''La Yuma'' is a 2009 Nicaraguan
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
directed by
Florence Jaugey
Florence Jaugey (born 22 June 1959) is a French movie director, actress, producer, and screenwriter who lives in Nicaragua. In 1989 Jaugey co-founded with her partner and Nicaraguan filmmaker Frank Pineda, Camila Films (Nicaragua), an independent ...
.
The film was selected as the Nicaraguan entry for the
Best Foreign Language Film
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
at the
83rd Academy Awards
The 83rd Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2010 in the United States and took place on February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beg ...
,
but did not make the final shortlist.
Plot
La Yuma is a girl who lives in a poor Nicaraguan
barrio
''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city, usually delimited by functional (e.g. residenti ...
who dreams of being a boxer. She wants to spend her days practicing boxing, but her mother makes her go to a job at a second-hand clothing store with manager Scarlett. Yuma'a friend Yader, who was once part of a gang but now owns a gym, tells her that he signed her up to train at an official boxing gym, where she will be able to take part in real matches and possibly make a name for herself.
One day while working at the store, Yuma witnesses her brother steal a backpack from a boy her age, Ernesto. Yuma steals the backpack back from her brother, and upon looking at a picture of Ernesto that was in the backpack, decides to return it to him. As thanks, Ernesto invites her to a bar, and they start dating. The two of them go on dates and talk about the future, and Ernesto watches Yuma practice. However, Ernesto is beaten up by Yuma's brother and ex-boyfriend, and accuses her of being manipulative and tricking him into believing she is good. He breaks up with her.
La Yuma enters her first boxing match and wins. Scarlett, Yader and la Cubana, a
transgender
A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...
woman, all cheer her on. When Yuma gets home, she discovers her mother's boyfriend has been abusing her younger sister, and moves out with her younger siblings to la Cubana's house. Scarlett and Yader help out as well by donating clothing and money; Yader gets her a gig at a circus that is looking for a boxing act. Yuma decides to leave her barrio with her two younger siblings to work at the circus, and finally gets out of the barrio like she wanted to all along.
Cast
*
Alma Blanco – La Yuma
*
Gabriel Benavides – Ernesto
*
Rigoberto Mayorga – Culebra
*
María Esther López – Scarlett
*
Eliézer Traña – Yader
*
Guillermo Martínez – Polvorita
*
Juan Carlos García – La Cubana
*
Salvador Espinoza – Alfonso
*
Sobeyda Téllez – La Yuma's Mother
See also
*
*
References
External links
*
2009 films
Nicaraguan drama films
2000s Spanish-language films
2009 drama films
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