Ixquic

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
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