Forging her path with her own fists: Autonomy and contradictions of age, class and gender in Florence Jaguey’s La Yuma/Yuma (2010)

Abstract

Abstract Florence Jaugey’s La Yuma/Yuma (2010) was the first feature-length fiction film made in Nicaragua, by a Nicaraguan, in over two decades. The film presents Yuma, a young woman from a marginal neighbourhood who finds her answer to the challenges of a hostile environment through boxing. The film employs the narrative and stylistic norms of boxing movies in order to radically subvert them. Jaguey’s mise-en-scène, which includes documentary style elements, the narrative that privileges sociological characterization and intersectional connections and the film’s presentation to the Nicaraguan public as an ‘authentic’ story, encourage the examination of the social tensions represented in La Yuma. Through an analysis of film form, the article examines the representation of intersectional discrimination. The film’s conclusion is ambiguous: at the same time as it recognizes a series of irreparable divisions in Nicaraguan society it also indicates hope for a better future for its protagonist thanks to her optimism and newly conquered autonomy, as well as incorporating humour and the ludic into the narrative solution.