National Museum of the American Indian in New York to Screen Four Films From “Ambulante Más Allá” in Conjunction With Earth Week 2016

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, George Gustav Heye Center in New York, in collaboration with Ambulante Más Allá, Cinema Tropical, Celebrate Mexico Now and Cine Las Americas International Film Festival, will present “Ambulante Más Allá: The Future in Our Hands.” Screened in conjunction with Earth Week, four films from the documentary-production project Ambulante Más Allá will highlight the environmental issues facing indigenous groups of Mexico. The screenings will be held Thursday, April 21, at 6 p.m. in the museum’s lower-level auditorium.

A discussion will follow with Cristina Valle and Maria Inés Roqué, the production and academic coordinators of Ambulante Más Allá, respectively. It will be moderated by Jean Anne Lauer, festival director of Cine Las Americas.

Ambulante Más Allá seeks to train new producers from diverse areas of Mexico and Central America who have limited access to the tools necessary to share their stories with the broader public. The six-year-old program encourages independent filmmaking using a unique cultural perspective and aesthetic in order to strengthen community organization and participation. Ambulante Más Allá works toward democratization of the media and self-representation of excluded groups. The evening’s film screenings take a laser focus to indigenous groups of Mexico and the effects of environmental changes occurring in their native lands.

“The ability for Native groups to speak on these issues and present them to the world in their own words is crucial in working to correct the problems that they face,” said Cynthia Benitez, the museum’s Film and Video Center programmer. “Ambulante Más Allá is an important vehicle for not only raising awareness, but also embracing the rich indigenous cultures across Latin America.”

The films are:

Gente de mar y viento/People of the Sea and the Wind (2014, 25 min., directed by Ingrid Eunice Fabián González): On the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Juchitán, Oaxaca, is the town of Álvaro Obregón. The members of a Binniza (Zapotec) community have been under constant threat since a transnational corporation decided to install a wind farm in the sea without the consent of the community. Herminia and Mariano, two Zapotec fishermen, have actively lived this struggle and resistance. People of the Sea and the Wind recounts how the inhabitants perceive the wind farm and the way in which they are ready to defend their community.

El future en nuestras manos/The Future in Our Hands (2013, 19 min., directed by Sara Oliveros): The Calakmul Biosphere Reserve is one of Mexico’s most important and the second largest in the continent after the Amazon. However, its authorities and inhabitants do not have adequate solid waste management. This documentary approaches the issue through Miguel, Armando and Víctor, three boys who live in the municipal dump and work separating waste in order to survive.

El valor de la tierra/The Value of the Land (2014, 22 min., directed by Adriana Otero Puerto): El valor de la tierra reflects one of the gravest situations currently affecting Mexican rural zones: the erosion of farming land as a result of buying and selling of communitarian territory between businesses and rural workers. For some, the value of the land goes beyond productivity; for others, it is an opportunity for economic advancement in which work is principally based on the transformation of the earth. This documentary shows only a fragment of the difficult circumstances in which the rural workers live and asks important questions about the future of rural zones.

Ligeramente Tóxico/Slightly Toxic (2015, 21 min., directed by Sara Oliveros López): Slightly Toxic addresses the increased use of agrochemicals since the implementation of PROCAMPITO, an incentive program by the government of the Mexican State of Campeche. José and Armando, two farmers from Campeche, introduce viewers to different ways of farming and share their perspectives on the use of chemicals, as well as other not-so-apparent issues they must face. By interviewing agents of state institutions, the filmmaker reveals the political, economic and environmental contradictions and conflicts in Calakmul, one of the most important natural reserves in Mexico.

All films are presented with English subtitles.

About the National Museum of the American Indian

The National Museum of the American Indian, George Gustav Heye Center, is located at One Bowling Green in New York City. For additional information, including hours and directions, visit AmericanIndian.SI.edu. Follow the museum via social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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