Edinburgh Napier University

  The film is one of the first feature drama films in Mexico made in extensive collaboration with a Mixtec Indigenous community in Santiago Apoala, in Oaxaca,and in collaboration with key Indigenous creative staff (producer, scriptwriter, assistant director, multiple cast members). Furthermore, the film has substantial dialogue in an Indigenous language that is at present spoken in Mexico. The film investigates how film can express the complex implications and consequences of migration from rural communities to urb an centres with regard to Indigenous identity and cultural heritage, through cinematic narrative and aesthetic approaches. The script for the film was written based on extensive ethnographic and documentary research based on interviews and expert advice. The directing of the piece in terms of camera, performance, colour palette, costume design, etc. was based on extensive analysis of Indigenous films as well as of local traditions and artistry.

The film premiered in the official competition of the Guanajuato International Film Festival in Mexico in 2018 and was nominated for Best Mexican Film. The film has since screened in community venues, international film festivals and a variety of academic institutions. The film screened among others at the Film Festival of the International Organization for Migration of the UN, the Smithsonian in Washington and the Musée du quai Branly in Paris.