Heroine

Running time: 110 mins

Spain in the 1980s. Galicia is one of the primary points for illegal drugs to enter the country. Pilar, fortyish, middle-class wife and mother of three, is faced with a great challenge: her 17-year-old son, Fito, has become addicted to heroin. She feels personally guilty and ashamed, at first. Then Fito slides into crime and her entire family is affected.

With a blind justice system that refuses to see that addicts start out as victims not criminals, Pilar decides that she can no longer suffer in silence and watch her son waste away in prison?a system that is far from rehabilitating those incarcerated. Along with her friend, Fina, and other parents in similar situations, Pilar mounts a fight against drug trafficking in Galicia, where the dealers appear to go unpunished. Through numerous public protests, the media, the authorities and the traffickers begin to take notice, and Pilar?s life is further turned upside-down, along with her family?s. But Pilar is determined to stay the course. She owes it to her son.

Director Gerardo Herrero masterfully portrays the loving story of a mother for her son while also capturing the strength and determination of a woman who has taken enough. Rousing and captivating, Heroine is an inspirational story featuring top-notch performances.

Tamee Tanoor

GLOBAL LANDSCAPES