Slideshow
LA CIVIL
MUST END THURSDAY, MARCH 16
1:00 4:00 7:00
DIRECTED BY TEODORA ANA MIHAI
NOTE: All 7:00 shows from March 3 – 16 (except on Sunday, March 12) will be followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Teodora Ana Mihai recorded especially for our run, moderated by Carlos Gutiérrez, Executive Director of Cinema Tropical.
LA CIVIL unfolds with documentary-like precision as it details the human impact of drug cartels in Northern Mexico. Cielo (Arcelia Ramírez, in a galvanizing performance) learns her daughter Laura has been kidnapped when a baby-faced teenager orders her to pay 150,000 pesos if she wants to see Laura again. With no police support, Cielo embarks on her own investigation, peeling back layers of Mexico’s societal corruption in an increasingly desperate effort to save her child. Inspired by true events, Belgian-Romanian director Teodora Ana Mihai delivers a bold and suspenseful debut feature, collaborating with Mexican co-screenwriter Habacuc Antonio De Rosario and world-renowned co-producers Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, Cristian Mungiu, and Michel Franco.
With support from the Robert E. Appel Fund for Spanish and Portuguese Language Films
2021 135 MIN. BELGIUM / ROMANIA / MEXICO IN SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES ZEITGEIST FILMS IN ASSOCIATION WITH KINO LORBER
Reviews
“Teodora Ana Mihai makes an explosive fiction debut… a gripping thriller that balances tension with a nuanced portrait of the culture of violence that has come to define modern Mexico. A commanding, award-worthy central performance from Arcelia Ramírez is the ace in the hole of [this] involving tale… Ramírez brings Cielo vividly alive, capturing her anger, exasperation and a resolve that manifests itself in everything from her purposeful stride to the nerves she quietly controls during a raid on a cartel stronghold… LA CIVIL paints a compelling picture of a society in which nobody can be trusted and everyone is complicit in a neverending cycle of violence, intimidation, and revenge.”
– Allan Hunter, Screen
“Probing. May well be accurately described as a revenge narco-western set in Northern Mexico… tensely thrilling. [Arcelia] Ramírez gives a towering performance.”
– Manuel Bettancourt, Variety
“Gripping…[an] auspicious feature debut. [Arcelia] Ramírez is exceptional in the lead role… [she] makes viewers feel the weight of Cielo’s struggle throughout LA CIVIL, which is why the film is so powerful. [Filmmaker Teodora Ana] Mihai gives voice to the individuals — the criminals, the victims, and the innocent bystanders — to show the ripple effects of the cartel violence in Northern Mexico… an authentic portrait of this dangerous world.”
- Gary M. Kramer, Salon.com