The Consortium in Latin American and Caribbean Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke University
Title: WE DON’T PLAY GOLF HERE! Description: Mexico serves as a Third World example of how “free market” economics distorts culture and environment. The construction of a golf course is more than the military trying to replace the democratic sport, … Read more
Title: SIN DEJAR HUELLA (WITHOUT A TRACE) Description: Sin Dejar Huella uses drama and comedy in equal measure to tell the story of two women–one Spanish and the other Mexican–fleeing from their respective pasts. Ana, a con artist, and Aurelia, … Read more
Title: Presumed Guilty Description: In December, 2005, Tono Zuniga was picked up off the street of Mexico City, Mexico, and sentenced to 20 years for a murder he knew nothing about. A friend of Tono’s contacted two young lawyers, Robert … Read more
Title: NEW WORLD BORDER Description: New World Border documents the rise in human rights abuses along the U.S.-Mexico border since the implementation of border blockades, which have been erected in populated areas throughout the border region during the last decade. … Read more
Title: MOMIAS, LAS Description: This film documents “The Accidental Mummies of Guanajuato” exhibition which appeared at the Natural Science Center of Greensboro, NC in 2012. The history of the city of Guanajuato, Mexico, through the lens of its “accidental mummies”, … Read more
Title: MAYAS U SU’UT KA’ANSAH Description: Filmed in the states of Quintana Roo and Yucatán, “U Su’us Ka’ansah (The Cycle of Teaching) depicts the living ancestral science within Mayan communities. We are given the opportunity to partake in their cultural … Read more
Title: LIVING JUAREZ Description: After Mexican President Felipe Calderón declared war on drug cartels in December 2006, thousands of people have died in Mexico. Juarez is now considered the deadliest city in the world and where most of the casualties … Read more
Title: HARVEST OF LONELINESS Description: In today’s weak economy, current immigration laws in different states of the country show hostility towards undocumented immigrants. This was not the case during and after World War II where the United States was in … Read more
Title: EN EL CAMINO DE NUESTRAS ANTEPASADOS Description: This film uses puppets to deliver lessons about Yucatec Maya language, culture, and history. It deals with issues of contemporary and ancient Maya heritage. The main characters travel to different sites including … Read more
Title: BETTY & PANCHO Description: A portrait of the 50 year marriage of Elizabeth Catlett, the renowned African American sculptor, and the Mexican painter, Francisco Mora. Now in their eighties, the couple share the same studio in Cuernavaca, and exhibit … Read more
Title: BAJO EL TACANA Description: Bajo el Tecana is a short documentary about a group of women migrants, who are interviewed by a group of researchers, before heading to the north. The film takes place in the village of Soconusco, … Read more
Title: AL OTRO LADO Description: An aspiring corrido composer from the drug capital of Mexico faces two choices to better his life: to traffic drugs or to cross the border illegally into the United States. From Sinaloa, Mexico, to the … Read more
Title: MOMIAS, LAS Description: This film documents “The Accidental Mummies of Guanajuato” exhibition which appeared at the Natural Science Center of Greensboro, NC in 2012. The history of the city of Guanajuato, Mexico, through the lens of its “accidental mummies”, … Read more
Title: PUEBLOS INDIGENAS, LOS Description: Los Pueblos Indigenas Hoy is a ten part series that is an educational resource about the indigenous peoples of Mexico. Sponsored by the Mexican government, the series aired on Mexican national television in 2010 in … Read more
The Guestworker tells the story of Don Candelario “Don Cande” Gonzales Moreno, a 66-year old farmer from Durango, Mexico. He has been coming to the United States in a regular basis to work the tobacco and other agricultural fields since … Read more
Part 2 of a series of shorts from the 2004 Geografias Suaves regional film festival which feature Maya speaking peoples from Yucatan and Chiapas. The shorts include a video postcard documenting the lives and everyday experiences of children and their … Read more
Description: The Virgin Appears in La Maldita Vecinidad is a documentary about the Virgen of Guadalupe and the celebrations that occur on December 11th and 12th in her honor. These celebrations occur outside an apartment complex knows as “la Maldita … Read more
Description: In 1910 a revolution erupted in Mexico, among its rallying cries "the right to vote." Nearly a century later "Sufragio Efectivo" is heard again as thousands take to the streets. Through the legacy that filmmaker Natalia Almada inherited as … Read more
Description: An award-winning and discerning depiction of the impact of migration on Mexican families and villages left behind by loved ones who have traveled north for work. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 96 Minutes
Description: In Mexico, the voices of the woman who have chosen to have an abortion are virtually absent from public debate. Aborto Sin Pena will introduce you to three of these women, from distinct cultural backgrounds. What they say will … Read more
Description: Eugenia Ramírez, a young dentist, returns home from a congress, only to find that her apartment has been ransacked. Furious, she tries to recover her childhood photo album at any cost, demanding that justice be done. However, she is … Read more
Description: “Continent on the Move” This program examines the causes and effects of one of the most important forces transforming the Americas: the migration of vast numbers of people within the region. The program is set in Mexico, where migration … Read more
Description:This film is a bold, intensely emotional, and ambitious story of lives that collide in a Mexico City car crash. Inventively structured as a triptych of overlapping and intersecting narratives, Amores Perros explores the lives of disparate characters who are … Read more
Description: A tragic urban story about the unfortunate life of a 13-year old circus girl in Mexico City. She is expelled from her job when the official of the circus finds out she is pregnant. She meets a troupe of … Read more
Description: A collection of mostly hand drawn animation, this film brings to reality a life of toling for the cartoonist. Includes: Why Cybraceros?, Dia de la Independencia, Sign of the Times, Latinos on TV, Mysterious, and Apparitions on Tortillas Copies: … Read more
Description: Part I is a documentary dealing with the art of the Mexican revolution as a political movement and a revolution in art. Text by Octavio Paz. Part II examines these monumental creations not only for their great aesthetic value, … Read more
Description: The documentary is about Jacques Monard/Ramón Mercader, the KGB agent who assassinated León Trotsky in Mexico. It is an account from the people who knew him during his childhood, and up to and after the crime. This film reconstructs … Read more
Description: This documentary is not only a chronological description of the controversy between the town and the group KS but a much more complex and critical description. It is a contrast between modernity and backwardness, richness and poverty, and what … Read more
Description: This documentary introduces us to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mexico, home to an indigenous Zapotec society where gender and sexual preference are a fluid concept. The women dominate the home and businesses, while the men do much of … Read more
Description: You are invited to the wedding of Elizabeth and Artemio in Nuevo León, Mexico. The video introduces a young couple whose lives and community have roots in Mexico while they encounter the challenges of migrant life in the United … Read more
Description: The acclaimed performance artist Guillermo Gómez-Peña directs himself in this video focusing on issues of cross-culturalism along the U.S.-Mexico border. In his performance he switches in and out of various characters reflecting different aspects of border culture. Copies: 1 … Read more
Description: Nearly 2000 maquiladoras have been built in Mexico by companies from the US, Asia and Europe. As a result, the border has become a 2000 mile-long open sewer, a vast toxic waste dump. Filmed in three border regions, (Matamoros … Read more
Description: Freely adopted from the book Naufragios by Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca (written in 1542). The film portrays the saga of the adventures of a group of Spanish soldiers in Mexico. Their leader, Cabeza de Vaca, is considered to … Read more
Description: Film adaptation of the Naguib Mahfouz novel. Set in downtown Mexico City, the film portrays three neighbors: Rutilio, whose emerging homosexual orientation destroys his marriage; Susanita, an old maid who falls prey to a thief; and Alma, a virgin … Read more
Description: This is a celebration of the death of the Aguascalientes and the birth of the Caracoles and the Good Government Assemblies. Zapatista leaders discuss how changes will affect internal political and economic processes, gender relations, and their relationship to … Read more
Description: An interview with the renowned Mexican novelist for World Monitor–a television presentation of the Christian Science Monitor. Copies: 1 (VHS) Length: 7 minutes
Description: This film interweaves video letters carried across the U.S./Mexico border by the film’s director with the personal stories of women left behind in post-NAFTA Mexico, giving voice to 4 amazing women who feel the effects of failed immigration and … Read more
Description: An educated man tries to keep his family closed off from the outside world while he goes mad from the ideologies contained in books. The film is based on a true story related to the suppression of the student … Read more
Description: Part of the series "Races and Expressions of the Yucatán" produced by the Autonomous University of the Yucatán. This film portrays Yucatan culture through the paintings of Fernando Castro Pacheco, the Yucatán’s most celebrated painter. Copies: 1(VHS) Length: 25 … Read more
Description: This film, based on ritual and legends from the Popul Vuh, as well as Tzeltal and Mayan stories, and shot in the Chiapas region of Mexico, focuses on a small Tzeltal village during a terrible draught. Desperate for relief, … Read more
Description: This video describes Chiapas through the eye of Subcomandante I. Marcos from the Selva la Candona, August 1992. It is a journey into the region where 3.5 million Chapanescos live, describing their living conditions, and their movement for peace … Read more
Description: Made by Sylvia Morales. Chicana traces the history of Chicana and Mexican women from pre-Columbian times to the present. It covers women’s role in Aztec society, their participation in the 1810 struggle for Mexican independence, their involvement in the … Read more
Description: Documentary films of the borderland between Texas and Mexico. Norteña music filled with the poetry of daily life-love songs, passion, death, humor, and loss is explored from dancehalls, small towns, and family gatherings. Copies: 2 (DVD and VHS) Length: … Read more
Description: One could never admit to having seen enough of Mexico City." This innovative documentary is a collection of photographic images from Mexico City newspapers of the last ten years which people who travel through Mexico City daily identify as … Read more
