In a small village in the Mixtec region of Oaxaca, three intertwined stories of return unfold. María, Esteban, and Toña each encounter pain upon confronting the world they had left behind. María arrives to bury her mother but finds herself ostracized by her family. Esteban’s homecoming exposes the fractures left by years of separation, while Toña’s visit forces her to confront the cycles of childhood abuse that persist across generations. As director Ángeles Cruz casts her unflinching gaze on the realities of Mixtec women navigating these fraught homecomings, nuanced stories of violence, loss, love, and resilience emerge. A prominent artist and activist from a Mixtec community, Cruz makes her feature directorial debut with NUDO MIXTECO, which screened at various festivals in Mexico and abroad and was nominated for Best Film at the 2022 Ariel Awards.

This screening will also feature a short film:

WE ARE THE IMMIGRANTS (Digital, 2016, directed by Catalina Matamoros, USA, 6 minutes, English)

Films Crossing Borders presents migration stories that traverse diverse and shifting boundaries, from the geopolitical and material to the social and conceptual. Across five nights, the series follows Mixtec women navigating painful returns, Syrian refugees filming survival at sea, and other journeys that ask: What does it mean to cross borders—seen and unseen?

Series curated by Alexa De La Fuente and Zoe Guiney