Ixcanúl, Volcán (Ixcanúl, Volcano)In Maya and Spanish with English subtitlesWith María Mercedes Coroy, María Telón, Manuel Antún, Justo Lorenzo, Marvin CoroyGUATEMALA’S OFFICIAL ENTRY TO THE ACADEMY AWARDS®The brilliant debut by Guatemalan filmmaker Jayro Bustamante is a mesmerizing fusion of fact and fable, a dreamlike depiction of the daily lives of Kaqchikel speaking Mayans on a coffee plantation at the base of an active volcano. Immersing us in its characters’ customs and beliefs, Ixcanul chronicles with unblinking realism, a disappearing tradition and a disappearing people.Maria, a 17-year-old Mayan girl, lives and works with her parents on a coffee plantation in the foothills of an active volcano in Guatemala.An arranged marriage awaits her: her parents have promised her to Ignacio, the plantation overseer. But Maria doesn’t sit back and accept her destiny.Pepe, a young coffee cutter who plans to migrate to the USA becomes her possible way out. Maria seduces Pepe in order to run away with him, but after promises and clandestine meetings, Pepe takes off, leaving her pregnant, alone and in disgrace. There’s no time to lose for Maria’s mother, who thinks abortion is the only solution. Yet despite her mother’s ancestral knowledge, the baby remains, “destined to live.”But destiny has more in store for Maria: a snakebite forces them to leave immediately in search of a hospital. The modern world Maria has so dreamt about will save her life, but at what price… Palomitas Cineclub Winter 2020 Film Festival The Palomitas Cineclub, organized by graduate students of the Romance Languages & Literatures Department, has been awarded a Spanish Film Club Festival Grant to sponsor public screenings of contemporary Iberoamerican film at the University of Michigan. All films will be screened in their original languages with English subtitles. The series will be free and open to the public.Combining the funds from the Spanish Film Club Festival Grant with additional financial support from within the university, we will screen six contemporary Latin American feature films and documentaries between February 26 and April 3 on Wednesday evenings at 7 pm in the Modern languages Building, 1220 (Lecture Room 1):Frágil equilibrio (Guillermo García Lopez, 2016), Tempestad (Tatiana Huezo, 2016), Ixcanul, Volcán (Jayro Bustamante, 2015), La soledad (Jorge Thielen-Armand, 2016), El abrazo de la serpiente (Ciro Guerra, 2015) and Pájaros de verano (Ciro Guerra and Cristina Gallego, 2018). Each screening will be followed by an informal discussion session during which the audience is invited to discuss the film.We welcome everyone to participate in a space of cultural engagement where undergraduate and graduate students can come together to practice their language skills and partake in critical discussions of cinema. *The Spanish Film Club Festival Grant was made possible with the support of Pragda, SPAIN arts & culture, and the Secretary of State for Culture of Spain.