Hector's Woman
Drama, Short Films, 25-Jul-2023
Wrestling with the responsibilities of being a mother and also the wife to an incarcerated husband, a young woman tries to find herself. Ricardo J. Varona directs “Hector’s Woman,” a drama set in Puerto Rico a year after Hurricane María. Paola, with her daughter in her arms, goes to visit her husband, Hector, as he sits behind the prison glass. Despite an assumption that she should simply sit by and wait with open arms until his release, Paola looks to evenings out at the club for some bit of fun. There, friends of her husband seem to be on a close watch. Hassled also by her own mother, everyone seems most concerned with stressing the responsibilities of being a loyal wife and mother rather than anything else. Despite leaning melodramatic in its tone, the film holds an unassuming look at Paola’s choices and decisions throughout her evenings. In this close character study, Varona acutely examines how the varied roles placed on this young woman might contradict and complicate. -Jinho Myung. Writer, Director, Editor: Ricardo J. Varona. Cast: Natalia Lugo, Alexon Duprey, Daliz Juliet Rivera Rosario, Ian Arduengo. Director of Photography: Eliot Grigo. Producers: Annie Pettinga, Tony Yang.