Ixquic

Elvis Caj · Guatemala · 2025 · 25 min


SHORTS COMPETITION · FAMILY 12+

Ixquic, an Indigenous teenager from Guatemala, lives amidst the echo of her mother's stories. Her mother is a river guardian fighting against the shadows of modern colonization that threaten their community. Denying her roots, Ixquic believes in the promises of modern progress and rejects her mother’s legacy. Until one night, the river weeps blood, the serpents guide her, and an ancestral truth awakens within. Faced with darkness, Ixquic discovers her power through fire and identity.



Fiction · Drama · 12+
Language: Poqomchi', K'ekchi', Spanish
Themes: Indigenous, resistance, activism, roots



Screenplay: Elvis Caj
Producers: Isha Sumner, Benjamín Sagüí
Cinematographer: Juan Carlos H. Villarreal


Key cast: Valentina Juárez, Alba Patricia Si Pop, Ximena Rodas Caj

Director's Statement

As a child, my grandmother used to tell me stories about Maya heroes, but at the time, I was more interested in the ones I saw on television. Over time, I came to understand that these Maya heroes matter because they were real and shaped our history. As a filmmaker, I want to bring these other kinds of heroes to the screen Maya figures who, through their resistance, have shaped the history of our people and preserved our identity. These are heroes who should be known, heroes we need, so that Indigenous people like myself can also see ourselves represented in cinema.— Elvis Caj