Description: This collection of short films is part of the series Corto metraje, más que un instante from IMCINE and CinemaFilms. This original series showcases 51 short films by up and coming Mexican directors, cinematographers and actors. The films touch … Read more
Description: This collection of short films is part of the series Corto metraje, más que un instante from IMCINE and CinemaFilms. This original series showcases 51 short films by up and coming Mexican directors, cinematographers and actors. The films touch … Read more
Description: This collection of short films is part of the series Corto metraje, más que un instante from IMCINE and CinemaFilms. This original series showcases 51 short films by up and coming Mexican directors, cinematographers and actors. The films touch … Read more
Description: This collection of short films is part of the series Corto metraje, más que un instante from IMCINE and CinemaFilms. This original series showcases 51 short films by up and coming Mexican directors, cinematographers and actors. The films touch … Read more
Description: This collection of short films is part of the series Cortometraje, más que un instante from IMCINE and CinemaFilms. This original series showcases 51 short films by up and coming Mexican directors, cinematographers and actors. The films touch on … Read more
Description: This collection of short films is part of the series Corto metraje, más que un instante from IMCINE and CinemaFilms. This original series showcases 51 short films by up and coming Mexican directors, cinematographers and actors. The films touch … Read more
Description: This video is part of a series that seeks to provide developmental and educational materials that engage the cultural heritage of Latin America. Los Colores de Rufino teaches about colors while exploring the work and words of Mexican artist … Read more
Description: From the literary world of magic realism, this award-winning film adapted from the book by the same title chronicles life in Mexico near the Texas border in the early twentieth century. Unrequited passions, changing political situations and even madness … Read more
Description: This informative piece begins with a presentation of the struggle of Mexican men crossing the U.S. border in search for better economic opportunities. It narrates the crossing of U.S. border in search for better opportunities. It narrates the creation … Read more
Description: Part of a video series of the Taller Miradas Antroplogicas, which seeks to recognize the indigenous peoples of Mexico and their participation in Mexican society. This episode documents the presence of indigenous youth in university life. Copies: 1 (VHS) … Read more
Description: Corazon Sangrante is a short film that uses various mythic elements of gender – the sacred heart, saints, la china poblana – all set to the music of an old Mexican ballad. Cuerpos de Papel, also set to music, … Read more
Description: This documentary tells the story of how, after centuries of inaccessibility, the Mayan hieroglyphics were finally decoded by archaeologists. Through many discoveries by people of all ages, including Michael Coe and David Stuart, the Mayan Civilization is brought to … Read more
Description: Father Amaro is a new priest assigned to the small rural town of Los Reyes, Mexico. He soon discovers that a conspiracy of corruption, sex, and lies has consumed the local parishes. Though he tries to resist falling into … Read more
Description: In 1995, the U.S. Border Patrol instituted Operation Gatekeeper, which has caused the death of about 1800 migrants since its implementation. CROSSES documents the efforts of artists and activists to bring the disastrous effects of Operation Gatekeeper to the … Read more
Description: This very first three-color, live action film production is a comic short about a volatile tempered cantina girl trying to regain the love of a fellow dancer. The piece has lots of dancing and music, marking the debut of … Read more
Description: Experience the ancestral rituals of the Day of the Dead as it takes place in the mystic atmosphere of Jantzio. Watch as the people prepare themselves to receive their dead relatives as they clean and decorate graves and they … Read more
Description: “A Day Without a Mexican” is a “mocumentary” – a real documentary about a false event! California is shocked. One third of its population has disappeared and they are all Hispanics. Reporters take to the streets to capture the … Read more
Description: This documentary tells the remarkable story of a rebel people – the Mascogos, known in the United States as the Black Seminoles. This exceptional community is descended from escaped slaves who made common cause with the Seminole Indians of … Read more
Description: Diana is a ‘Devoradora,’ a man-eater. Men who fall in love with her get chewed up and spit out without any regard for their feelings. Diana an ambitious and frivolous woman, committed a crime and tried to blame some … Read more
Description: When Lourdes Portillo receives a phone call informing her that her uncle was found dead she returns to Mexico. Her investigation of the circumstances of her uncle’s death takes us deep into the land of Northern Mexico, inside the … Read more
Description: Parts 1-3 of the made-for-television Tom Brokaw report. Copies: 1(VHS)
Description: The great Soviet filmmaker, Sergei Eisenstein went to Mexico in 1929 to shoot the film Qué vive México using surrealist and muralist influence. The project was never finished. However this documentary film follows the work of Eisenstein including stills … Read more
