By Luisa Riley
On February 14th, 1974, 19-year-old Deni Prieto Stock was killed by the Mexican army in the town of Nepantla, along with four of her comrades in the Fuerzas de Liberacion Nacional (National Liberation Forces), a forerunner to the Zapatistas.
FLOWER IN OTOMI depicts Prieto Stock's short, but very full life and the trajectory that brought her to Nepantla and the FLN.
Her sister and other family members recount a cozy childhood spent between New York and Mexico City with parents who raised them to support leftist causes. A cousin shares letters that detail her radicalization, and former lovers describe her growing conviction, particularly following the killing of student protestors in the Tlatelolco massacre, that armed revolution was the only path to economic and social justice in Mexico.
In October 1973, Prieto Stock stood up at the family dinner table and said she was going out for a little while. Instead, she left for Nepantla, where should would be killed just four months later. Elisa, an FLN comrade, tells of her close friendship with "Maria Luisa" (Prieto Stock's nom de guerre), and describes life in the FLN safe house, and the group's activities. The film also reconstructs the Mexican Army and secret police's joint siege on the house during which Prieto Stock was killed, using state documents and accounts from area residents.
A moving tribute to a young woman who died for her convictions and a window into the Mexican social movements of the late 60s and early 70s, FLOWER IN OTOMI is an essential historical supplement.
Reviews
~ "With political clarity and simplicity of means ... decrypts the excitement and experience of Deni/Maria Luisa." - La Jornada
~ "FLOWER IN OTOMI is a necessary documentary, needed to save the national "memory." The achievement of the documentary is also in the sense that it focuses our view on the women who participated in these subversive movements, often ignored in the movements' own histories." -CINE3
~ "An unforgettable film." - Excelsior
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