Canada-Guatemala 2001, 74 minutes
Two paths cross on a descent into Guatemala's past: that of Mateo Pablo, Maya survivor of one of many massacres that took place during the country's recent civil war, and Daniel Hernández-Salazar, Guatemalan artist and photographer whose work grapples with local human rights violations.
Dos destinos se cruzan en el sendero de la memoria histórica de Guatemala: Mateo Pablo, sobreviviente maya de una de las numerosas masacres perpetuadas durante la reciente guerra civil, y Daniel Hernández-Salazar; artista y fotógrafo guatemalteco cuyas obras escrutan y denuncian las violaciones de los derechos humanos.
Together they travel to a remote site in the highlands where the community of Petanac once stood. Mateo grew up and lived there until 1982, when his family and neighbours were tortured and murdered by the Guatemalan army, whose soldiers later burned Petanac to the ground.
Viajando juntos por el altiplano, visitan el lugar que había ocupado la comunidad maya de Petanac. En ese lugar experimentó un vuelco la vida de Mateo, cuando en 1982 el ejército guatemalteco torturó y asesinó a su familia y a sus vecinos dejando el pueblo reducido a cenizas.
Today, nothing has been forgotten. At Petanac and other Maya communities across Guatemala survivors gather to bear witness as forensic experts unearth the mass graves of their loved ones. The bones found in clandestine cemeteries tell their own mute story of agony and terror, once the dirt and dust have been patiently removed by teams of archaeologists. A story far removed from the treasures of ancient Maya culture.
Sin embargo, la memoria persiste. En las comunidades mayas los sobrevivientes de las masacres se reúnen alrededor de las fosas cavadas por los equipos forenses; los arqueólogos desentierran pacientemente los huesos de los desaparecidos en lugar de tesoros de la antigua cultura maya. Una vez descubiertas, las osamentas cuentan su propia historia muda de agonía y de terror.
"A moving work, and a great testimony to break the silence about the genocide in Guatemala." - Rigoberta Menchú Tum, Nobel Peace Prize winner
"Una conmovedora obra, y un gran testimonio para seguir rompiendo el silencio sobre el genocidio en Guatemala." - Rigoberta Menchú Tum, Premio Nobel de la Paz
Avec la participation de Mateo Pablo, Daniel Hernández-Salazar, Gabriela Santos, Sarah Baillargeon, les survivants de Petanac, PAQG, ODHA, FAFG et FAMDEGUA image Guillermo Escalón - son Cristobal Urbina oeuvres photographiques Daniel Hernández-Salazar montage Sol Millán, Mary Ellen Davis - montage sonore Paul Gauthier musique originale Stephen de Oliveira archives Lancerio Lopez (ODHA), José Vásquez, Sergio Alfaro, Carlos Martínez Suárez Productions B'alba en coproduction avec PRIM (bourse documentaire d'auteur à risque PRIM) Avec le soutien de: ACDI, FCFVI, CALQ , SODEC.
Premio Lanza de Amaru Siona 2001, IV Festival de la Serpiente, Quito, Ecuador Festival Abya Yala des Premiers Peuples des Amériques, organisé par la CONAIE Honorable Mention, Alucine Toronto Latino Film & Video Festival, Dec. 2002 L.A.S.A. Award of Merit in Film 2002 Latin American Studies Association, U.S.A.
Festivals: Quito/Équateur, Kerala/Inde, Mediawave/Hongrie, Documentalistas/Argentine, Mexique, Montevideo/Uruguay, Durban/Afrique du Sud, Las Americas/Texas, Cine-Accion/Californie, Chicago Latino Film Festival, Alucine/Toronto
Contact us: Productions B'alba 5704 rue St-Urbain Montréal, Québec H2T 2X3 Canada
Phone or fax: (514) 270-7983 E-mail: medavis at sympatico.ca www3.sympatico.ca/medavis
<http://www3.sympatico.ca/medavis/ehaunted.htm> *****
***** Tierra Madre
Canada-Guatemala 1996, 54 minutes
In Guatemala, property ownership is restricted to a very few: most peasants, including the Mayas, possess no land. In a country dragged down by war, many people endlessly seek a patch of land. This is what the eloquent examples of Sacred Earth so touchingly reveal.
Despite arrests, threats and destruction of their harvest, a Q'eqchi community defends its ancestral rights on the property of an agricultural exporter. Elsewhere, when Q'eqchi peasants claim wages or a few acres of earth, they're accused of being guerrillas. In 1982, the army massacred eight hundred peasants - men, women and children - who had arrived four years earlier to found a village. The story of "Las Dos Erres" is narrated by neighbours and survivors...
In the face of these terrible injustices, these tragedies, the people continue to celebrate life through their music, dance, ceremonies and religious offerings. Will hope triumph over violence? Sacred Earth tells of courage and of faith, within the quest for peace.
image Guillermo Escalon - son Mark Sherman, Haroldo Martinez montage Katharine Asals - musique traditionnelle de Alta Verapaz avec la participation de Misioneros de la Preciosa Sangre, Pastoral social de la Diocesis de Alta Verapaz, Famdegua, ODHA, CONIC, CONDEG Productions B'alba. Avec le soutien de: Conseil des arts du Canada, Téléfilm Canada, FCFVI, ONF (programme PAFPS), CECI, Développement et paix, Université Concordia, Grand conseil des Cris, Vision TV, Knowledge Network.
Prix de la qualité du témoignage 96,
5e Festival americano de cine y video de los Pueblos Indigenas, Santa Cruz, Bolivie
Prix Medianet 96, Festival de Munich, Allemagne
Contact us : Productions B'alba 5704 rue St-Urbain Montréal, Québec H2T 2X3 Canada
Phone or fax: (514) 270-7983 E-mail: medavis at sympatico.ca www3.sympatico.ca/medavis
<http://www3.sympatico.ca/medavis/etierra.htm> *****
***** The Devil's Dream
Canada-Guatemala 1992, 68 minutes (English version: available as 68 minutes or shorter version 58 minutes) (versión con subtítulos españoles: 68 minutos)
The folkloric Dance of the 24 Devils sheds new light on the reality of Guatemala. The Devils reveal a strong antagonism, both contemporary and mythological: they've declared war on humanity and have set out "to capture all souls", while Death heralds the end of mankind!
La danza folklórica de "Los 24 Diablos" ofrece una nueva perspectiva de la realidad guatemalteca. El baile nos permite descubrir un antagonismo a la vez mitológico y contemporáneo: los demonios declaran la guerra a la humanidad capturando almas. ¡La Muerte ha decretado el fin del género humano!
Combining lyricism, realism and irony, The Devil's Dream explores the soul of this paradoxical country. We discover not only the beauty of the landscape, the people and their creative imagination, but also the wretched conditions of life, the spectre of violence, and a pervasive sense of the absurd.
Con lirismo, realismo e ironía, el film explora el universo paradójico de Guatemala: sus habitantes y su riqueza cultural, la belleza de los paisajes, las ingratas condiciones de vida, el espectro de la violencia y una creciente sensación de absurdo.
Guatemala is a society split between native and non-native, rich and poor, civil and military. Native people pick cotton for two dollars a day, their children work for half that amount. Those who dare to protest risk their lives. In this documentary, the people tell the story in their own words.
Guatemala es un país dividido entre ricos y pobres, indígenas y blancos, civiles y militares. En las plantaciones de algodón los indígenas reciben como pago dos dólares diarios y sus niños menos de la mitad de ese salario. Atreverse a protestar es arriesgar la vida. El film Las Quimeras del Diablo da la palabra a los guatemaltecos.
avec la participation de "La légion des 24 Diables" image Guillermo Escalón - son Javier Leal, Mark Sherman montage Fernand Bélanger, Mary Ellen Davis - montage sonore Paul Gauthier musique traditionnelle du Guatemala - archives vidéo 88-90 du Guatemala production Adam Symansky, Carmen Garcia, Mary Ellen Davis Productions du Système D en co-prod. avec l'Office national du film Avec le soutien de: Conseil des arts du Canada, Téléfilm Canada, TV5, Vision TV, TV Ontario La Chaîne, Knowledge Network, CKVR.
Grand Prix du Jury 1993, Festival cinéma et monde rural, France Silver Apple 1993, National Educational Film & Video Festival, U.S.A. L.A.S.A. Award of Merit in Film 1992 (Latin American Studies Association, U.S.A.)
Festivals: France, United States, Great-Britain, Spain, Cuba, Portugal
Contact us : Productions B'alba 5704 rue St-Urbain Montréal, Québec H2T 2X3 Canada
Phone or fax: (514) 270-7983 E-mail: medavis at sympatico.ca www3.sympatico.ca/medavis
<http://www3.sympatico.ca/medavis/edream.htm> ***** -- Yoshie
* Bring Them Home Now! <http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/> * Calendars of Events in Columbus: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html>, <http://www.freepress.org/calendar.php>, & <http://www.cpanews.org/> * Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osudivest.org/> * Al-Awda-Ohio: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Ohio> * Solidarity: <http://www.solidarity-us.org/>