Guie'dani's Navel

(El Ombligo de Guie'dani (XQUIPI' GUIE'DANI))
Xavi Sala | Drama, Fiction

2019 | 119 minutes | Mexico

A striking contrast to Alfonso Cuarón's Roma, Guie’dani’s Navel is a unique coming-of-age narrative exploring the racism inflicted on indigenous people in Mexico and the empowerment of a new generation that refuses to accept it silently.

Synopsis

In a star-making performance, Sótera Cruz brings razor-sharp intensity to her portrayal of Guie’dani, a Zapotec girl determined to fight for her dignity.

Guie’dani is dragged to Mexico City by her mother to help in her work as a housekeeper for an upper-middle-class family. There, the subtle psychological subjugation inflicted by the white family functions as a metaphor for the oppression of the old world by the new. Yet, Guie’dani rejects the life of servitude and seeks her own identity through a friendship with another rebellious teen.

A striking contrast to Alfonso Cuarón's Roma, Guie’dani’s Navel is a unique coming-of-age narrative exploring the racism inflicted on indigenous people in Mexico and the empowerment of a new generation that refuses to accept it silently.

* Spanish language audio description is available via the ALL4ACCESS App and/or .wav file when purchasing a DSL license.

Accessibility for these films was created by DICAPTA and funded under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education- Office of Special Education-OSEP, project “Enhanced Access to Video for Students with Sensory Disabilities through Emerging Technology,” TV Access H327C210001.

Reviews

"Sincere performances and thoughtfully written characters having profound interactions with one another. Suitable for audiences of a wide age range, it has immense potential for fostering discussions about discrimination (including same-race discrimination), casual and overt racism, classism, identity, cultural differences, wealth disparity, privilege, and more. It is highly recommended." — Dorian Bowen, Archivist/Film Historian, EMRO

"Honest portrait that describes a reality of the country." — Alejandro Alemán, Diario El Universal

"Catharsis fails and leads to a much more bitter and plausible resolution." — Leonardo García Tsao, Diario La Jornada

"The antithesis of the portrayal of a maid maintaining and fulfilling her expected role in society as depicted in the movie Roma." — Carlos Bonfil, Diario La Jornada

"Alongside Roma and The Chambermaid, Guie'dani's Navel breaks with a certain type of idealized and false representation that until recently was the norm in Mexican cinema." — Fernanda Solórzano, Letras Libres

"The movie manages to show certain behaviors that have become normalized, but in reality, these are clear signs of racism that we have allowed to become ingrained in our traditions." — Elizabeth Limón, En Filme

Citation
Main credits

Sala, Xavi (film director)
Sala, Xavi (screenwriter)
Sala, Xavi (film producer)
Baños, Julian (film producer)
Cruz, Sótera (actor)
López, Érika (actor)
Alfaroh, Majo (actor)
Del Valle, Yuriria (actor)
Ríos, Juan (actor)

Other credits

Cinematography, Martin Boege, Alberto Anaya Adalid, Ricardo Garfias; editor, Aldo Alvarez Morales.


Citation
Cataloging
Keywords
zapotec, class, classism, discrimination, wealth disparity, privilege, youth, teen, coming of age, labor, Roma, spanish, spanish language, latin america, latin american cinema, latin american film, ibero america, latin, latinx, latino, latina,,family, kin, fellowship, household, immediate family, extended family, multigenerational family, multigenerational household, kinfolk, family tree, genealogy, nuclear family, modern family, family tree,racism, discrimination, prejudice, ethnicity, ethnic, race studies, ethnic studies, racist, racial sensitivity, bias, prejudice, racial prejudice, ethnic prejudice, genetics, hereditary, culture, ethnic culture, ethnology, ethnography, ethnic sensitivity,culture, identity, identity politics, culture wars, left wing, right wing, intersectionality, identity groups, civilization, literacy, humanism, cancel culture, online culture, cultural revolution, cultural diffusion, culture shock, popular culture, pop culture, material culture, cultural capital, cultural assimilation ,women, womanhood, gender, girl, girlhood, mother, motherhood, female, cis woman, cis female, trans woman, trans female, women’s rights, women’s issues, lady, ladies, gentlewoman, madame, miss, missus, mrs., dame, damsel, ingenue, lass, maid, maiden, belle, gal, ladyfriend, girlfriend, dear, darling, widow, matron, dowager, gender, gender equality, gender pay gap, women’s liberation, women’s rights,child, children, childhood, kid, girl, girlhood, boy, boyhood, teen, teenager, puberty, adolescence, adolescent, coming-of-age, minor, kiddo, kids, juvenile, stripling, moppet, tyke, tween, tot, toddler, sonny, girlie, underaged, dependent, youngster, infancy, babyhood, girlhood, boyhood, friendships, juvenescence, juvenility, springtime, early life,sociology, anthropology, psychology, sociological, sociological perspectives, conflict theory, human conflicts, sociological thinking,conflict perspective, topics in sociology, sociology topics, sociology studies, social studies, people and cultures, human relations, human relationships, cultural studies, culture studies ,economics, social class, money, capital, capitalism, class, economy, prejudice, intersectionality, inequality, poverty, income gap, wage gap, class warfare, elitism, snobbery, bourgeois, poverty, upper class, middle class, lower class, nouveau riche,education, school, pedagogy, schooling, elementary education, secondary education, upper education, advanced education, education gap, learning, schooling, university, college, degrees, high school, middle school, junior high school, public school, private school, independent school, elementary school, schooling, school policy, educational equity,human rights, public rights, equal rights, freedom of expression, basic human rights, united nations, activism, human rights activism, human rights council, human rights commission, universal human rights, universal rights,guie'dani's navel,giudani's navel,Guie'dani's Navel.,Xavi Sala,indigenous,guie-danie's naval,mexico,el ombligo de guie'dani,beans,Roma,El ombligo de Guie'dani,,el ombligo,Mexico city,european,cuaron alfonso,Guie'dani's Navel - Xquipi' Guie'dani,Guie'dani's Navel - Xquipi' Guie'dani-El ombligo de Guie'dani,racism,Guie'dani's Navel Xquipi' Guie'dani,Xquipi' Guie'dani-El ombligo de Guie'dani,Mexico City housekeeper,el ombligo de guideni,Quebec,guidani7,navel,guie'dani,ombligo,guedani,gui,dosed,Xavi Salas,El ombligo de Guiedani,identity,algunas bestias,alfonso cuaron,dolores del rio,lopez,negra,gui'dani,women indigenous mexico,naval,guiel,Indigenous mexico,the good the bad and the ugly,"Del Rio",Mexico families,cuaron,The White city,drag; "Guie'dani's Navel"; Pragda Films
Clips
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Festivals

Huelva Ibero American Film Festival - Radio Exterior of Spain Award
Morelia Film Festival - Special Mention, film actress Sótera Cruz; Cinépolis Distribution Award
Alacant International Film Festival - Audience, Best Director, Best Actress, and Critics Award
XicanIndie Film Festival - Best Fiction Film
Chicago International Film Festival - Best New Director Nominee
Cartagena de Indias International Film Festival

DIRECTOR: Xavi Sala

NATIONALITY: Mexico

YEAR: 2019

GENRE: Drama, Fiction

LANGUAGE: Zapotec; Spanish; Indigenous languages

COLOR / B&W: Color

GRADE LEVEL: High School, College, Adults

SUBTITLE/CC: AVAILABLE

AUDIO DESCRIPTION: AVAILABLE

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