El Camino de los Muertos

Facundo Arteaga is a malambo dancer, who has already passed the barrier of thirties. His life is divided between work in the countryside and the care of his children. In spite of physical strain and lack of time, Facundo will try to compete again to try to get the title of national champion of malambo. According to tradition, whoever wins the championship can never compete again.

This nature documentary follows some of the world’s most charismatic animals as they travel to Mexico across the span of a year. Using access to some of the country’s most protected sights, the film explores the relationship between family members as they battle to survive. Mixing moments of intimacy with fast-paced action, the film captures the epic scope of Mexico’s wildlife while it seeks to explain one of the most important themes of our era: migration.

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.

Takeda is a film about the universality of the human being seen thru the eyes of a Japanese painter that has adopted the Mexican culture.

In the 70s, Barsham Faire on August Bank Holiday became a tradition for many to celebrate things 'medieval' and raise funds for local arts events. It put Barsham on the map.

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.

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?

A short documentary about the Ojibwe Native Americans of Northern Minnesota and the wild rice (Manoomin) they consider a sacred gift from the Creator. The film tells the Creation and Migration stories that are central to the tribe's oral history and belief system while showing the traditional process of hand-harvesting and parching the wild rice. Biotech companies are currently researching ways to genetically modify the rice and the community is fighting to keep it wild.

Sentinels of Silence is a 1971 short documentary film on ancient Mexican civilizations. The film was directed and written by Mexican filmmaker Robert Amram, and is notable for being the first and only short film to win two Academy Awards.

When a Mongolian nomadic family's newest camel colt is rejected by its mother, a musician is needed for a ritual to change her mind.