Guatemala, 2018. The whole country is immersed in the trial of the soldiers who sparked the civil war. Victim statements come one after another. Ernesto is a young anthropologist working for the Forensic Foundation; his job is to identify the missing. One day, while hearing the account of an old woman, he thinks he has found a lead that might guide him to his father, a guerrillero who went missing during the war. Against his mother’s wishes, he flings himself body and soul into the case, looking for truth and resilience.

Interview with Writer/Director César Diaz

Watch Our Mothers on Prime Video and Vudu

Congratulations! Why did you make your film?

It is a personal story and I want to share it with the audience. It is an important film for Guatemala and the democracy building.

Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?

Because it is a film that explores the mother-son relationship and will grab your emotions from the very beginning.

How do personal and universal themes work in your film?

In a dialectic way, the personal story and the quest of the main character are linked to Guatemalan history and civil war.

How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?

In the beginning, it was only an idea and with the support of the producers and with hard work I manage to transform it in a movie.

What type of feedback have you received so far?

That it is a very moving film, very emotional and very political.

Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?

The fact that people with nothing to do with Guatemala get involved in the film.

What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?

That people in the US get access to the film because I think it's also important to understand that Guatemalan migrants are escaping from a violent situation which is the heritage of civil war.

Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?

Journalists and social media influencers.

What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?

To get people to think about their own identity and to think about the Guatemalan genocide.

What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?

Which is the status of the genocide trials in Guatemala?

What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?

I am adapting a Guatemalan novel titled The Judges.

Interview: May 2020

We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela

Our Mothers

Length: 1:18

Director: César Díaz

Producer: Géraldine Sprimont, Delphine Schmit

Writer: César Díaz

About the writer, director and producer:

CESAR DIAZ was born in Guatemala in 1978. After studying in Mexico and Belgium, he joined the screenwriting workshop at the FEMIS Film School in Paris. He has been working as a fiction and documentary film editor for more than ten years. He has also directed the short documentary films Semillas de Cenizas, which was screened in about twenty international film festivals, and Territorio Liberado, which won the IMCINE Award in Mexico. Nuestras Madres (Our Mothers) is his first feature film.

Key cast: Armando Espitia, Emma Dib, Aurelia Caal

Facebook: Nuestras Madres

Twitter: @NMadresGT

Instagram: @our_mothers_film

Hashtags used: #ourmothers, #nuestrasmadres, #cesardiaz

Other: IMDb