You have heard that moving from the countryside to the city can be challenging? Well, you haven’t met Romero, an Indigenous man in Guatemala, yet! Now, you can – and go on an intimate cinematic journey with him in Nosotros. And you can experience how he navigates identity, class, and desire after moving from the highlands to the capital of Guatemala City.
Romero experiences much change in the restrained and atmospheric portrait of modern-day connection and belonging from Guatemalan producer Joaquín Ruano (Our Mothers) in his feature directorial debut. The film will have its world premiere on Sept. 12 in the Discovery program of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
After leaving his Indigenous family for work in Guatemala City, security guard Romero (Josef Coxaj) faces not only an unfamiliar environment, estrangement, loneliness and a “performative macho milieu,” explains a synopsis on the TIFF website. He falls for Nubia (Lola Vásquez), a transgender small business owner at the mall he patrols, “discovering an unexpected refuge and a new sense of self in a world not yet ready to make space for them.” Mayra Salvador also features in the cast.
The movie also touches on the lingering scars of Guatemala’s civil war. The press notes describe Nosotros as “an intimate portrait of two people finding connection within a society where racism, transphobia, economic inequality, and deeply entrenched ideas of masculinity determine whose lives – and whose desires – are allowed space.”
