El Jardin Del Eden (1994)

In Tijuana, the border is a 15-mile long wall that separates Mexico from the United States. Serena, Jane and Elizabeth are three women in this hot, dusty border town each looking for meaning in their lives. Serena, a young Mexican widow, arrives with her three children to build a new life; Jane, an American, is looking for her brother and Elizabeth, a Mexican-American artist is in search of her roots. Each one of them finds more than they had expected in this place that is both a refuge for some and prison for others, a garden and a desert. En Tijuana, la frontera es una pared de 15 millas que separa México de los Estados Unidos. Serena, Jane y Elizabeth son tres mujeres buscando el signifiacado de sus vidas en este caluroso, polvoriento pueblo fronterizo. Serena, una joven viuda mexicana llega con sus tres hijos para construir una nueva vida; Jane, una americana está buscando a su hermano y Elizabeth, una artista mexico-americana esta buscando sus raíces. Cada una de ellas encontrará más de lo esperado en este lugar que es un refugio para algunos y una cárcel para otros, un jardín y un desierto. Estelarizada por Bruno Bichir (Sin Noticias de Dios), Gabriela Roel (Asesino en Serio), and Renée Coleman (A League of Their Own).

Dreaming of Paradise

Maria Novaro, a wonderful Mexican storyteller, and film director brings to the screen a magnificent crash of cultures and traditions. In this film (1994), Novaro exalts her characters and their triumphant discovery for happiness in life. It is considered a Social Drama but you can discover more elements as you watch it. The solitary characters are looking for inner peace, identity, freedom, love, meaning, perhaps the metaphoric experience of going to the Paradise. Ironically, this "garden" setting is nonetheless the famous multifaceted border city of Tijuana, Mexico. This is a famous place where many cultures have been intertwining for many years. In this film, we see Mexicans, Americans, and Chicanos with intricate, and similar experiences of solitude. We can hear Spanish, English, Spanglish, and other dialects like Mixteco, which is not very typical for the habitual audiences. We also see a variety of ages, young, middle age, and mature. Men and women carried on with roles not very popular or traditionally accepted. We can see a mixture of cultures, rich, poor, mystic, liberal, and conservative. As an innovator, (there are not many women directors with her popularity) Novaro's stories seem to present the element of: "I was there", and "I know what I am talking about". These stories are not magic tales, nor cheese episodes. They are just plain and daily hard life at the border where everyone is dreaming to get to Paradise. October 23, 2005

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