Violence and fire in Latin American women’s scripts: Tatiana Huezo (Prayers for the Stolen, 2021, Mexico) and Claudia Huaiquimilla (My Brothers Dream Awake, 2021, Chile)

Abstract

In recent years, Latin American films written and directed by women have increased in both number and global reach. In 2021, two films directed by Latin American women were released at major film festivals: Tatiana Huezo’s Prayers for the Stolen (2021, Mexico), which was shown at Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival, and Claudia Huaiquimilla’s My Brothers Dream Awake (2021, Chile), which had its premiere at the Locarno Film Festival. Both films share the fact that they are written and directed by Latina women with indigenous heritage. Moreover, Prayers for the Stolen and My Brothers Dream Awake have elements in common: both portray the current violence in their countries and use fire as a narrative and an aesthetic element. Fire distances itself from its destructive and overpowering context to become a purifying and expiatory element, whereby the stories and the characters are simultaneously condemned and saved by their relationship with the fire. This text seeks to relate the meaning of fire to the violence portrayed in these two films, either as a destructive or purifying element. This understanding can also be linked to the Indigenous roots of both directors, where the relationship of native peoples with fire is different from that in contemporary society.