Joshua Marston’s directorial debut “Maria Full of Grace” screened for more than 20 students as part of the Women’s History Month’s Film Festival last Thursday in S202.

The film first premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004. It depicts a woman named Maria Alvarez who lives in Colombia and accepts a business deal to smuggle heroin into the United States.

However, she later finds out that she is pregnant and refuses to go back to her life where she is mistreated. She is mistreated because she is considered to be the bread-winner of the family.

After the screening of the film, students like Ana Chavez, Spanish and French major, said that the storyline was interesting.

“She considered the future of her offspring. I’m glad that a movie like this is within our culture.”

Chavez added that women continue to fight for their rights, despite having the 19th amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Niurka Valin-Medina, Spanish instructor, agreed that women have continued to fight for their rights but she added another element.

“Feminism resonates throughout this film because of the fact that Alvarez is a 17-year old taking care of her grandmother, mother and sister,” she said.

“Within Latin America, there is a tradition that should not be broken. When Alvarez broke that tradition by being the one who supported the family it was like, ‘How dare you!'”

She continued, saying that when Alvarez decided not to go back to Colombia, in the film it meant that she wanted to free herself of that former life.

Barbara Mueller, English instructor, agreed.

The other films that were screened during the festival were as follows:

?”Water,” directed by Deepha Mehta about a Hindu girl who is suddenly widowed, screened on March 5,

?”Yesterday,” a motion picture about a woman living in a remote village in South Africa,screened on March 6.

?”Leila,” a film set in contemporary Iran, screened on March 7

All of the aforementioned films dealt with religion and Mueller explained that religion was represented throughout “Maria Full of Grace,” as well.

Another thing that stood out to her was the idea of marriage.

“Alvarez had been asked if she wanted to get married but said no because her boyfriend didn’t really love her.”

Alvarez struggled to survive and keep her baby, Mueller added.

“Furthermore, the boyfriend tried to do was the right thing because she was with child.”

In that sense, Alvarez found out the truth about the boyfriend not loving her and she had no means of marring someone who didn’t love her.

As for the overall message of women’s rights and feminism, Valin-Medina said that those students who saw this film hopefully walked away knowing that women have continued to struggle and are being used; as in this case with Alvarez being used to smuggle drugs and struggling to live has continued.