Maria Full of Grace (Maria, Llena eres de gracia)

Spirited and rebellious 17-year-old Maria Alvarez lives with three generations of her family in a cramped concrete house in a rural town north of Bogotá. She works alongside her neighbours at a hazardous, mind-numbing job stripping thorns from flowers on a rose plantation. Because Maria's paycheque supports the family, she is stuck. But her passion to break out of her world drives her to push at its boundaries... Catalina Sandino Moreno gives an exceptional performance - for which she won a Silver Bear at the 2004 Berlin Film Festival - as a young woman facing this crossroads with bravery, grit, and yes, grace. Director Joshua Marston demonstrates a fantastic eye for detail and crafts a narrative with disarming rawness and authenticity. "Maria Full of Grace" is as important a story as it is an impressive directorial debut. The film won the Dramatic Audience Award at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival.