SPECIAL EDITION I

1. “Te xa wuil a va”: May you have the power to see yourself. 2000.

This video was produced by three communication studies students: one of them Norwegian (Linda Lothe) and two Mexican mestizos (Cecilia Monroy and Roberto Chankin Ortega). The video was shot and edited within the framework of the Visual Anthropology Course held in San Cristóbal de Las Casas in the year 2000. The creators had worked as technical assistants to the indigenous students during the course. The video documents the training in video technology and media literacy given to the members of indigenous communities and organisations in attendance, but it also allows us to hear the voices of indigenous people speaking about the importance of taking control of communication media themselves. Their awareness should not come as a surprise, because indigenous people in Chiapas – as in other parts of the world – are usually placed in front of a camera and rarely find themselves behind one.

2. K’in santo ta sotz’oleb. Day of the Dead in the Land of the Bats. 2002.

This is Pedro Daniel López López’ second production in which he shows us the fiesta of “All Saints”, or the “Day of the Dead” in Mexico. This popular Catholic festivity is celebrated every year on the 1st and 2nd of November. But beyond the festivities themselves is the fact that Pedro was raised in a Tsotsil speaking evangelical community on the outskirts of San Cristóbal de Las Casas where the festivity is no longer held. Pedro’s camera work, however, allows him to reunite with his grandfather and reconnect with the traditional Catholic religious practice of his native culture of Zinacantán, or “Sotz’oleb”, which means “land of the bats” in Tsotsil. To a large extent, the video becomes an intimate exchange (a video dialogue) between Pedro and his grandfather, and more of a communicative, rather than simply a documentary, experience for both of them. Pedro wants to know more about his grandfather’s life. His grandfather, Don Mariano, takes advantage of the opportunity provided by Pedro’s camera to communicate his message to future generations. It appears that Don Mariano is speaking not only to Pedro but to many other young indigenous people, with the hope that they may someday be capable of taking over responsibility for the “All Saints” fiesta.

3. Squ’inal Ixim. Celebrating Maize: Third Maya-Zoque Encounter of Maize. 2002.

Two young indigenous video-makers, José Ángel López, a graduate of the Department of Anthropology, the Autonomous University of Chiapas (UNACH), and Roberto Alejandro Corzo, a consultant to a women’s artisan organisation in Amatenango del Valle, produced this video with the intent of documenting the Third Maya-Zoque Encounter of Maize organisationd annually by the National Indigenous Institute (INI) and CECADEPI-RAPs. In May, during the week of the Mayan calendar’s “Seed Day”, indigenous farmers from around the state of Chiapas met to exchange the seeds of their sacred foodstuff (maize) and to discuss the current economic situation of food producers. Guatemalan Mayan priests were invited in order to celebrate a “new Mayan dawn” and to encourage the political unity of the “Mayan people”. The two young producers made this video documentary as a report on the results of the encounter to communities and organisations that were unable to attend.

4. More than a Thousand Years Later… 2001.

This video was directed by a native Lacandon, Pablo Chankin, who has worked as a tourist guide, community official and also on artistic projects. The video tells the story of some Lacandon youths from Lacanjá Chansayab with an interest in staging some of the narratives represented in the murals of Bonampak. Their main concern was to create employment opportunities for local young people through promoting tourism in the area. Moral and economic support for the stage production was provided through both government agencies and the private sector. Although their dramatisation of the murals made it to the stage, the original Lacandon director did not remain in charge of the project after this video document of the group’s rehearsals was finished. Nonetheless, what definitely made a lasting impression on all those involved in this cultural adventure is the fact that the Bonampak murals are a living source of inspiration for Mayans today. Indigenous people who have seen this video said they liked it because it helps to reinforce their political and cultural demands, as well as their struggle for recognition.