Film Screening: La Llorona

The People’s Forum presents an in-person screening of Jayro Bustamante’s acclaimed 2019 Guatemalan political horror drama La Llorona on Thursday, October 22, 2026, at the Paul and Eslanda Robeson Cinema in Manhattan. The ninety-seven-minute film runs from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. as part of the venue’s Robeson Cinema series.

La Llorona reimagines the classic Latin American folklore figure to confront the historical trauma of the Guatemalan civil war and the Maya Ixil genocide. The story centers on Enrique Monteverde, an aging retired general tried for the state-ordered mass murder of thousands of Indigenous Mayan people decades earlier. After a high court overturns his conviction on technical grounds, Monteverde retreats into his fortified mansion, protected from accountability by state impunity but besieged outside by continuous grassroots protests led by Indigenous families demanding justice. When his domestic workers resign in protest, a young Mayan woman named Alma arrives to work in the home, bringing a supernatural reckoning that penetrates the household walls.

Admission is organized as a free educational program, though attendees are encouraged to purchase an eight-dollar solidarity ticket ($10.38 with online service fees) to sustain community programming and guarantee a seat. Advance registration is required online due to room capacity limits.

The event takes place at The People’s Forum, located at 320 West 37th Street in Manhattan. For more information and tickets, visit The People’s Forum.