2018 in Pictures

The Milk of Sorrow (2009) and the Power of the Garden, Part I

The Milk of Sorrow and the Power of the Garden, Part 1

Directed by Claudia Llosa, the Peruvian drama The Milk of Sorrow (2009) illustrates at least three versions of the 

garden growing out of classism, racism, and a bloody civil war. Centered on young daughter Fausta’s (Magaly Solier) 

struggle to cope with her mother’s death and the memories of war she leaves behind, The Milk of Sorrow draws on 

musical and visual poetry of gardens to reveal conflicts between Fausta’s impoverished indigenous Lima, Peru 

community and the white upper-class inner-city fortress where she works as a servant. 

Ultimately, Fausta reconciles these conflicting views, negotiating a solution that promotes a middle ground like that 

Adamson proposes. The brightly colored artificial garden Fausta’s family creates may contrast greatly with the walled 

paradise inside Fausta’s employer Aida’s (Susi Sánchez) gates, but the garden growing inside Fausta (both literally 

and figuratively) serves as a bridge between their conflicting ideologies.

The first “garden” introduced in the film breaks the mournful singing and tragic death that open the film. Fausta’s 

mother shares her terrifying story on her deathbed, singing of the rapes she endured during Peru’s dirty war between 

Maoist guerrillas and government security forces in the 1980s and the cursed outcome for Fausta. Fausta has fed on 

her mother’s “milk of sorrow” and must feel her trauma even after her mother’s death. As critic Rick Vecchio explains, 

“tens of thousands of Andean Indians did flee to Lima in the 1980s and 1990s to escape political violence… [and] 

helped to shape the rich tapestry of Peru’s culture and form the character of its society.” 

When Fausta’s mother passes “like a dead bird,” however, the film reveals the colorful constructed garden outside 

Fausta’s uncle’s house. Although surrounded by barren mountains, Fausta’s cousin is trying on a wedding dress in 

their dusty yard, and the brightly dressed family sits around an outdoor table looking like flowers bursting out of the 

desert hills of their blue painted barrio. When Fausta appears, her nose begins to bleed, and a close-up of the blood 

seems to bud like a rose.This first garden provides color that combats the colorless traumas of war and gender and 

racial oppression.

Embarras Valley Film Festival Winners!

Documentary Film and Video Award Winners

First Place: Emily McNeill, Artist in Progress

Artist on Vimeo

Second Place: Miller Bradford, Submersion 

Submersion on YouTube

Fictional Film and Video Award Winners:

First Place: Ashley Cai, Hermes

Second Place: Alyce Rogers, Adam

2018 Embarras Valley Film Festival Student Film Selections to View in Lumpkin Auditorium on November 28 from 3-4:30

2018 EVFF Student Film Selections

Directions:Vote for your top 3. Circle the three films you liked the most and, if you’d like, number them 1-3, with 1 being first place, 2 begin second, and 3 being third place.

Documentaries:

Madelyn by Mackensie Archibald [YouTube, EIU Student, 3.03] ______________

Monica Genta by Elazia Key [EIU Student, 2.43] _______________

Change is Coming by Ajan Patel [2.42] ______________________

Submersion by Miller Maahnes [6.35] __________________

ISalsa by Sandra Lena [7.00] __________________

One Story at a Time by Nathan Legger [5.13] ________________

Love, Olivia by Olivia Walker [5.29] ____________________

Artist in Progress by Emily McNeill [High School, 6.44] ____________________

Fictional Films:

The Button by Woody Hamilton [7.46] ___________________

Maybe Next Time? By Taylor Moore [2.09] __________________

The Lights are on But Nobody’s Home by Ethan Stephens [6.56]   ________________

Adam by Alyce Rogers [High School, 8.11] __________________

The Thrill of the Chase by Mike Sano [3.45] ___________________

Hermes by Ashley Cal [2.38] ____________________

Lilith by Nicole McBride [4.10] __________________

Misaligned by Weiyang Ben Wu [High School, 6.05] ____________________

Embarras Valley Film Festival at Eastern Illinois University on November 28!

Research Across Multiple Media at Eastern Illinois University

Research Across Multiple Media

To simply describe Robin Murray as an English professor at Eastern Illinois University is to overlook the broad range of interests and expertise she brings to EIU in additional areas like film studies and women's studies. In particular, a good deal of her writing centers around the subject of ecology and the way ecological matters are addressed in various media.

EIU Innovate Podcast

Dean Hendrickson discusses monsters, zombies, Clint Eastwood and Bambi, among other topics with Dr. Robin Murray, professor of English, Film Studies and Women's Studies on EIU Innovate. Dr. Murray is the author of 6 books and over 40 articles, many of which examine the interaction between the environment and film. She also is the Director of the Eastern Illinois University's Writing Project, a National Writing Project Site:

Podcast on Sound Cloud