Cast

Rosa, played by Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez

Enrique, played by David Villapando

Arturo Xuncax (Rosa’s father), played by Ernesto Gómez Cruz

Lupe Xuncax (Rosa’s mother), played by Alicia del Lago

Nacha, played by Lupe Ontiveros

Pedro, played by Eradio Zepeda

Josefita, played by Stella Quan

Monty, played by Trinidad Silva

Raimundo, played by Abel Franco

Jaime, played by Mike Gomez

Ed, played by John Martin

Joel, played by Ronald Jospeh

Bruce, played by Larry Cedar

Karen, played by Sheryl Bernstein

Len, played by Gregory Enton

Carlos, played by Tony Plana

Jorge, played by Enrique Castillo

Crew

Screenplay: Gregory Nava and Anna Thomas

Director: Gregory Nava

Producer: Anna Thomas

Sound Producer: Robert Yerinton

Cinematography: James Glennon

Film Editor: Betsy Blankett

Set direction: David Wasco

Editing: Betsy Blanket

Music Composers: Gustav Mahler, Guiseppe Verdi, Samuel Barber, The Folkloristas, Melecio Martinez, Emil Richards, Linda O’Brien

Awards

Winner, Best original screenplay, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Hollywood, 1983

Winner, First Prize, Montreal Film Festival, 1983

Best original screenplay, Writers’ Guild of America, 1983

Official Selection, Cannes Film Festival, 1983

Plot

The film is split into three parts, the first set in Guatemala, the second in Mexico and the third in the United States, mainly in Los Angeles. The film opens with breathtaking shots of rural Guatemala. Arturo Xuncax works at a coffee plantation and he is involved in the workers’ resistance movement; the Army arrives during one of their meetings and kills everyone. Because Arturo Xuncax killed one of the soldiers, el Puma, they decapitate him and hang his head from a nearby tree. The mother, Lupe, is subsequently taken away by the army, and Enrique and Rosa, their children, decide to make their way to the United States. They get money to finance the trip from Rosa’s godmother. In Part II Rosa and Enrique travel by bus through Mexico until they get to the border town, Tijuana. They are befriended by a man called Jaime from Zacatecas who offers to take them across the border. However, he attacks them in the forest. They meet up with Raimundo Gutiérrez who agrees to takes them across; he advises them to go through the sewers. While crawling through, they get bitten by rats. In Part III, Raimundo takes them to Lazy Acres Motel where they are provided with a room.