Hunting Party

This film reminds me of an all-time favorite, Before Sunrise (1995, Ethan Hawke & Julie Delpy). The film's director fashioned it as such, but it also stands on its own.

It is clear a connection exists between these actors in real life; the director perhaps intended to immortalize themselves in the film to capture a place in time: the characters, who or what they represent, and this quaint bohemian town Antigua.

The other primary goal of the film was to understand "self" more fully, perhaps. That felt like the subtext. This is laudable because every person under 40 (aka a millenial) has gone through or is currently going through the struggle to define themselves apart from another (family) or with another (love).

This film struck me as a blissful and vivid representation of the universal search we each undergo for beauty and belonging. My absolute favorite part is when Oliverio waxes eloquent to Fausto in Spanish, "I always wanted to believe that we could find something beyond ourselves, a home or a shelter so we don't have to escape. Someplace where it's simply not that hard to be ourselves... or be together." The film invites you to believe it's possible and wonder whether Oliverio will find it.

The director does a good job of leading the viewer to believe that everyone will find love. Fausto's story is one of hope; boyish fantasy combined with a drive to do the mundane simple work of daily love.

Oliverio, on the other hand, ascribes to spontaneity and chance, like inviting a stranger to join him moving to a new country just hours after meeting. The film invites you to identify with the characters: maybe you're pessimistic and mysterious like Agnes and Oliverio. Or maybe you're pensive and romantic, having domesticated visions in your future like the musical charmer, Fausto. And then we have political hotheaded Augusto and the evasive French beauty. It's every group of friends looking for adventure and meaning in the transition to adulthood and longing to hold onto youth. Let's have fun tonight, for tomorrow it all ends.

In a stunning photographic ending, the group of five watch the sun come up from the beach. Nothing is certain in where they will go from here, but the belonging they feel is undeniable.

It was a lovely film. I look forward to more by the director.

This is such an eventful, unexpectedly great chick flick! I usually steer away from most chick flicks because they're too predictable, but this movie has hillarious banter between friends, some subtle yet very accurate political components, and it takes place in such an original setting -Guatemala City and Antigua! It's the kind of movie I don't mind watching over and over again.

The filmmakers and actors are desperately trying to act like white people and think shooting films in English with foreigners on Guatemalan land is going to get them seen in the US. Ixcanul from that same year does a much better job of displaying Guatemala and its people than this whitewashed movie does.

Living in another popular tourism destination myself in Central America and having chased romance along the backpacker's trail in Antigua, Guatemala, I found this film to be a true reflection for many young people who have spent time in a touristic setting where traveller meets local. It tells of a different, and very much alive culture that exists within Central America, one that can be overshadowed by the predominant focus in film on ancient cultures and today's marginalized people - stories that rightfully deserve and need their spotlight.

Hunting Party deserves appreciation for its own kind of poetry. Complex stories can unravel when the worlds between the local and traveler collide, and this movie tells it so beautifully, with intelligent and layered characters on both sides, which also helps to dispel stereotypes in Hollywood of the Central American. Film director and screenwriter, Chris Kummerfeldt, who plays the Guatemalan protagonist exceptionally well and may have upstaged his female co-star, is able to give a voice to the people who have lived these experiences while also showcasing the magnificent beauty of this city. It is no surprise at all that the film won a cinematography award, and we can only wait with bated breath for Kummerfeldt's next work that I hope will show more of his native Guatemala, and hopefully, cast actors that can give justice to his intriguing characters.

I highly recommend this film to young wanderlusts and globe trotters who will undoubtedly resonate with so much in this story. Kummerfeldt will tease you with glimpses into Antigua's exciting nightlife that entrances with sexy Latin rhythms (I still haven't tired of the reggaeton song in the film's club scene), its romantic old colonial architecture, as well as a dutiful introduction to the country's dark politics and history that naturally weaves its way into the story as it always does when in Guatemala.