The US-Mexico film Hijo de Monarcas (Son of Monarchs) about a Mexican scientist who returns to his hometown in the monarch forests of the state of Michoacan has won the 2021 Alfred P. Sloan Prize for film.
The annual award from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation recognizes a film screening at the Sundance Film Festival that focuses on science or technology or portrays a scientist, engineer, or mathematician as a major character. Sons of Monarchs stars Mexican actor Tenoch Huerta (Narcos: Mexico, Tigers Are Not Afraid) as Mendel, an immigrant lipidologist who departs from New York to Mexico to attend the funeral of his grandmother. The journey forces Mendel to confront past traumas and reflect on his bicultural identity, sparking a personal and spiritual metamorphosis–similar to a butterfly.
Son of Monarchs is directed and written by French-Venezuelan filmmaker and biologist Alexis Gambis and features a cast that includes Alexia Rasmussen (Our Idiot Brother), Lázaro Gabino Rodríguez (A Tiro de Piedra), Noé Hernández (600 Miles), Paulina Gaitán (Sin Nombre), and William Mapother (Another Earth).
Hijo de Monarcas, which was filmed in New York and Mexico in both English and Spanish, will premiere at Sundance Jan. 29, with a second screening on the 31.
ENVIRONMENTAL CRITICISM
“As we celebrate the wonderful news for Son of Monarchs, I just wanted to take a minute to point at this injustice and call to action to save the endangered monarch butterfly,” posted Gambis on Facebook, referring to his movie’s selection for Sundance, before the award was announced. He highlights the risks and challenges now facing the butterflies in light of reported huge population declines in the past few years. “The monarch butterfly is threatened with extinction but will not come under federal protection because other species are a higher priority, federal officials announced Tuesday,” he added citing a New York Times article.
IMAGINE SCIENCE
Gambis’s filmmaking mixes documentary and fiction, often honoring animal perspective. His artistic craft and scientific background led him to launch various projects like the Imagine Science Film Festival in 2008 and the science-focused streaming platform and online magazine Labocine. Eight years later, he directed his first narrative feature, The Fly Room, a biographical drama that also deals with science, in this case genetics.
The Alfred P. Sloan Prize has been handed out at the Sundance Film Festival since 2003. The winner receives a $20,000 cash award.
—Cesar Arredondo
Top Featured Photo: Tenoch Huerta’s Mendel character is a scientist who studies butterflies. (Photo: Sundance Institute)
Check out this video of director Alexis Gambis talking about Son of Monarchs.
