The Echo (2023 film)

The Echo (Spanish: El eco) is a 2023 Mexican-German docufiction film directed by Tatiana Huezo. The film, which also includes fictional elements, portrays the children of an isolated village "El Echo", in the Mexican highlands.[1][2] The film is co-produced by Germany, and was selected to receive its world premiere in the Encounters section of the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival, on 17 February 2023.[3][4]

The Echo
Official poster
El Echo
Directed byTatiana Huezo
Screenplay byTatiana Huezo
Produced by
  • Tatiana Huezo
  • Dalia Reyes
CinematographyErnesto Pardo
Edited by
Music by
  • Leonardo Heiblum
  • Jacobo Lieberman
Production
company
  • Radiola Films
Distributed byThe Match Factory
Release date
Running time
102 minutes
Countries
  • Mexico
  • Germany
LanguageSpanish

Plot

El Echo, a remote village in Puebla, the Mexican highlands, where conditions change drastically between seasons, the children tend to the sheep and take care of their elders. Dealing with the frost and drought, the children learn to understand death, illness, and love from every word and every silence of their parents. The Echo is a story about the echo of what lies in the soul, about the certainty of warmth from those around us, "about rebellion and vertigo in the face of life" and "about growing up".[5]

Cast
  • Montserrat Hernández Hernández as Montse
  • María de los Ángeles Pacheco Tapia as Abuela Angeles
  • Luz María Vázquez González as Luz Ma
  • Sarahí Rojas Hernández as Sarahí
  • William Antonio Vázquez González as Toño
  • Uriel Hernández Hernández as Uriel
  • Ramiro Hernández Hernández as Ramiro
  • Berenice Cortés Muñoz as Bere
  • Andrea González Lima as Andrea

Production

The film is the fifth feature film by Tatiana Huezo. Her two previous documentaries, El lugar más pequeño (2011) and Tempestad (2016), with this film forms a "trilogy of pain and trauma". She followed three families for one full year in the remote village in Mexico to film the project.[5]

Release

The film was invited to Horizons section of 57th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, where it was screened on 30 June 2023.[6] It was also invited to the 27th Lima Film Festival for competing in Documentary section, where it was screened on 12 August 2023.[7] The film also made it to 'Latin Horizons' section of the 71st San Sebastián International Film Festival held from 22 to 30 September 2023.[8]

The film was screened at 2023 BFI London Film Festival in 'Strand' section under 'Journey' theme on 8 October;[9] and on 20 October at the Vienna International Film Festival in Features section.[10]

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes website, the film has an approval rating of 100% based on 6 reviews, with an average rating of 9/10.[11] On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 91 out of 100 based on 5 reviews, indicating "Universal Acclaim".[12]

Guy Lodge reviewing at Berlin Film Festival, for Variety wrote, "This exquisitely textured film observes how children’s lives echo those of their parents, repeating for generations on the same constantly inconstant land, until somebody breaks the pattern." Lodge stated that Tatiana Huezo "observes this splintering community with unsentimental tenderness". He opined that the traditionally-inflected score of Leonardo Heiblum and Jacobo Lieberman occasionally sweetened the proceedings. Concluding, he said, "At the close, a hot white slice of lightning breaks the screen, signaling relief after a lengthy drought, but hardly an idealized long-term solution to the greater generational problems facing El Eco."[13] Sheri Linden for The Hollywood Reporter called the film "A resounding achievement" and quoting dialogues from the film between father and daughter which goes as: "Work is work," "It’s not easy," he adds. "You have to do it with love." Linden opined that Tatiana Huezo "in this clear-eyed and warmhearted chronicle, has done precisely that."[14] Wendy Ide for ScreenDaily wrote in review that the film is "an intimate, immersive portrait of a way of life – its rhythms, hardships and its communal joys – told through the eyes of the young people who rarely question it."[15] Vladan Petkovic writing for Cineuropa stated, "True to its title, The Echo is about the background, about leftovers, and things left unsaid and never done. Petkovic concluding said, "It is a beautiful film that manages to be simultaneously restrained and immersive, poetic and earthy."[16]

