about those who leave, but it also talks about those who receive,” he explained.
And in that sense, what he has sought is for the viewer to consider “who we are when we receive”.
It does so through two opposing cases. On the one hand, that of a woman (Irene Escolar), who hires Lucila (Anna Díaz) to take care of her baby and who proves to be tougher than necessary. And, on the other, an old lady (Teresa Lozano), whom the young woman takes care of and who treats her as if she were her granddaughter.
Luna emphasizes precisely this relationship between the old woman and the young woman. “That connection they generate, that way of receiving (…) is the hope of what we could be, of what could be happening”.
And so he hopes that examples like the one seen in the film will provoke reflection in those who see it, that they will ask themselves “why we are not the best version of ourselves.”
“Migration is a fact and it is happening globally. It’s a challenge for all communities,” added the filmmaker, visibly pleased with the film’s positive reception at Cannes, where it is included in the special screenings section.
Especially in the gala session held last night, reported Agencia EFE, in which he was accompanied by friends such as Alfonso Cuarón and Gael García Bernal.
Find out more at ‘QueOnnda.com’.