Description: This rare example of classic Mexican cinema examines the corrupted ideals of the Revolution in the story of an opportunistic landowner who faces the choice of remaining loyal to a general in Zapata’s army and being financially ruined or … Read more
Description: El Prisonero 13 (Prisoner 13) is part of the trilogy of films made by Fernando Fuentes concerning the Mexican Revolution. The film centers on the drunkard Colonel Carrasco, whose wife Marta leaves him taking his young son. Copies: 1 … Read more
Description: In Mexico City, a second layer is being built atop the Periférico freeway, which inscribes a massive circle on the metropolis. Despite the project’s enormity, the workers who are building the freeway are barely noticed by drivers who roll … Read more
Description: The story of five women’s lives interwoven with festivities, music, poetry, and art in the historically matrifocal Zapotec region of Tehuantepec, Oaxaca. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 15 minutes
Description: Based on a fragment from his novel Love in the Time of Cholera, this film was conceived and co-written by Nobel Prize winner Gabriel García Márquez. It tells the story of Orestes, a wealthy factory owner who falls madly … Read more
Description: This two-part video depicts a young Mexican-American woman’s fifteenth birthday celebration. Set in Dallas, Texas and Reynosa, Mexico, the first part consists of a discussion of the preparations, planning, and logistics that have to be considered in planning this … Read more
Description: Patricia Amlin, the extraordinary animator who created Popol Vuh has taken authentic images from ancient Maya ceramics and turned them into a riveting retelling of the Maya creation myth. The story tells how Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca create heaven and … Read more
Description: This film documents the weeklong Mexican celebration known as Days of the Dead. This festival honors the memories of loved ones who have died. Food for the Ancestors explores this festival as it takes place in the culturally rich … Read more
Description: “An artist must be the conscience of his age.” In this way Diego Rivera, a leader of the Mexican mural renaissance movement of the 1920’s and 1030’s expressed the philosophy behind his work; in particular the spectacular series of … Read more
Description: Visually depicts the life of Frida Kahlo through her own paintings and the surroundings of her home in Coyoacán, Mexico City. Copies: 2 (DVD and VHS) Length: 16 minutes
Description: A documentary about Frida Kahlo’s painful life and creative process. Part of the series “Portraits of an Artist.” Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 62 minutes
Description: On her deathbed artist Frida Kahlo (played by Ofelia Medina) conjures up images and memories of her life as a painter, revolutionary and woman of the world. Her stormy relationship with muralist Diego Rivera, her tender hospitality for exiled … Read more
Description: Based on a story by Juan Rulfo. A poor man is given a near-dead fighting cock and he nurses him back to life. While this brings him life, he finds that when he forgets his roots and he soon … Read more
Description: A series of shorts from the 2004 Geografias Suaves regional film festival which feature Maya speaking peoples from Yucatan and Chiapas. The shorts include a video postcard documenting the lives and everyday experiences of children and their communities as … Read more
Description: Gertrudis Bocanegra Lazo de la Vega–played by award winning actress Ofelia Medina–a criollo woman who participated in the Mexican war of independence, is the central character of this film. Gertrudis becomes acutely aware of the social injustice prevalent in … Read more
Description: A tragicomedy about the foibles of a petty Government official, who becomes a casualty of consolidation under the Salinas administration. Copies: 1 (VHS) Length: 108 minutes
Description: The director narrates this pseudo-documentary, fantasizing an invasion of mojados (wetbacks) who reconquer lost Mexican territory to create the “U.S. of Aztlán.” This new regime propagandizes by portraying Anglos with the same stereotypes employed against Latinos. Directed by Gustavo … Read more
Description: During the invasion of Iraq in 2003, a misplaced gringo in Mexico City helplessly watches the atrocities through Mexican television news. Taking a tip from his local neighbors, he begins to sell chewing gum and wash car windows in … Read more
Description: Coerced into rebellion against the tyrannical regime of a ruthless landowner, the laborers of a sugar plantation form the first union in the country. The whole town faces the brutal repression of the ruling power headed by a young … Read more
Description: Since 1986, thousands of Mexican men have entered the United States to work under the auspices of the H-2A guestworker program. These men are given temporary visas to come to the United States for several months a year and … Read more
Description: Based on the research of Felipe Vázquez Palacios and his team in the state of Veracruz. This documentary depicts the daily life of those whom society considers to be old. The testimonies of these men and women teach us … Read more
Description: Six short documentaries about the protests and populist movement taking place in Oaxaca. Interviews, photographs, and documentation of particular events, like the attempted takeover of Benito Juarez Autonomous University by the Federal Police on November 2nd 2006 are included. … Read more
Description: Based on a short story El Gallo de Oro by Juan Rulfo, this film tells the story of Dionosio Pinzon, a Mexican peasant living with his mother. Born with a deformed hand, and living a very meager life, Dionosio’s … Read more
Description: Deep in the rainforest of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula are the lost Mayan Cities of Chichen Itzá and Palenque. Discover their magic and learn about the Mayan culture while exploring some of the region’s most exquisite examples of pre-Hispanic American … Read more
Description: This oringinal ethnographic video depicts how New Agers, the Mexican state, tourists, and 1920s archeologists all contend to “clear” the site of the antique Maya city of Chiché Itzá in order to produce their own idealized and unobstructed visions … Read more
Description: This feature film tells the story of the life of Jesus in Yucatec Maya language. It is a great resource for those who want to practice and master the language. Copies: 2 (DVD and VHS) Length: 120 Minutes
Description: An eight-year-old boy tired of living in an orphanage and working in a tortilla factory decides to search for the guardian angel his mother promised to send. The angel appears to him as a grumpy old Mexican man who … Read more
Type: Documentary, Director: Dinamu-SNV, Country: Ecuador, Format: DVD-R, Language: Spanish, Subtitles: None
Description: This documentary retraces the decipherment of the ancient Mayan codices by an unknown Russian scholar, Yuri Valentinovich Knorosov. Due to the political tensions of the Cold War, Western scholars ignored his linguistic breakthrough. This film recounts the personal and … Read more
Type: Documentary, Year: 1998, Director: Bran Taylor, Country: Mexico, Format: DVD-R, Language: English and Spanish, Subtitles: English
Type: Documentary, Year: 2005, Director: Chiapas Media Project, Country: Mexico, Format: DVD, Language: Spanish and Tzeltal, Subtitles: English
Description: La Ley de Herodes is a hilarious, outrageous satire set in a tiny Mexican town in 1949. Damián Alcázar stars as Juan Vargas, a junkyard operator is recruited as a temporary mayor following the demise of the latest corrupt … Read more
Description: This Masterpiece Series provides a triple treat – a close-up look at the lives and works of the worlds most famous artists plus three art lessons that focus on the style of each. These lessons reinforce the techniques and … Read more
Description: This is a series of short film clips that tell stories about people who, in one way or another, are affected by the Olympics. These 11 short stories bring out a lot of different emotions in the viewer; they … Read more
Description: The mystical story of the Virgen of Guadalupe unfolds as Huan Francisco Urrusti identifies and explores an important aspect of Mexican culture. Through interviews with historians, priests, anthropologists, and psychologists, the role of religious syncretism in Mexican culture is … Read more
Description: A collection of video shorts that examine the history of Mexican cinema. This volume examines recent movies that have addressed issues concerning power, analyzing particularly the movie Morir en el Golfo (1989). Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 60 minutes
Description: A collection of short videos (los orígenes del cinematógrafico, cine mundo, Eisenstein en México, etc.) that examine the history of Mexican cinema–from the Lumière brothers’ first screenings in Mexico City at the turn of the century, to the development … Read more
Description: The talents of top director Roberto Gavaldon, novelist B. Traven (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre) and cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa combined to produce this gentle, moving fable on human morality. Macario is a young peasant, despondent over his inability … Read more
Description: This film examines the impact of corporate globalization on Mexico, focusing on the maquiladoras, U.S.-owned factories employing cheap Mexican labor. Archival footage and interviews provide historical background to the present crisis. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 55 minutes
Description: This classic of Mexican cinema begins when a young woman reporter interviewing a world-famous artist, asks him about a painting of a nude Indian girl he had done years before and which he never revealed. The painter replies that … Read more
Description: The critically-acclaimed film debut from Robert Rodríguez, shot with no second takes using borrowed equipment and a talented cast of unknowns. A case of deadly mistaken identity leads the protagonist, who aspires only to be a mariachi, to trade … Read more
Description: This documentary goes on location to rarely seen gatherings in remote villages where masks are still an essential part of festivals such as Day of the Dead, Corpus Christi and Winter Clebrations. This video traces the ritual use of … Read more
Description: This great exhibit shows the expressive aesthetic language and historical testimony of an admirable civilization. This is the first presentation of the maya civilization that has covered all the regions of their geographical extension, all the periods of its … Read more
Description: The pioneer film maker Salvador Toscano portrayed the key events and figures of the Mexican Revolution from 1904 to 1924. Capturing the flavor and reality of war-torn Mexico, the film presents the political and military upheaval that shaped present … Read more
Description: Made by Raul Ferrera-Balanquet. An exceptionally lyrical and visual video about the encounter of two young gay Mexican men in the city of Mérida, Copies: 2 (DVD and VHS) Length: 7 minutes
Description: This film takes a look at the cultural wealth of prehispanic Mexico: the civilizations of the Toltecs, the Aztecs, the Mayas, and their legacies are explored. Intended for younger audiences. An Educational Video Network film. Copies: 2 (DVD and … Read more
Description: This volume focuses on the rich cultural heritage of Mexico and how it affects the daily lives of its citizens. Students will find that Mexicos indigenous people and Spanish rule have influenced the ceremonial dress, folktales, foods and holidays … Read more
Description: This volume focuses on how Mexicos geography has shaped its history, society and culture. Travel through a variety of land formations and regions from the desert in Sonora to the lush rainforests of Chiapas, and see how location and … Read more
Description: This volume focuses on the obstacles that Mexico has overcome throughout history to become an independent, self-governing nation. Explore history topics from the time of the Olmec through the time of independence fights as well as other more contemporary … Read more
Description: Based in Mexico, a poor man struggles to make ends meet while facing the adversity of socioeconomic prejudice. Finances become worse once his ten-year-old son becomes seriously ill, and the man must find the means to heal his son. … Read more
Description: Gerardo, a gay teenager, roams the streets of Mexico City in search of someone able to reveal the secret, hidden between the lines of a goodbye letter from his ex-lover. In his journey through barren alleys and roadways, he … Read more
Description: Released in 1917, this silent film focuses on the apparitions of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico. Lupita, a young woman in Mexico is concerned about her fiancée’s trip to Europe because of the war. The woman asks for … Read more
Description: This film is the working classes’ response to globalization. It engages the audience in the issues of immigration, factory flight, and the organized demand for economic justice. Filmed over an 8-year period in the mountains of east Tennessee, interior … Read more
Description: Seventeen-year old Natividad is bored with her life in her village. Meanwhile Benjamin, fifty something, fat, and the fool of the village, is in love with Natividad. Incited by his friends, Benjamin decides to kidnap her. Leandro, Natividad’s boyfriend, … Read more
Description: An intriguing documentary on the life of the renowned and vibrant filmmaker. Landeta is seen in her 70’s remembering her productive years. Includes interview with filmmaker Marcela Fernandez Violante. Copies: 2 (DVD and VHS) Length: 30 minutes
Description: This film depicts the disturbing increase in racism, violence and intolerance along the US-Mexican border in recent years. NATIVES examines the concerns of some of the individuals involved in San Diego’s anti-immigrant movement. Relying principally on a cinema vérité … Read more
Description: Daughter of a rebel, Angustias is ostracized for her refusal to marry, her independence, and her scorn for men. She falls in love, only to be rejected because of her race and class which cause her to return to … Read more
Description: A three-part documentary. Part I describes the phenomenon of banda dance music sweeping the Unites States and Mexico. Part II provides a history of mariachi music and its fusions with country-western and other styles, while Part III profiles Tejano … Read more
Description: A documentary about the Zapatista National Liberation Army’s struggle to attain justice for the Maya Indians of Chiapas. The film includes footage of various figures in the movement, including the elusive subcomandante Marcos. Produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. … Read more
Description: This is a story based on real testimonies about women and AIDS. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 40 minutes
Description: Two young Jewish girls, born Mexican, shape their lives under the pressures of the early sixties and their own awareness of conflicting loyalties. The subject of the life of the Jewish community within the ethnic complexity of modern urban … Read more
Description: The video collection that takes you on a trip to Oaxaca to see the sites of the immensely beautiful country of Mexico. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 60 Minutes
Description: This 1950 masterpiece, directed by Luis Buñuel, portrays the misery of poverty with an astounding starkness. Poor children of Mexican slums are the primary subjects of this unconstrained vision of poverty. In many big cities, behind the large buildings … Read more
Description: A historical discussion among North American and Mexican historians about the diary and life of Rosalie Evans, a disgruntled North American property owner who lost her land during the Mexican Revolution Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 60 minutes
Description: The synthetic cultural identities resulting from the forcible conversion of Mexicos indigenous people by the Spanish are explored through the eyes of Cortezs mistress Tecuíchpo and a fictional half-brother, the illegitimate son of Montezuma II. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: … Read more
Description: Americans simply pass through the turnstiles for cheap thrills in Tijuana. Mexicans on the other side, however, face endless barriers of barbed wire, attack dogs, and armed border patrols. Alex Webb captures the odd panorama of the border. Copies: … Read more
Description: The story of the Henequen plant and its practical uses, including fiber for clothing. The documentary begins with the incidental discovery of the Henequen and moves forward in time to the development of factories for mass production of fiber. … Read more
Description: Based on one of the masterpieces of Spanish American literature, the novel by Juan Rulfo was adapted for the screen by Carlos Fuentes. Juan Preciado travels to the town of Comala to find his father, Pedro Páramo (John Gavin); … Read more