Accolades
Tatiana Huezo, with the Berlinale Documentary Film Award for The Echo
Award Date Category Recipient Result Ref.
European Work in Progress 19 October 2022 K13 Studios Award - Dolby Atmos Mixing The Echo Won [17]
Berlin International Film Festival 25 February 2023 Golden Bear Plaque Nominated [18]
Berlinale Documentary Film Award Won [4][19]
Encounters: Best Director Tatiana Huezo Won [20]
Seattle International Film Festival 21 May 2023 Ibero-American Competition Grand Jury Prize The Echo Nominated [21]
Jerusalem Film Festival 23 July 2023 The Nechama Rivilin Award for Best International Film Nominated [22]
Chantel Akerman Award for Best Experimental Documentary Won [23]
Lima Film Festival 18 August 2023 Best Documentary Nominated [24]
CINETRAB Award for Best Documentary Won
San Sebastián International Film Festival 30 September 2023 Horizons Award Nominated [8]
Athens International Film Festival 9 October 2023 Best Documentary Nominated [25]
Chicago International Film Festival 22 October 2023 Best International Documentary Won [26]
Rolling Stone en Español Awards 26 October 2023 Documentary Feature Film of the Year Pending [27]

References
  1. ""The Echo" von Tatiana Huezo" [The Echo by Tatiana Huezo]. Film and Media Foundation (in German). 9 February 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  2. Huezo, Tatiana (14 February 2023). "The Echo". Cineuropa. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  3. Ntim, Zac (23 January 2023). "Berlin Film Festival: Sean Penn, Philippe Garrel, Margarethe Von Trotta & Christian Petzold In Competition — Full List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  4. "Films nominated for the Berlinale Documentary Film Award". Berlinale. 1 February 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  5. Sandoval, Pablo; Granada, Emiliano (25 April 2021). "'Tempest' Director Tatiana Huezo Talks 'The Echo,' Her Career and Style at Visions du Réel". Variety. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  6. "57th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival: Horizons". Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. 30 June 2023. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  7. "Documental" [Documentary: The Echo]. 27 PUCP Lima Film Festival (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  8. Calnan, Ellie (3 August 2023). "San Sebastian's 2023 Horizontes Latinos line-up includes 'Totem', 'The Settlers'". ScreenDaily. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  9. Ntim, Zac (31 August 2023). "BFI London Film Festival Full Lineup: 'The Book Of Clarence' World Premiere; Scorsese, Miyazaki, Lanthimos & Fincher Among Headline Galas". Deadline. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
  10. "Vienna International Film Festival: The Echo". Vienna International Film Festival. 5 September 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  11. "The Echo (Documentary 2023)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  12. "The Echo". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  13. Lodge, Guy (17 February 2023). "The Echo' Review: Tatiana Huezo Returns With Another Harshly Poetic View of Mexican Childhood". Variety. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  14. Linden, Sheri (17 February 2023). "'The Echo' Review: Rural Kids Are the Captivating Heart of Tatiana Huezo's Intimate Doc". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  15. Ide, Wendy (17 February 2023). "'El Eco': Berlin Review". ScreenDaily. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  16. Petkovic, Vladan (17 February 2023). "BERLINALE 2023 Encounters Review: The Echo". Cineuropa. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  17. Vena, Teresa (21 October 2022). "European Work in Progress Cologne announces its winners". Cineuropa. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  18. Ramachandran, Naman; Vivarelli, Nick (23 January 2023). "Berlin Film Festival Reveals Competition Lineup (Updating Live)". Variety. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  19. Nikkhah Azad, Navid (2 February 2023). "Berlinale Documentary Award Jury 2023". Deed News. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  20. Ntim, Zac (25 February 2023). "Berlin Film Festival Winners: Follow Live". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  21. "SIFF announces lineup for 49th annual Seattle International Film Festival". Seattle International Film Festival. 26 April 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  22. Brown, Hannah (28 June 2023). "2023 Jerusalem Film Fest announces international movie lineup". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  23. Goodfellow, Melanie (20 July 2023). "'Ama Gloria' and 'Daniel Auerbach' Scoop Top Prizes At 40th Jerusalem Film Festival". Deadline. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  24. "¡Estos son los ganadores del 27 Festival de Cine de Lima PUCP!". festivaldelima.com (in Spanish). 18 August 2023. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  25. "International Documentaries Competition". Athens International Film Festival. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  26. "59th Chicago International Film Festival Announces Award-Winners". Roger Ebert.com. 20 October 2023. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  27. Raygoza, Isabella (11 August 2023). "Bad Bunny & Rosalía Lead Rolling Stone En Español Award Nominations: Complete List". Billboard. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
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