La Madani or the story of a mother searching for her daughter

Morelia, Mitch (OEM/Infomex). – What does it mean for a loved one to be detained and disappeared? Romanian director Teodora Anna Mihai answered this with a film presented at the Matamoros Theater called “La Civile”, a venue from the Morelia International Film Festival (FICM).

In fact, it was Mihai’s first film that, according to FICM Director, Daniela Michel, managed to make a complex story, “speaking about the power of women, and the need to build peace.”

The director herself commented that the idea was born as a documentary, for which she underwent a two-and-a-half-year research process, but then went down the fantasy path because she felt that with this genre it would have a greater scope for narrative. Mobility.

In this history-building process, Mihai meets someone who will be crucial: Tamaulipas activist Miriam Rodriguez, a woman who has suffered the kidnapping of her daughter Karen and who has taken the path of research.

“When she shared her story with me, she said she wanted to reach a Mexican and international audience.” Unfortunately, the lady was killed, precisely on May 10, 2017, so she could not watch this movie.

In La Civil, the scenes are presented with Mrs. Celo, who lives a simple life with her young daughter Laura, who is suddenly turned upside down by organized crime, who kidnaps the teenager for money.

There begins a journey that includes misunderstandings and confrontations with Laura’s father, unexpected alliances, such as with an unorthodox military man named Lamarck, along with painful discoveries.

It’s a long road and its end is a very difficult choice for the person watching the movie. At the end of the show, Mihai said, “There are two types of viewers, those who see hope and those who see the terrible, but I wanted to leave it open for the viewer to finish the drama.”

Arcelia Ramírez plays Mrs. Cielo, a character who “has a very big curve, starts in one place and ends in another completely different (…) it’s a painful character.”

Because of this topic and who inspired it, the actress did not hesitate to emphasize that this is “a film dedicated to all mothers, fathers, brothers and people who are looking for their relatives.”

Mihai borrowed it, saying: “We want to dedicate the film to the people who shared their testimonies (…) I want to dedicate it to the people who are still looking for their relatives.”