Berlin, Venice-Winning Director Jayro Bustamante Unveils New Film ‘Eruption’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Why it matters: Jayro Bustamante's “Eruption” will offer a crucial, unvarnished account of Guatemala's history, including genocide and U.S. intervention.
- Jayro Bustamante is making “Eruption,” a documentary-art film that will explore Guatemala's turbulent history through dance and interviews.
- Bustamante describes “Eruption” as a collective story, featuring voices from women, students, artists, and Indigenous peoples, rather than a single protagonist.
- Rigoberta Menchú Tum, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and Bernardo Arévalo, the current Guatemalan president, are among the luminaries interviewed for the film.
- “Eruption” will trace Guatemala's history from Spanish arrival, through military regimes, U.S. intervention, a 40-year war ending in genocide, and the current era of corruption and cartels.
- Bustamante chose dance as a language to express complex social and political narratives, allowing audiences to feel the emotions of historical moments.
- The film's manifesto emphasizes the 500-year struggle of Guatemala's 23 nations (Maya, Xinca, Garífuna, and mestizo) against exclusion, exploitation, and division.
Award-winning Guatemalan director Jayro Bustamante is in production on “Eruption,” a documentary-art film that uses dance and interviews with figures like Nobel laureate Rigoberta Menchú Tum and President Bernardo Arévalo to tell Guatemala's untold history, from Spanish subjugation and genocide to U.S. intervention and modern corruption. Bustamante aims to correct historical narratives that omit Indigenous perspectives and highlight the resilience of the Guatemalan people.
