In Competition: “Luz Silenciosa” (Silent Light) by Carlos Reygadas

Mexican director Carlos Reygadas’s career is an integral part of the history of the Cannes Festival. In 2002, his first film, Japon, was featured by Directors’ Fortnight. Three
years later, Battle in Heaven, his second feature-length film, was selected in Competition. This year, Reygadas is again competing for the Golden Palm, with Silent
Light, his third film. It is an exploration of the community of the Mennonites, a religious sect with a large settlement in northern Mexico. The Mennonites’ roots go back to the 16th
century, when they were a dissident Protestant sect of Anabaptists. Refusing baby christenings because of their belief that religion must be the choice of an adult, and advocates of a radical
form of pacifism, the Mennonites shown in the film accept such modern conveniences as automobiles and scientific medicine, but condemn modern means of communication like the Internet or even the
telephone. Silent Light focuses on the agony and the ecstasy of the individual character Johan, a member of the close-knit community. This family man falls in love with another
woman…

Cornelio Wall Fehr, who plays Johan, speaks of having learned a lesson from the film: “While we were making the film, I didn’t understand the story, but now I see, I realize what love and
betrayal are about. That is why I believe that people can learn to truly love one another through film. It speaks about the world, a world full of betrayal where it’s difficult to live under the
light of love.”

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