By Hatuey Viveros Lavielle
Jorge is preparing to graduate from law school-the first person from the indigenous Mexican village of Quetzalan ever to do so. Chayo, his pregnant and unmarried teenaged sister, faces the most difficult decision of her life. Meanwhile their quiet and methodical mother, Tere, does her best to support them both, selling handmade napkin holders for 15 pesos (about $1) apiece. How will they cope in the year following the death of Antonio, the children's father?
CAF¨¦ is a beautifully observed, intimate film that documents the family during one crucial year. Director and cinematographer Hatuey Viveros Lavielle's brings a deliberate and poetic sensibility to ritualistic daily moments marking life in the mountain village: sorting coffee beans; roasting coffee in a dented pan; flipping tortillas over an open fire; feeding turkeys that will become a feast marking the first anniversary of Antonio's death.
Whether accompanying Jorge to one of his first cases as a lawyer-helping a woman who has been coerced into taking out a loan on behalf of her employer-or listening to Tere and Chayo discussing the possibility of seeking an abortion, CAF¨¦ (alternately known by the titles COFFEE: CHANTS OF SMOKE and CAF¨¦: CANTOS DE HUMO), immerses viewers in the lives of its compelling protagonists as, in a year following personal tragedy, they struggle to find their futures.
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