Bérénice Bejo on César Díaz Film ‘Mexico 86’ at Locarno, Democracy

Bérénice Bejo (The Artist) plays a Guatemalan rebel fighting against the military dictatorship in Mexico 86 from Guatemalan director César Díaz (Our Mothers), whose world premiere on the Swiss town’s Piazza Grande is among the highlights of the Locarno Film Festival schedule on Saturday.

“1976. Death threats force Maria, a Guatemalan rebel activist fighting against the corrupt military dictatorship, to flee to Mexico, leaving behind her son,” a plot description explains. “10 years later, when he comes to live with her, she is forced to choose between her duties as a mother and continuing her revolutionary activism.”

The film’s title refers to the 1986 soccer World Cup in Mexico, even though it is only briefly referred to in a few scenes.

During a Locarno press conference for the film on Saturday, Bejo shared how making the film helped her better understand her family history and her parents who left Argentina under the dictatorship to settle in France.

“For me, when I met César and he offered me this film, it was a way of talking about my family, but without talking about my family,” the star told reporters. “I come from a family who fled the dictatorship in Argentina. And my parents didn’t tell me much. There are many secrets, many myths.” She continued: “When I was 20, when I was 30, even when I was 40, I wanted answers. And I was very frustrated with my parents for not giving me answers.”

Her parents used to not say much beyond telling her: “We left Argentina, you are lucky to live in France. What happened before no longer exists.” By starring in Mexico 86, Bejo said she was hoping to be able to get some answers to her questions.

Things played out differently though. “In fact, the opposite happened,” the actress said. “I made the film and calmed down. I don’t need any more answers. I learned from César’s film that we have the right to be silent. We have the right to have secrets. There are some people who speak and others who do not speak. And we should not judge them.”

Bejo also mentioned that she and the director share much respect for freedom fighters. Díaz’s 2019 Cannes Caméra d’Or winner Our Mothers also dealt with the violent repercussions of the conflict in his country. The new film is based on his own childhood. “Making this film meant confronting the armed struggle waged by my mother and the fact of her being a mother,” explains the director in a note on the Locarno festival website. “Activists dedicate their lives to societal transformation, but there is often no room to fulfill their roles as parents.”

Bejo on Friday remembered her first lunch with Díaz. “He told me: ‘I have two children and I could never leave them. I don’t understand why my mother could do that. But luckily she did’.” And she added: “Fortunately, there are people like that, women and men who have the strength to put, let’s say, their instincts aside a little for a cause that is greater.”

Concluded the star: “If César’s mother hadn’t done it, if lots of people hadn’t done it, if they weren’t beaten for noble ideas, for democracy, I don’t know what world we would live in today.”

Speaking of the presence, Bejo on Friday also expressed concern about the state of the world. “Today, our democracy is under severe attack in many countries,” she told the press conference. “What are we going to do to defend it? Who is going to defend it? Will we dare to defend it? In a world so self-centered and selfish, will we be able to do it?”