Slow Violence In Ausencias Documentary

The 1960s and 1970s worldwide was a time of social discontent and chaos. During this time Mexico, had a period of disappearances, that is referred to as the dirty way (Ahmed, 2017). Mexican governments have not been able to provide closure to the families of the disappeared who fell victims to the drug war and narcotrafficking. Over 30,000 people are missing in Mexico and families like Lulú’s, are left hopeless due to lack of effort put in to solve these cases. This narrative is very common in Mexico, due to the lack of government intervention to help find these people who have somehow “disappeared.” State officials state that “without a body, there can be no case,” which leave many families discontent (Ahmed, 2017). People speculate that

Rob Nixon defines slow violence as something that “occurs gradually out of sight, a violence of delayed destruction that is dispersed across time and space” (Llama-Rodriguez, 27). Tatiana Huezo’s Ausencias shows us the life of Lulú and the aftermath of her family’s disappearance took on her. Lulú lost them five years ago and has not been able to find them nor has the government/police officials given her any details about what occurred to them. She still clings on the hope that she will find them, sensing in her heart that they are still alive. An example of slow violence in the film, would be when she is calling her husband’s number and leaving a voicemail asking for them to be brought back to her safely (Huezo 5:05- 6:30). In this scene, the camera is facing her back which can be used to generalize her plea for her son so that the audience can picture someone else and be able to empathize with her. There is natural light coming in on her left side which shows bar-like shadows that could be interpreted as Lulú being imprisoned or encaged in her room. The fact that she cannot be with her son, is causing her to slowly breakdown but this phone call gives the audience a chance to see how much this is affecting