Title: 13 Pueblos en defensa del agua, el aire y la tierra / 13 Peoples Defending Water, Air, and Land
Location: Dominican Univesity of California
Tickets: Click here
Description: dir. Francesco Taboada Tabone, 2008, Mexico, 63 min.

Start Time: 18:00
Date: 2008-11-19
End Time: 19:00

This activist documentary chronicles the ongoing struggle of indigenous Nahuatl-speaking communities in Morelos, Mexico, who fight to protect their homes from contamination and commercial development. Francesco Taboada Tabone (Pancho Villa and The Last Zapatistas) follows up on his analyses of past Mexican revolutions with this powerful portrayal of local resistence to aggressive developers who see big profits in the region 60 miles south of Mexico City. For Taboada, the topic of autonomy for indigenous groups is part of the legacy of the revolutionary struggle of Emiliano Zapata starting in 1910. Now, a confederation of 13 towns confronts the building of garbage dumps, tract houses and golf courses in their ancestral and protected lands. They must also fight government and developers who are not above using bribes, threats, lies and brute force to protect their own interests.

Winner of Premio Rigoberta Menchu at the Montreal 2008 People’s Festival.

Este documental de tono politico narra la lucha sostenida de las comunidades indigenas de habla nahuatl en Morelos, Mexico, quienes combaten para proteger sus casas de la contaminacion y el desarrollo comercial. Francesco Taboada Tabone (Pancho Villa y Los ultimos Zapatistas, Winner of the Best Documentary at ILFF) continua su analisis de las revoluciones mexicanas del pasado en este poderoso retrato de la resistencia local a los agresivos constructores que ven enormes ganancias en la region a 60 millas al sur de Mexico, DF. “El tema de la autonomia de los pueblos indigenas es un elemento del legado revolucionario de la lucha de Emiliano Zapata desde 1910” dice Taboada. Ahora, una confederacion de 13 pueblos confronta la construccion de basureros, proliferacion de viviendas y canchas de golf en sus tierras ancestrales contra quienes son capaces de usar sobornos, amenazas, mentiras y fuerza bruta para proteger sus propios intereses.

Ganadora del Premio Rigoberta Menchu, Montreal 2008 People’s Festival.

Filed under: Feature Documentaries / Largometrajes Documentales, Mexico |