Song without a Name

Melina León’s brutal debut feature about a young indigenous woman whose baby is stolen from her in 1980s Peru. Based on true events.

1980s Peru, at the height of a political and economic crisis. A young indigenous woman, Georgina (newcomer Pamela Mendoza Arpi), is expecting her first child. With no resources, she gratefully visits a clinic offering free care to pregnant women. But after giving birth, her baby is whisked away without a trace. Determined to find her daughter and facing bureaucratic disdain, Georgina seeks the help of investigative journalist Pedro Campos (Tommy Párraga). What they uncover is a vast web of corruption that digs deep into Peruvian society.

Writer-director Melina León based her debut feature on a real-life child trafficking case exposed by her journalist father Ismael. Beautifully filmed in black and white within a boxy 4:3 aspect ratio, mirroring Georgina’s ashen world of anguish and obstruction, Song Without a Name was nominated for the Golden Camera prize at Cannes and selected to represent Peru at the 2021 Academy Awards.