Leona is an intimate, insightful, and moving film that tells the story of a young Jewish woman from Mexico City who finds herself torn between her family and her forbidden love. It is the feature-length debut of Mexico City-based director Isaac Cherem. The film follows Ariela, played by the film’s co-writer Naian González Norvind – a third-generation performer of acclaimed Mexican acting ‘royalty’ – a member of a Conservative Syrian-Jewish community, as she falls in love with Iván (Christian Vázquez), a gentile.
Not only do her tight-knit family and friends reject her relationship with Iván, but they threaten to shun her altogether. Ripe with all the drama and interpersonal conflicts of a Jane Austen novel, watching her negotiate the labyrinth of familial pressure, religious precedent, and her own burgeoning sentiment is both painful and beautiful – there are no easy choices to be made and the viewer travels back and forth with her as she struggles with her heart to take the best path. Leona is a heartfelt, dramatic, and contemporary take on a timeless love story.
Leona, in Spanish with English sub-titles runs 95 minutes.
