Director José Pablo returns to Mexico to fulfill his promise to his 95-year-old grandmother: to shoot a film about her life. An extravagant former beauty queen, Mamacita (Maria del Carmen Torrescano) established an empire of beauty and self-healing products and psychotherapy clinics for women in Mexico. But as José Pablo quickly discovers, all her efforts to help others could not heal the deep and dark wounds hidden within her own family. Sheltering behind the protective walls of her self-made kingdom, Mamacita surrounds herself with loyal servants: a gardener, chauffeur, chef, housekeeper and nurse, all who attend to her every need—but perhaps this is instead a self-made prison. With archival footage and interviews with his aunts and Mamacita herself, José Pablo begins to uncover the truth behind his grandmother’s questionable past, and must now face his own haunted history of growing up inside an of illusion of familial love. Heather Haynes
Co-presented with aluCine Latin Film + Media Arts Festival.
Made In Mexico program presented in collaboration with the Mexican Film Institute (IMCINE).