Julieta Egurrola, actress, is the mother of Natalia Beristain, filmmaker. together they have done Noise, the drama of a mother who has been looking for her missing daughter for more than nine months, given the indifference and inefficiency of the authorities, a redundant theme not only in Mexican reality, but in the country’s cinema. We spoke with both of them in San Sebastián, where they participate in the Horizontes Latinos section.
Noise is Beristain’s third feature film, after I do not want to sleep alone (2012) which premiered in Venice and the goodbyes (Jury Award at the Morelia Festival). He has also directed some episodes of series like Luis Miguel: the series and Story of a crime: Colosio.
In Cuenca women embroider messages of resistance in the midst of social protest
How has your mother-daughter relationship been in this cinematic experience, both from acting and from behind the camera?
Julieta: It’s extraordinary to be directed by your own daughter, my eldest daughter, who grew up in theaters since she was a girl, on some television sets and who knows the world of acting and has a lot of respect for our work. Since she returned from the CCC (Cinematographic Training Center), this is her third feature film, which obviously makes me feel like a very proud mother, as she has done very well so far with her films. She leads honestly. She studies and knows what she wants. She takes her time, as happens in all projects, but she has given me the satisfaction of playing a leading role in the movies again, which I hadn’t done for years. She implies carrying that weight of the leading role, knowing that the subject would be very painful and that she had to focus on what she, as a director, wanted from me as an actress. My love is drama, so somehow everything flowed under her direction with this issue that we have been suffering for years, so violent and so difficult, so cruel, so without resonance and without solidarity from our governments.
The film goes deep because of its theme that is reflected in many countries of the world…
Natalia: Yes, and I question exactly that, how a film that is apparently very local, rooted in the violence that is experienced in Mexico every day, of which women are victims, in the end, within the different contexts of each region, of each country, can also resonate for other reasons. This has helped us to realize that we must protest and shout so that this does not remain indifferent.
Hence the title? Noise?
Natalia: Yes. The film is shot through with very violent, brutal stories, which is why what matters to us is precisely making “noise”. And that the noise is annoying, uncomfortable, chaotic and violent. We have to be in solidarity with these broken families who need visibility.
The embroidery used by women in Noise It is not only a form of denunciation, but also a way of claiming one’s own art. Is it also a type of collective therapy?
Julia: For a long time I wondered what Julia did. What was that life like that had been turned upside down from the moment this mother began looking for her daughter, and that she ceased to be Julia when she was traversed by so much violence. In the midst of this questioning, more and more in the marches and demonstrations that we attended, I noticed these embroideries, which in some way echo past struggles, like the Mothers of May in Argentina, with their white handkerchiefs on head. But there is also the embroidery that the black families did, that the slaves did in the southern United States. Since they could not make verbal narrations, then they used these embroideries to put their voice there and tell their stories and that they would be reflected there so that they could be passed on from generation to generation. The embroidery, which is aimed at being feminine, allowed us to weave networks with other women. It became the backbone of this fight. For this reason, for me, the film seeks the possibility of “weaving” bridges towards other generations of women, towards other struggles in the world.
Do you think that through your films you can help raise awareness in today’s society about this painful reality?
Natalia: I don’t know. Of course, in this film there is a political position on my part and I am not going to shy away from it. But for me, above all it is about accompanying families who suffer their own pain. It is not my case, because fortunately I do not have any missing persons. But this experience for me is like an accompaniment to these people and to tell them that they are not alone.
What has the documentation process, working with associations, taught you about dignity and resilience?
Julia: Everything. If I have understood something, it is that thanks to people like the “seekers”, like journalists, human rights defenders, lawyers, mothers of families… they all seek justice without losing their voice or dignity, without losing the possibility of joy, of being able to coexist and connect with others. There is resilience, there is dignified anger. It is not just the dark side and the demand, which is undoubtedly the most important of all. But this demand would not make any sense if the other does not exist, if there is no room for joy and hope.
Julia’s restrained performance is impressive, despite her deep pain. She excels in her silent scream scene… Is this the fruit of her long theatrical experience?
Julia: I guess so. I have been an actress for 45 years, especially in the theater, and this counts. In addition, the subject is close to me, very familiar. I have supported, I have witnessed destroyed families who have requested the support of artists and intellectuals in Mexico, so that they may participate in their demonstrations, in their statements, so that ultimately there is justice. This pain is already marked in our DNA, because my country hurts me. It hurts me that there are so many truncated, broken families. In this situation, I think that the actors, the film and theater people, the people who make art in this country are indispensable.
What fabric is Julia made of? Is she based on true stories? It’s been a long job of documentation, but did she have in mind someone she’s known?
Natalia: It is an investigation of many years, of many stories read, seen in documentaries, reports, first-hand stories of relatives who decided to share their drama with us and who are still looking for their loved ones. But it was absolutely conscious that Julia was armed with many stories. It is not the case of a particular breast. Hence also the great power of fiction that allowed us from this woman to start another series of stories and struggles that take place in Mexico. Julia is built on what she learns about herself and the other women she crosses paths with.
Julia: Desperate families are realizing that there is no help of any kind, there is no understanding. They change officials and prosecutors at any time, and each new one that enters is to start each file over again. There is a total indifference from the bureaucrats who work in those offices, where there is zero empathy with the pain of these families. These groups of mothers who support this character are very human, since they live together and interact with songs and conversations while they look for bones and the missing with the hope that something miraculous will happen.
Despite all the pain in the film and the number of dead ends, do you think the new generation of women brings hope?
Natalia: Definitely. It’s that if there’s no way out, why am I still living there, why tell this story if somehow I’m going to crash into a wall. I think that feminisms, the new generations of women, the anger that they bring with them is definitely very hopeful. Through this film we have learned that we are not alone. That we are worthy heirs of the generations that have preceded us and that we are responsible for keeping the doors open for the generations that will follow. And that, despite the very complex panorama that we have to inhabit. It is in our hands to change our narratives.
Noise It is available on the Netflix platform.
Source: Eluniverso
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
