Madeinusa

Madeinusa (the name is apparently a common one) is a 14-year-old girl who lives in a village of the Peruvian Andes where, by custom, anything is permissible without guilt during Holy Time, the period between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. God is declared dead during this time and so nothing can be considered a sin. A riotous carnival breaks out and this impoverished world sparkles with the bright, mysterious possibilities of music, drink, sex and death. Madeinusa is to play the role of the Virgin at this year’s celebration but her father’s sexual advances and the sudden appearance of a young gringo from Lima confront her with the exciting terror of breaking out of the known world. Nothing can go back to being what it was after this Holy Time. This debut feature from the niece of novelist Mario Vargas Llosa provides a glimpse of a world come suddenly and briefly alive, in which religion functions as a cloak of mystery laid over the bleakness of life.

No verdicts, no accusations. Passionate observations instead and uniquely authentic performances. The only thing needed is a public without prejudices, an audience emotional and smart enough to comprehend the philosophical and psychological power of the movie.

Antonia Kovacheva, FIPRESCI