Tragic Jungle

Story

Jungle, demons and a mysterious yong woman: the new film from Mexican director Yulene Olaizola plunges deep into the mythological world of the Maya. 1920, the green no man’s land between Mexico and Belize. A group of Mexicans are tapping chicle from the trees in the primeval forest, a viscous substance that the Mayas used as chewing gum. Suddenly, the men find an unconscious young woman and take her to their camp. The presence of the mysterious stranger causes tensions amongst the men and stimulates their imaginations. One by one, they fall under her spell – and realize too late that they have woken Xtabay, a Maya demoness who lurks in the heart of the jungle.

Director

YULENE OLAIZOLA (*1983) studied Film at the Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica in Mexico City. In 2009, she graduated with the prize-winning documentary Shakespeare and Victor Hugo's Intimacies. In 2011, FILMFEST HAMBURG showed her film Artificial Paradises and in 2016 Epitaph.