Last year "Ixcanul" opened at the Berlin Film Festival where it was met with praise and went on to win the Silver Bear. The film later premiered at numerous festivals including Cartagena, Rotterdam, AFI and San Sebastian.

It then made history by becoming the second film to be selected by Guatemala to represent the country at the Oscars and won the Platino award for Best First Film.

"Ixcanul" represents director Jayro Bustamante's first film and now Kino Lorber is releasing the film in the U.S.

Latin Post had a chance to speak to Bustamante about his journey and how this film has changed his life.

Latin Post: How did the idea for this film come about?

Jayro Bustamante: The idea comes from meeting Maria, a Kaqchikel woman from the Zolola area in Guatemala, which is where I grew up. She told me what had happened to her and I based the third act on her events. And it came from obtaining the perfect victim. Once I had the third act and the end of the film, I constructed the first and second acts and imagined how all the events led to the final act of the film.

LP: How did you find your actors and were there any non-actors in the film?

JB: I wanted actors from the same area that Maria came from but it was very complicated because the Volcano where we were going to film was three hours away from this area. It was very complicated because the women who I was auditioning could not commit to come to such a long distance for three months. This was due to the machismo that still resonates in Guatemala. So then I found Maria Telon, the actress in the movie. She was part of a theater company that travels around. It's a Mayan company and I followed her and I saw the actors from her community. So I decided to do the casting around her area.

A lot of the actors were all from the same theater company and some others were found in the community. A lot of these actors had experience in theater but not in film. Maria Telon had been in a film, but for the rest it was their first time in a film.

LP: How long did the shoot take?

JB: The shoot took one month but we had a three-month preparation with the actors. We had an intense program that would allow us to prepare for the film.

LP: What did this preparation involve?

JB: With the actors it was like a training and we had to find a way to bond to obtain confidence between each other. We did a lot of work creating the characters and we did a lot of meetings in nature and that helped to understand all the cultural aspects. We also went to the Volcano and had to ask permission for us to shoot there. For my actors it was important to respect nature and asking permission was part of this.

LP: The volcano is big part of this film. Was there any myth or something that inspired you to want to shoot there?

JB: It was more pragmatic. The café plantation where we shot is my mother's so that is why we shot there. It was already a controlled location. But in Guatemala there are more than 33 volcanoes and it is very present. "Ixcanul" means volcano but it references the internal force of the mountain that is looking to erupt. We wanted make sure that we respected the mountain and we had to explain what we were doing and why we were shooting a film.

LP: Was the film always expected to be in a Mayan language?

JB: It was something of respect toward the story. It was something melancholic for me because I grew up with Kaqchikel and I wanted to pay tribute to it.

LP: Do you still speak it?

JB: A little but I spoke more when I was a kid. There is still a lot of discrimination in Guatemala. When you speak Kaqchikel, people still look down on it. When I was a kid my "nana," who taught me this language, told me never to speak in it public because she was protecting me from any potential bullying. And it still happens. For example, if there is a movie in Mayan, people will laugh at the language. They feel like it is part of the past and against the progress that we have made in our country.

LP: So how was the movie received in Guatemala?

JB: When it came out it did well. We were scared because in Guatemala there is still a lot of discrimination and we were also scared that we would disrespect the Mayans. We were also scared of militant Mayans and their reaction to what they would see in the film. You have to be very careful with the way you portray certain things and it is still difficult to put comic moments because people will think they are being made fun of.

But the film was really well received and I think it was due to all the international press and awards we received at festivals.

LP: What was your reaction when you got into Berlin and when it was selected to represent Guatemala at the Academy Awards?

JB: When we got into Berlin I was so excited because we were in competition. I saw the list of films which were in competition and who was going to be in it and it was exciting. A film from Guatemala had never been in competition at Berlin and that was really the moment when we started to celebrate. However, we still had to complete the film and we had to start working on the promotion and everything involved in festivals. After two years are still working and we have not had a moment to say we're living a dream come true.

LP: Latin America had a great year last year. Why do you think this happened?

JB: I think Latin American cinema has great potential and it has always been there. There are always countries with more resources than others but I think today Latin American countries are more united and that makes us stronger in the industry.

LP: The movie came out in the US. What do you want audiences to take away from this movie?

JB: I am very sad the movie didn't get the same exposure in Latin America as it did in North America and Europe because I think Mexico would definitely be a great fit. I think the U.S will be a great market as it will make audiences more conscious of what is going on in in this country.

LP: It's interesting that you bring up the point that Latin American cinema does not get enough exposure in Latin America. Why do you think this happens and what do you think they could do to change it?

JB: I wouldn't say that it doesn't do well in Latin America because "Ixcanul" did well at festivals in Cartagena and Guadalajara, which are the most important festivals in the region. But I think there is a phenomenon which is killing us culturally. We reflect ourselves against the U.S and we want to be like the U.S. We try to bring Latin American cinema to theaters but the theaters always tell us they want "cine gringo." But we have to try and find ways to bring back our culture.

LP: How has this film changed your life?

JB: It has opened up doors for other projects and in Guatemala people now feel like it is possible to do film. They think we now make international cinema even though we had already done it before.

LP: What are your next projects?

JB: We're working on opening an independent film theater because there are very little in Guatemala. We're also working on becoming a distribution company which we tried with the release of "Ixcanul." I'm also working on my next feature which is called "Temblores" and it's going to be an urban story in the city of Guatemala.