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María Candelaria (Xochimilco) is a 1943 Mexican film directed by Emilio Fernández and starring Dolores del Río and Pedro Armendáriz. It was the first Mexican film to be screened at the Cannes International Film Festival where it won the Grand Prix. Gabriel Figueroa won a Silver Ariel award for Best Cinematography.

Cannes was in pro-Nazi Vichy France during the film's initial release therefore the award was presented in 1946.

The film came to be regarded as one of Fernández's best works in which he portrays the indigenous people of Mexico with innocence and dignity. Fernández has said that he wrote an original version of the plot on 13 napkins while sitting in a restaurant. He was anxious because he was dating Dolores del Río and could not afford to buy her a birthday present. The film was first entitled "Xochimilco" and the progagonist was named María del Refugio.

Major themes in the film include melodrama, indigenousness, nationalism, and the beauty of Mexico.

Plot
A young journalist presses an old artist (Alberto Galán) to show portrait of a naked indigenous woman that he has in his study. The body of the movie is a flashback to Xochimilco, Mexico, in 1909. The film is set right before the Mexican Revolution, and Xochimilco is an area with beautiful landscapes inhabited mostly by indigenous people.

The viewer learns that the woman in the painting is María Candelaria (Dolores del Río), a young Indian woman who is constantly rejected by her own people for being the daughter of a prostitute. She and her lover, Lorenzo Rafael (Pedro Armendáriz), face constant struggles throughout the film. They are honest and hardworking, yet nothing ever goes right for them. Don Damian (Miguel Inclán), a jealous Mestizo store owner who wants María for himself, prevents them from getting married. He kills a piglet that María and Lorenzo plan to sell for profit and he refuses to buy vegetables from them. When María falls ill with Malaria, Don Damian refuses to give the couple the quinine medicine necessary to fight the disease. Lorenzo breaks into his shop to steal the medicine, and he also takes a wedding dress for María. Lorenzo goes to prison for stealing, and María agrees to model for the painter to pay for his release. The artist begins painting a portrait of María, but when he asks her to pose nude she refuses.

The artist finishes the painting with the nude body of another woman. When the people of Xochimilco see the painting, they assume it is María Candelaria and stone her to death.

Finally, Lorenzo escapes from prison to carry María's lifeless body through Xochimilco's canal of the dead.

Cast

 * Dolores del Río as María Candelaria: A beautiful, indigenous Mexican woman who has many misfortunes befall her throughout the film.
 * Pedro Armendáriz as Lorenzo Rafael: María Candelaria's lover and only consistent supporter.
 * Alberto Galán as Painter: The narrator of the story and creator of the painting that ultimately leads to María's death. The character is based on muralist Diego Rivera.
 * Margarita Cortés as Lupe: A young woman in the community who is jealous of María because she wants to be with Lorenzo Rafael. She is instrumental in the mob of townspeople who eventually stone María to death.
 * Miguel Inclán as don Damián: A store owner who exploits indigenous people and wants María for himself.

Other characters
 * Beatriz Ramos as Journalist
 * Rafael Icardo as Priest
 * Julio Ahuet as José Alfonso
 * Lupe Inclán as Gossip
 * Salvador Quiroz as Judge
 * Nieves as Model
 * Elda Loza as Model
 * Lupe Garnica as Model
 * Arturo Soto Rangel as Doctor
 * David Valle González as Court secretary
 * José Torvay as Police
 * Enrique Zambrano as Doctor
 * Alfonso Jiménez "Kilómetro"
 * Irma Torres
 * Lupe del Castillo

Production
"María Candelaria" benefited from a time of commercial success in the Mexican film industry in the 1940s and 1950s. Fernández and Figueroa had worked together previously, and they shared a similar vision for the film. In addition to the experienced team of producers, the film benefited from Dolores del Río's success as an actress through the star system.

Awards

 * Winner of the Grand Prix - Cannes International Film Festival 1943
 * Winner of the Mexican Silver Ariel for Best Cinematography - Gabriel Figueroa