Talented Belizeans continue making their marks in the international market, as happened on Wednesday, September 9th at the 2020 Venice Film Festival in Italy. 21-year-old Belizean model and actress Indira Andrewin proudly walked the red carpet as a ‘Best Actress’ nominee for her lead role in the movie ‘Selva Tragica’ – Tragic Jungle.
The film is a production by Mexican director Yulene Olaizola and was shot in the Belizean jungle. Olaizola told reporters at the festival that the film is set in the early 1920s along the Mexico-Belize border.
It is set around a time when the exploitation of rubber trees for the production of gum was at its climax. The movie also highlights the myth of the Xtabai, a female demon said to lure men to their deaths if they entered her forest.
Andrewin, originally from the village of Gales Point Manatee in the Belize District, plays the role of Agnes, a mysterious young woman, who becomes captive by a group of chicleros (men who climb rubber trees and hack away at the pink flesh under their bark in order to tap the milk inside that is turned into gum). Andrewin’s presence seems to trigger tensions among the men, unknown to them that the Xtabai had awoken.
The news that a Belizean actress stars an international has seen an immense outpouring of support for Andrewin. Belizeans home and abroad are truly proud of Andrewin’s achievement.
Selva Tragica will play at the New York Film Festival later this year and is expected to be featured in Belize at the end of this year or early in 2021.
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