Description: This film portrays the true story of Yessica and Miriam, two teens from Mexico city that start a profound friendship in middle school. The friends share notebooks, games, likes, make-up, and perfume until Jorge and El Topi, two violent … Read more
Description: Five short documentaries created by the the Indigenous Video Makers Project of the Southern (Mexican) Border: "Te xa wuil a va (Que tengas el poder de mirarte a ti mismo)," directed by Linda Lothe, Cecilia Monroy Cuevas and Roberto … Read more
Description: This is a silent film that focuses on opium addiction in early twentieth century Mexico. It is combined with stories of bandits and a poor detective who strives to be like the then famous Nick Carter. EL PUÑO DE … Read more
Description: Sergei Eisenstein’s lost masterpiece documents the history of Mexico and its people. With sequences devoted to the Edenic land of Tehuantepec, the savage majesty of the bullfight, the struggles of the noble peon and the hypnotic imagery of the … Read more
Description: Shot in Cuba and the US over a period of three years, this film features remarkable cinematography by first time director Carlos Marcovich. Winner of the Latin American Cinema Prize. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 91 minutes
Description: From the heart of the Altos in the Chiapaneco province of Chenalho, this community and indigenous oriented radio station broadcasts in Tzotzil and Tzeltal. The radio is an effort to strengthen their fight for justice and defend their culture … Read more
Description: A dramatization on John Reeds newspaper account of the Mexican Revolution. This film explores the young journalists adventures with Pancho Villas army in 1913-1914. Through encounters with Generals Villa and Urbina as well as ordinary soldiers, Reed sheds his … Read more
Description: Fictionalized biography about life of Mexican singer Lucha Reyes. Lucha Reyes was an unconventional and sexually liberated woman, most famous for her "cancion ranchera" style singing. Her story begins in 1939, when at 33 she still lived at home … Read more
Description: A depiction of the Aztec myth of the creation of the Fifth Sun. It also explains why the Aztecs were cast out of their "Eden" resulting in their eventual conquest. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 91 minutes
Description: The cruelty of one Mexican cacique has left his village completely without water, and the population is living in misery. The people of Rio Escondido will have to struggle for justice, and a newly arrived schoolteacher will help them … Read more
Description: Every November the Mexican people clean and decorate the graves of their loved ones, set beautiful tables or altars in which they place offerings so the visiting dead enjoy them. Experience these and other ancestral rituals of the Day … Read more
Description: A film about October 2, 1968, Mexico City -the day of the massacre of students in Tlatelolco–the Plaza of the Three Cultures. The story begins with two students returning to their apartment carrying a wounded friend. From that point, … Read more
Description: A journey by US citizens to Oaxaca, Mexico reveals the global forces that have pushed millions of people to migrate to the United States. Learn first-hand why people make the journey north, why they wish they didn’t have to, … Read more
Description: Alicia returns to the pueblo where she spent her childhood and adolescence after an absence of 15 years. Despite the many changes that her pueblo has undergone, she finds that everyday life remains much the same as it was … Read more
Description: Every year in San Juan Chamula, Chiapas, in Southern Mexico, thousands of Maya Indians gather to celebrate Carnival, which they call “Festival of Games”. This award winning film, which merges Catholicism and ancient Maya rights, beautifully captures the passion … Read more
Description: This documentary narrates the story of Los San Patricios, a Irish battalion in the war against Mexico in 1843 that deserted the United States army and joined the Mexican side. They are celebrated every year in Mexico, Ireland, and … Read more
Description: The crew of a converted French traveler studies ancient Mayan civilization and strives to acquire the science and mathematics expertise to understand it. Adventures develop observation, hypothesis formation, data collection, and analysis skills. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 24 15-minute … Read more
Description: Three generations of women reflect the spiritual and social differences among traditional Mexico, the period of the Lázaro Cárdenas regime, and Mexico today. Based on Rosario Castellanos’ short story El Viudo Román. Copies: 1 (VHS) Length: 100 minutes
Description: This documentary investigates the kidnapping, rape and murder of over 230 young women in Juarez, Mexico. Using the testimonies of the families of the victims, the film boldly reveals a web of complicity that has contributed to the persistence … Read more
Description: Filmed almost entirely from a helicopter, this film presents spectacular views of seven of the most important archaeological sites in Mexico: Teotihuacán, Monte Albán, Mitla, Tulum, Palenque, Chichen Itzá and Uxmal. Narrated by Orson Welles. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: … Read more
Description: This drama centers around the friendship of two young wealthy provincial girls of the 1950s to depict a tale of seduction and infidelity, intimacy and melancholy. Through the classic Mexican game of "chance and destiny," this film by the … Read more
Description: This chronicle of NAFTA and the Zapatista uprising includes interviews with key figured and grounds the conflict in questions of democracy and social change. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 56 minutes
