A young mother and several other innocent victims are accused of human trafficking and thrown into a jail run by the Gulf cartel. These victims are known as pagadores, someone made to pay for the crimes of others. The woman finds herself in a place far beyond any form of democratic control, with everything run by the cartel. The prisoners’ families are forced to pay money regularly in order that the captives are kept alive.

When the young mother is suddenly released, she has to make the 2,000-kilometre trip home by bus. Adding another narrative to the film’s main voice-over, the director shows the same journey from northern Mexico deep into the south, with images of bus stations, passing landscape and people waiting around. The narrative voice could belong to almost any of the women’s faces that we see. Following day-to- day events, the film provides an arbitrary portrayal of the young woman’s fate. Breaking from its main storyline, the film intercuts the parallel story of a circus artist whose daughter has been kidnapped.

Tempest is both an intimate report of the experiences of two survivors and the captivating depiction of a country in the grip of organized crime.

Awards for ›Tempestad‹
Lobende Erwähnung – Caligari-Filmpreis des Bundesverbandes kommunale Filmarbeit und des Kinomagazins FILMDIENST 2016