The animated film ‘The Mark of the Jaguar’, inspired by the history of pre-Hispanic cultures and directed by Mexican Víctor Mayorga, will represent Mexico and Latin America in the Marché du Film section of the Cannes Film Festival, to be held from May 12 to 23.
The feature film is a co-production between Mexico and Brazil and is based on Xilacatzin, a warrior recorded in the chronicles of historian Fray Bernardino de Sahagún, who documented in Spanish and Nahuatl the cosmovision of Mexico’s ancestral cultures, explained Mayorga in an interview with EFE.
“He brings a mole in the shape of a jaguar’s tear (on his body) which is the mark of Tezcatlipoca (a Mexica deity), the representation of darkness. It is not something bad, but it is the energy of those who do black magic, so (he) is stigmatized, he is a social outcast. And that was important because that is what we live in Mexico,” Mayorga said.
The animated film follows the story of this young indigenous warrior who must travel to the underworld to save humanity and clear his name. Along the way, he will discover that the only chance to defeat darkness is to accept himself.
The Mark of the Jaguar’, a film competing at Cannes
La marca del jaguar’ will land at the 79th edition of Cannes thanks to the Mercado Sur audiovisual market and represents an opportunity to reach other festivals, as well as the possibility of finding more distribution strategies, said the filmmaker, who took almost 20 years to develop this project.
“(It) means everything, it’s the spearhead, because all the buyers, distributors, sales agents go: Netflix, Disney, Amazon. Everyone goes to see what the Marché du Film selected and besides they go from the most prestigious festivals of the Toronto Festival, San Sebastian,” he acknowledged.
For Mayorga, these spaces are a privilege for Mexican film production, as he considers that it is difficult to find distribution strategies and spaces in the United States.
“It’s a perfect fit for us, because in Mexico, those of us who make films, everything is always uphill and you have to knock on doors, look for distributors who may offer you a slightly advantageous deal. Let’s hope that something positive comes out of it, a negotiation that is convenient for the film,” he said.
The film is a long term project, and during this journey it has counted with the collaboration of figures such as the director and producer of visual effects of French origin, Chadi Abo, known for his work in films such as ‘Matrix reloaded’ (2003) and ‘300’ (2006).
The voice direction was in charge of Ricardo Tejedo, the main director of dubbing for Disney and Universal in Latin America.
Betting on Japan
It also highlights the collaboration of Japanese director Sunao Katabuchi, who participated in projects by legendary Japanese animation film director Hayao Miyazaki. Also joining the team’s list of talents is Adrián Maruri, sound designer for Pixar, in productions such as ‘Coco’ (2017).
Omar Karim, one of the film’s producers, said that having a film of these characteristics in such a prestigious space in the film industry is an endorsement of the level of Mexican animation talent.
“We see ourselves showing the world that not only Mexico, but Latin America is ready to produce animations. We want them to see it in Japan because we are going there, we are going to try to get a little closer to the quality they do,” he concluded), reported Agencia EFE.
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