PassesAccessibility
2026
Short Narrative(United States Premiere)

Ixquic

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A film still from Ixquic shows two Indigenous children and an older Indigenous woman sitting on two beds in a wooden room. The room is illuminated by candles. The younger child is holding a candle while the older woman whispers to the other child, a young girl in a pink shirt.
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Ixquic, an Indigenous teenager from Guatemala, grows up listening to her mother’s stories about ancestral Mayan beings and the fireflies that once lit the nights of their land. While her mother fights to defend their river from a hydroelectric company threatening their community, Ixquic rejects these stories and believes in the promises of modern progress. But one night, the river turns to blood, and serpents appear in the darkness. Confronted with an ancestral force she cannot escape, Ixquic must face the darkness within her and decide whether to deny her origins or embrace the fire of her identity.

Screenings

Virtual

Availability BeginsThursday, August 67:30PM EDT

Directors Spotlight

Elvis Caj

Director

Elvis Caj is a Guatemalan Maya director and screenwriter. He participated in Open Doors at the Locarno Film Festival and Talents Guadalajara. His short film Liremu Barana was considered for an Academy Award nomination as Norway’s submission in 2021. He focuses on Afro-Indigenous stories and is currently developing his first feature film.

Year
2025
Runtime
25 minutes
Country
Guatemala
Language
Spanish, Poqomchi', K'ekchi'
Director
Elvis Caj
Screenwriter
Elvis Caj
Producers
Isha Sumner, Benjamín Sagüí
Executive Producer
Elvis Caj
Cast
Valentina Juárez "Ixquic", Alba Patricia Si "Marcela", Ximena Rodas Caj "Ixchel"
Cinematographer
Juan Carlos H. Villarreal
Editors
Elvis Caj, Alejandro Sánchez, Moises Garriga
Production Design
Sophy Ramírez
Composer
Isaac Hernández Campos
Sound Design
Carlos Marroquín
Premiere
United States

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