ART & ANIMATION

The film's animated sequences are rooted in Latin American magical realism, using a needlework motif to lead audiences through the complex emotional world of a mother who suffers the most profound pain: the loss of a child.

Before her son Gustavo's disappearance, Norita worked as a dressmaker, and it's the animation's sewing motif that keeps her connected to her family and her roots — a foundation from which she transforms her life, venturing into the dark netherworld beyond her home.

Throughout the progression of the animated sequences, we see Norita largely unaware of the dangers facing youth activists like Gustavo, with crows representing the constant surveillance and presence of military violence. In Gustavo's absence, Norita leaves her house to look for him and with each step she begins to “sew” a new path in her life. Norita joins other Mothers, and together they find the strength necessary to fight for justice, carrying with them their white headscarves and their children’s names sewn into them as a symbol of love and resistence.