Sara la espantapájaros

A bus called Sueños (Dreams) links three modern-day tales set in exotic Ecuador - the equator-straddling country that calls itself "The Middle of the World." Each of these stories carries a woman's name, and each features a mysterious, alluring female outsider who bewitches men. In the first tale, a blonde woman with an unclear past arrives in a remote, male-deprived Andean town and offers piano lessons, only to become the focus of wild rumors and innuendo. In the second, a married college professor who is haunted by nightmares becomes obsessed with a beguiling woman who seems to be sending him an ominous message. In the final story, a couple vacationing at a jungle resort refuse to believe in the ancient myths of Ecuador, but are forced to confront the legendary Guasangó.

Mónica Vásquez’s debut film focuses on the Indigenous communities of the Ecuadorian páramo and their struggle against the erosion threatening their lands. The film documents efforts to revive traditional agricultural practices, such as Inca farming terraces, alongside the adoption of new conservation techniques, in a defense of both a territory and a way of life against the human and environmental threats surrounding them.