Staging reconciliation: The possibilities of mourning in rafael bonilla’s la carta (2010)

Abstract

Rafael Bonilla’s documentary film La carta (2010), takes Paula Flores—mother of feminicidio victim Sagrario Flores González from Ciudad Juárez—as its centre point. This article traces Paula’s filmic construction as victim, survivor and committed political activist. The documentary is of particular interest for the way in which it reveals the device of letter-writing as a vehicle through which reconciliation between the centre (Mexico City) and its troubled periphery (Ciudad Juárez) can be achieved. I argue that the film stages a moment of national solidarity and mourning at a critical time in the narratives of violence in Mexico since 2006.