Description: Sleep Dealer is a futuristic science fiction story set in a world not much different from our own, in which borders are closed, and a global, high speed network ties distant people and places together. The story centers on … Read more
Description: Tomás loves women and they love him. However, Tomás has problems -he lives in the times of DC-10’s, microwave ovens and AIDS, and this modern Don Juan doesn’t use condoms! A wonderfully funny comedy faintly reminiscent of Almodóvar. Copies: … Read more
Description: Music is an important expression of Mexico’s cultural richness, and has always accompanied mostly all the activities of the Mexican people. Get to know through this program the most representative music, complemented with typical handicrafts and regional dresses of … Read more
Description: The moving account of the people of Matamoros, Mexico after the Chicago-based Stepan plant dumped zylene, a toxic solvent linked to birth defects, into open canals near their homes. The Sanchez family and their community, with the help of … Read more
Description: In this mix of live action and comic book style animation, five masked activists fight against corruption, homophobia, animal rights, pollution and poverty in Mexico City. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 70 minutes
Description: A UNICEF style documentary showing the hardships of the Tarahumara Indians and how a local hospital attempts to remedy them. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 25 minutes
Description: When the Aztecs arrived in the Valley of Mexico 600 years ago, they found a mysterious city of great pyramids. With this video students will examine some of the theories and legends surrounding the mysterious civilization of Teotihuacán, see … Read more
Description:The most highly praised and awarded Mexican documentary in many years, THE INHERITORS by Eugenio Polgovsky immerses us in the daily lives of children who, with their families, survive only by their unrelenting labor. The film takes us into the … Read more
Description: This documentary represents the culmination of four years of investigation into the military operations behind the October 1968 massacre of students at the Plaza de las Tres Culturas in Tlateloco, Mexico. It incorporates all known film footage related to … Read more
Description: A documentary about Subcomandante Marcos of the Zapatistas. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 45 minutes
Description: Ruled by a tough grandma (Sara García), the Garcías (Infante, Salazar and Mendoza) are three charro cousins who fall in love with young American-born Lupita (Marga López) and fight for her love until grandma quiets them. It is a … Read more
Description: When someone makes a brief visit in the Yucatan Peninsula, it is called a visit of a “turix.” When one sees a dragonfly, it is considered good luck. The video-magazine Turix is like the dragonfly; it is an open … Read more
Description: This is a film about Mayan communities and the languages spoken in them. This movie shows the journey children make to become fluent in both Mayan and Spanish. True to its Mayan title, this move is about a community’s … Read more
Description: The Mexican Revolution is on its way when six brave peasants, known as "Los Leones de San Pablo", decide to join Pancho Villa’s army and help end the suffering in their community by assisting in the struggle. Copies: 1 … Read more
Description: This documentary narrated by three small children examines different aspects of indigenous communities within México. The indigenous groups portrayed are the Lancadones, Maxahuas and Otomies. In each community the children narrate their surroundings, traditional ways of making a living … Read more
Description: Written by Nobel Prize winning Gabriel García Márquez, this is a wickedly black comedy about two children plotting to kill their authoritarian nanny, reminiscent of the work of the legendary film maker Luis Buñuel. Directed by Humberto Hermosillo. Part … Read more
Description: This documentary explores from the beginnings of the Zapatista uprising until the National Democratic Convention that took place in Aguascalientes, Chiapas in 1994. This journalistic documentary attempts to capture, from the middle of the jungle, a moment of contemporary … Read more
Description: A docudrama originally produced for Mexican television. Based on true stories this beautiful film traces the life of a Mexican woman in a small town faced with the realization that she has AIDS. The film deals with the stigma … Read more
Description: Humans have always been narrators of stories, legends, fables and in places where there were no books or novels, stories have been passed down through word of mouth from one generation to the next. This social function is still … Read more
Description: Released in 2001 in Mexico, where it broke box-office records, director Alfonso Cuarón’s sexy comedy follows two teenage boys who go out on the road with an older Spanish woman they both lust after. Sumptuous cinematography, wonderful performances by … Read more
Description: An EVA film intended for younger audiences. Short documentary traces the career of a young Mexican man trying for a career as a torero in the ring. Copies: 1 (DVD)
Description: A fascinating travel view of the legendary ruins of Chichen Itza, Tulum, Uxmal and many other ancient Mayan sites, including visits to Merida, a city of contrasting sights, cultural blends and people. Copies: 1 (DVD)
Description: In 1994 the Zapatistas reclaimed land in Chiapas’ Lacandon jungle in southern Mexico to found the Autonomous Municipality of Emiliano Zapata. Since then, they have been building a new society in which there are neither servants nor bosses. Members … Read more