MARIA

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MARIA

By Julieta SANCHEZ SANANEZ

Female director - Development 2022

María is a 15-year-old wichí woman who lives in a remote zone of the Chaco Salteño. After giving birth, as a result of rape, she runs away leaving her baby in the forest. Years go by, but she can't forget, the memory of her baby is still present. One day, she will return to the forest to find her.

- Year of production
- 2022
- Genres
- Female director, Drama, Social issues
- Countries
- ARGENTINA
- Languages
- SPANISH
- Budget
- 10 - 25 M$
- Duration
- 90 mn
- Director(s)
- Julieta SANCHEZ SANANEZ
- Writer(s)
- Federico SCHMUKLER
- Producer(s)
- Paula MARTÍNEZ (BRUJAS PRODUCCIONES SAS), Federico SCHMUKLER (Brujas Producciones)
- Synopsis
- María, a fifteen-year-old wichí woman, still has nightmares from when her family’s house was expropriated a few years ago. Today, she lives with her parents in the middle of the Chaco forest. Without water or electricity, the town is surrounded by barbed wire and closed wooden field gates that mark the border with the Criollos. Most men in the community work for loggers for little money, while women collect firewood and water to survive. The youngest, like María’s boyfriend, Ismael, ventures beyond the fences risking their lives to steal animals.
  One day, María is sexually assaulted by a group of men from the city while she's playing in the river. When her mother finds out what happened, she tries to comfort her, thanking that she is still alive. María’s anguish increases even more when their parents start receiving bribes to keep silent. Every week a truck leaves animals and food at her house. María’s pregnancy becomes an open secret in the town and Ismael breaks up with her.
  2 months after, María doesn’t recognize her body and doesn’t understand what's happening to her. Her belly grows but she stops eating and faint. Her father carries her on a motorcycle to the doctor where Ana (the local doctor) checks on her and tries to help her realize what's happening to her.
  Despite these problems, the baby is born strong and healthy. But María doesn’t feel the baby belongs to her, even though she tries to breastfeed her, her breasts hurt and doesn’t have milk. Soon after, she cannot bear her crying and decides to abandon her.
  Maria tells Ana that her baby was born dead. In shock, Ana helps Maria to escape. After two years living in the city, María cannot forget her daughter. In the middle of the night, she secretly returns to the place she ran away from. Her baby is older and recognizes her immediately. In the darkness of the forest, mother and daughter escape together.