Historias de vida en la carretera

"Mexico begins where the roads end ”. Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes tells us about the history of Mexico: its invasions, its revolutions, its sacred lands, its forgotten legends, its religious rituals and this frightening misery. François Reichenbach and his camera sink into the dust, on this sacred land, where "the land never ends."

American Ocelot tells the story of one of the most endangered and beautiful wild cats in the United States — a species so elusive that high-quality images and video have never been captured until now. With fewer than 100 individuals remaining in the US, the ocelot is critically endangered, genetically isolated, and only exists in Texas.

Rosa is a Mexican woman who, at the age of 17, migrated illegally to Austin, Texas. Some years later, she was jailed under suspicion of murder and then taken to trial. This film demonstrates how the judicial process, the verdict, the separation from her family, and the helplessness of being imprisoned in a foreign country make Rosa’s story an example of the hard life of Mexican migrants in the United States.

Migranta tells the stories of Vicky, Betty and Lety, (three mothers who have come to Canada from Mexico as part of the federal government’s Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program) as they face calculated risks, difficult choices and harsh realities while navigating, work and life in Canada while being separated from families and communities they support.

Diana Mariscal reached a moment of fame in the sixties, when at just 18 years of age she was the lead actress of the movie Fando and Lis by Alejandro Jodorowsky. The moment seemed to trigger a promising career, but her public image faded little by little until disappearing. Forty years later the traces of her existence have not been entirely erased.

Realm of Darkness - The Elusive Depths of Mexico

Lake Patzcuaro, located 230 miles west of Mexico City, is one of the highest and most picturesque bodies of water in Mexico. The heritage of the indigenous peoples of the area, the Tarascans, still prevails, such as the production of lacquer-ware handicrafts, and the means of hunting and fishing, the latter which uses nets shaped like large butterfly wings. Although most current day Tarascans are Roman Catholic, they have not totally abandoned their indigenous pagan gods. On Janitzio, one of the many islands in the lake, stands a large statue commemorating José María Morelos, a prominent figure in Mexican liberation and a great benefactor to the Tarascans. Janitzio is also the inspiration for many famous paintings. The town of Tzintzuntzan just inland from the lake's shore acts as the regional center for the market and for festivals.

This Traveltalk short visits southern Mexico.

This Traveltalk series short chronicles the sights and sounds on a train ride from Veracruz to Mexico City.

This Traveltalk series short visits two of the most important cities on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula.

Monarch butterflies have brought hope to the darkest times of people's lives. In Mexico, when they arrive for Day of the Dead, they are thought to be souls of the departed. Coincidence?

Who’s up for a sensual, seductive trip with some of the hottest Latin men that have ever graced the Silver Screen? ‘Mexican Men’ collects five of the most accomplished gay shorts from one of the homes of groundbreaking queer cinema. From short encounters, emerging love stories and deeply touching connections, these short films are sure to stir the heart... and body. Includes: Atmosphere [Atmósfera] (2010); To Live [Vivir] (2003); Tremulous [Trémulo] (2015); Wandering Clouds [Nubes flotantes] (2014); Young Man on the Bar Masturbating with Rage and Nerve [Muchacho en la barra se masturba con rabia y osadía] (2015).

Corazón Oaxaqueño

Around the film hang fascinating questions about border politics, which I’ll touch on in an introduction before the screening. One of Eugene Buck’s motivations for making the film may have been his rough cross-examination during his kidnappers’ first trials, in October 1913, when defense attorneys cast him as a confused and unreliable witness against idealistic freedom fighters. On film he could reproduce the pursuit, the shootouts, his kidnapping, and his friend’s murder just as he had testified. Reenacting the crime on film may have been the best revenge—and a way to honor the sacrifice of Deputy Ortiz, a twenty-year police veteran and, for the era, a rare Mexican American lawman.

Oaxaca - Zwischen Rebellion und Utopie

„The Frontier“ or „La Frontera“ is the undulating landscape of the Sonora Desert in Arizona, which once was a symbol of freedom on the horizon of the American West – and also a region plagued by recurrent territorial struggles. Currently, a high steel fence stretches over several miles strictly separating the USA and Mexico into two territories. Every year, the remains of hundreds of migrants are retrieved from the area. The tense situation in Arizona’s borderland has split the locals into two groups: one demanding a more technically advanced border control system, the other requesting more humanitarian help. Accompanying various locals, NGO workers and self-proclaimed border guards from the region, filmmaker Gudrun Gruber raises the question of whether the latest border control technology will finally bring peace to the area, or rather merely increase the number of deaths.

A "loose-knit" community of crypto-anarchists emigrate to Acapulco, a city recently ranked as the fourth most dangerous in the world, to escape the powers of nation-states. But several years later, the group diverges into to different visions of liberty.

Gol Gana

Imagine driving along the smooth slope of the highway. Car in cruise control with the landscape just flashing by as you make your way to your destination. Then out of nowhere comes a massive, slow truck. In this moment, everything changes! Research has showed that for every dead truck driver there are nine fatally injured passengers. Why is this so?

As was common in Diaz's Mexico, a young hacienda worker finds his betrothed imprisoned and his life threatened by his master for confronting a hacienda guest for raping the girl. This film is the first of several attempts to make a feature-length motion picture out of the 200,000-plus feet of film shot by Sergei Eisenstein, on photographic expedition in Mexico during 1931-32 for Upton Sinclair and a cadre of private American producer-investors. Silent with music and English intertitles.