Film & Cinema: Latin America and Spain

California awakens one day to discover that one third of its population has vanished. A peculiar pink fog surrounds the state and communication outside its boundaries has completely shut down. As the day progresses, it becomes apparent the sole characteristic linking the missing 14 million is their Hispanic heritage.

Language of the seeds: Explores the annual tradition of Tepoztlan market vendors in creating an arch made entirely of edible seeds on the gateway to the parish church (20 min.). Defender of his people: The Indian village of Tepoztlán, south of Mexico City, is a major tourist destination whose major attraction is the pyramid above the town, home of the god Tepoztecatl ("El Tepozteco" in Spanish). When a multinational corporation threatened the town with a golf course, 700 luxury homes, an industrial park, and a shopping center, the Tepoztecos barricaded the town and brought the project to a standstill.... (57 min.).

Since the 1960's, Mexican dance teachers like Florencio Yescas and Andres Segura have brought the "Danza" to the US. The Eagle's Children follows Mexican-American "Danzantes" to Chalma, Central Texas, and San Diego, as they rediscover their indigenous heritage.

Documentary on Russian director Sergei Eisenstein's filming in Mexico in 1931, focusing on his documentation of the effects of an earthquake in Oaxaca in January, 1931 (resulting in the production of a 12-minute documentary titled "El desastre en Oaxaca"), and footage of customs in the Tehuantepec area of Oaxaca, which later made up one of the parts of the film "Que viva México."

This film is part of an ongoing investigation which has exposed US military mapping of communally owned indigenous land in the Southern Sierra in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico.

Among the Zapotec Indians of Oaxaca, Mexico, boy babies who are born in a certain position, or little boys who prefer to play with girls, are raised as women, and are known as Muxes (pronounced "Mooshays"). The Muxes of Juchitán are proud of their identity, enjoy their lives, laugh at themselves as well as at "straight" society, and admit their own foibles freely. They call themselves "authentic, intrepid seekers of danger," and have banded together to lead the fight against AIDS in Oaxaca. In this documentary, they talk frankly about their experiences of acceptance and rejection, and their successes in finding freedom, love and delight in their special identity.

The tree of life: "The Voladores ritual, once sacred to Quetzalcoatl, is now performed by the Totonac Indians of Huehuetla, Puebla, Mexico on the feast day of San Salvador"--Opening screens.
The tree of knowledge: A critical analysis of the education Totonac Indian children receive in the public schools of Huehuetla, Puebla, Mexico, which often strip them of their cultural memory and identity.
Democracia indigena, municipal elections in Huehuetla, Puebla, Mexico: Looks at the changes in the Totonac Indian community of Huehuetla, Puebla, Mexico since the Totonac political group OIT (Organizacion Independiente Totonaca) formed an alliance with the PRD in 1989.

"In a world where valued traditions are threatened by globalization, the Totonac Indians of Mexico struggle to maintain the 2000 year old Los Voladores (the flyers) ritual, a visual representation of pre-Conquest Mexican Indian religion."

This film documents stories of resistance from several youths in Oaxaca, Mexico. The film explores different elements of conscious and revolutionary hip hop culture, which has been greatly influenced by the 2006 Oaxacan People's Popular Assembly -- APPO uprising. Xip Xop oaXaca includes several music videos and a taste of urban resistance as seen by youth from hoods around the city of Oaxaca.

One of the least known but most extraordinary musical regions of Mexico is the Tierra Caliente--the hotlands--in Guerrero & Michoacan states. Juan Reynoso is the last, perhaps the greatest of a line of traditional "calentano" violin virtuosos. Filmed in Reynoso's homeland in the state of Guerrero, and featuring Reynoso, members of his family, and two of his students (Paul Anastasio and David Tobin) in performance.