SXSW Review: Año Uña

Año Uña is a movie that definitely defies the regular rules of film because it tells the story in a sequence of 24 photographs flipped as the story progresses. All of this is actually based on director Jonas Cuaron‘s real life experience taking pictures of his family for two years straight, which inspired the script for Año Uña.

The film is about Molly, a college student traveling to Mexico to escape the problems she has in New York, and Diego, (Diego Catano) a 14 year old Mexican whose family takes in Molly for international housing in order to pay for their grandfather’s cancer treatment. The story takes place in modern day America and in Mexico and, just as the language changes, so do the subtitles, from translated English, to translated Spanish.

As the story begins we come to understand that Molly, played by Eireann Harper, doesn’t think like the American counterpart traveling with her and has a different view of immigration. With a large mixed crowd in the audience, the punchlines resonate with everyone. This was reassuring when Molly talks about her parents and their view on immigrants from Mexico. This premiere seemed well suited for SXSW because the Mexican and American conflicts are definitely felt in Austin, Texas with full force.

The 24 photographs represent a whole day. This concept alone displays the very artistic nature of the film, but can also leave you wanting more by the end. Molly and Diego become intoxicating and so interesting that you really want to know what goes on beyond the photographs.

On a scale from 1-10…8