by Eydie Mendoza
Beast of Cardo/Bestia de Cardo at the 25th Annual Cinequest Film Festival February 27 through March 8.
Moira goes home to Cardo after living in New York in the film Beast of Cardo/Bestia de Cardo (Spanish with English subtitles) by Director Virginia Sánchez Navarro
Set in Cardo, Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) the film centers around Moira (Virginia Sánchez Navarro) who goes through life in what seems to be a state of limbo. As a daughter of an interracial marriage, although wealthy, she appears to be invisible among the aristocracy that surrounds her.
Surreal scenes interweave with reality capturing the internal and social struggles of Cardo’s elite and those who are outside the inner circle of acceptance. Share the frustration and irony Moira encounters as she befriends the eccentric fashion designer (Jorge Luis Moreno). He is adored and respected within the circle that she cannot penetrate, and although she seems numb to the racism her true feelings actualize throughout the story.
She is lost in a place that is home with, “All the wealth she could desire, no life she wants to live.”
Viewers can relate to Moira as she balances her dreams and anxiety, learn about her family, and encounter the history and interlinked cultures of mysticism and religion in this film with images that have been described as “reminiscent of … Gabriel Garcia Marquez” but it also appears to display hints of Federico Garcia Lorca’s plays and poetry.
If you missed the premier of Beast of Cardo on Thursday, February 26, Cinequest Film Festival is scheduled to show on Tuesday, March 3 and Saturday, March 7 but check the guide for updated times and location http://www.cinequest.org.
Eydie Mendoza was raised in San Jose, Calif. Mendoza has worked with underserved and underrepresented communities as a bilingual educator and counselor assisting families, care providers, teachers, youth and adults in pursuing their dreams for a better education and life within her roles at National Council of La Raza, Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and College of the Redwoods in Eureka. She is a former SVL Editor-in-ChiefSVLatino.com (2011-2012) and a former San Jose Pride Board Member where she served as a Publicist (2012-2014) and CFO (2013). With membership to the Luna Park Business Association, the Latina Success Network, and a team member of the Silicon Valley Latino Leadership Summit, she is currently the Social Media and Website Coordinator for Santa Clara County Public Health, web producer for her own business EMpresenta, and a contributing writer for Modern Latina.