The Spokeswoman

Persister: Women speaking up and being heard

Legacy director Luciana Kaplan returns to Hot Docs to premiere her highly anticipated story of María de Jesús Patricio (Marichuy), the first Indigenous woman to run for the presidency in Mexico's 2018 election. As a traditional healer and human rights activist from the Nahua nation, Marichuy is chosen by the National Indigenous Congress and EZLN as the spokeswoman to run as an independent candidate in order to bring national attention to the issues facing Indigenous nations across the country. Deeply embedded within Marichuy's campaign, Kaplan is up close and personal throughout her journey as she travels across Mexico to gain support for her election and unify a country around Indigenous rights, the environment and status of women. While she does not make enough support to gain a ballot for the election, she accomplishes so much more as she leads a revolutionary movement, teaching new ways of understanding what progress in the world truly means. Heather Haynes

Co-presented with aluCine Latin Film+Media Arts Festival

Persister program presented in partnership with Oxfam Canada

MEDIA COVERAGE

• Backseat Mafia - "Illustrates there’' a determination to see this through to the very end"  
• Women and Hollywood -  INTERVIEW with director Luciana Kaplan