Maria, a 17 year old Mayan girl, lives and works with her parents on a coffee plantation in the foothills of an active volcano in Guatemala. Anarranged marriage awaits her: her parents have promised her to Ignacio, the plantation overseer. But Maria doesn’t sit back and accept her destiny.
Pepe, a young coffee cutter who plans to migrate to the U.S. becomes her possible way out. Maria seduces Pepe in order to run away with him, but after promises and clandestine meetings, Pepe takes off, leaving her pregnant, alone and in disgrace. There’s no time to lose for Maria’s mother, who thinks abortion is the only solution. Yet despite her mother’s ancestral knowledge, the baby remains, “destined to live.”
But destiny has more in store for Maria: a snake bite forces them to leave immediately in search of a hospital. The modern world Maria has so dreamt about will save her life, but at what price. View the trailer.
Made possible with the support from Marshall+Sterling, Radio Kingston, Herzog’s, Woodstock Film Festival, New York Theatre Organ Society, and Poughkeepsie Public Library District.