huicholesfilm
Eugenio Costa
Animations & VFX
Artist and illustrator, he is eclectically thought in digital animation during his five year stay in Barcelona. Since 2004 he has specialized and it is self thought in the advance use of design, 2D and 3D animation programs such as 3D Max, Maya, VRay, Real Flow and after effects, Photoshop and others.
Already working as a professional in the field of digital special effects, he currently works also in composition and animation.
He has worked for renowned studios such as Punga, Illusion Studios, Superstudio, RDYA and Conrad Caine as well as projects for MTV, Nike, TN, Nat Geo, FOX sports and others.
“These types of productions are the ones that the world really needs to open its eyes from a long sleep. It is a true privilege to participate in this message from the Wixárika people to the world ad it is a pleasure to know that there are people that, assigned by their ancestors, are awakening humanity”
Geni & Gustavo
Graphic Design
Geni Expósito Geni Expósito studied art, photography and design in Buenos Aires. During the last few years she directed two tech magazines in Argentina (PC World and Internet World). She worked in Miami coordinating and managing branding for tech companies from Latin America. Her compatible fields are: Technology and Environment / Social Design / Branding / Public Sector / Coordinating of creative teams. Currently she is responsible for branding and design in TECtv (tectv.gob.ar), the first public channel in Argentina dedicated to the popularization of science and technology.
Gustavo González Roth studied Visual Communication and Photography. He worked in Florida in graphic production for tech companies. He studied with the 2.0 tools and the “mobile” concept of technology in Barcelona and Vigo in 2009. He produced two weekly cable shows for four years in Argentina. He currently is a designer and graphic producer and works independently.
“To conjugate two Cosmogonies in Graphics and to know this cause is what inspired our work”
Tracy Barnett
Associate Producer
Journalist and freelance photographer, specializing in environmental issues, indigenous rights and travel. She has served as Editor of theHouston Chronicle and San Antonio Express News, among others. Her work has appeared in e has participated as a journalist and editor of a lot of newspapers and magazines such as the Washington Post, USA Today, National Geographic Traveler en Español, Esquire Latin America and the Dallas Morning News. She serves as a collaborator and member of the Editorial Board of Intercontinental Cry, a magazine devoted to indigenous struggles. She currently lives in Guadalajara and writes for El Daily Post, among others.
“We are in a moment when indigenous people around the world are under siege as they fight to protect their cultures and their territories. Their fight is everyone’s fight, and we must tell their stories and support them, before it’s too late.”
Huicholes: The Last Peyote Guardians will join the International Day of the World´s Indigenous People
On the 9th of August the documentary made by Hernán Vilchez will be available to watch for free all over the world at www.huicholesfilm.com
The documentary has subtitles in seven different languages: English, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Czech and Spanish.
Mexico City- August 6, 2015- Since the premier in May 2014 of the independent documentary Huicholes: The Last Peyote Guardians, the producers Paola Stefani and Hernán Vilchez trusted that exhibiting the film on the internet would assist the spiritual and political struggle of the Wixárika (Huichol) people to protect life in Wirikuta and in the whole Earth. This through maximizing the number of people who would be able to access the film as well as the resources that could fund the production, promotion and distribution costs.
Since May 2014 the documentary has been rented on Vimeo 1,756 times in more than 55 countries. The countries where it has been watched more times are: Mexico, United States, Canada, Spain, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Argentina and Australia.
The way the documentary has been exhibited independently has been considered a success. We have presented it widely in Mexico as well as in three international tours in the United States, Europe and South America. More than 30,000 people have watched the film all over the world.
For the international day of the world´s indigenous people, declared by the United Nations (UN) in 1994, the producers will give free access to watch Huicholes: the last peyote guardians since 8:00 a.m. 9th of August to 8:00 a.m. 10th August (Time of Mexico City) with the purpose of reaching out to more people so that they know about the defence of Wirikuta.
This year´s theme for the international day of the world´s indigenous people is to guarantee the wellbeing and health of indigenous peoples. This theme is not foreign to the case of Wirikuta since mining activity is considered as a highly polluting industry, for which it is urgent to make known the impact of these activities to the environment and people.
Huicholes: The Last Peyote Guardians can be seen on the 9th of August free of charge at: http://www.huicholesfilm.com
The Last Peyote Guardians in London
The award-winning ‘Huicholes: The Last Peyote Guardians’ screened in London last night to a full house.
At SOAS. London
Two indigenous Huichol shamans from western Mexico met a packed lecture theatre at the University of London’s School of Asian and Oriental Studies (SOAS) last Tuesday night, where the audience enjoyed a screening of the intimate and urgent ‘Huicholes: The Last Peyote Guardians’.
Playing rustic violins and guitarritas – sacred instruments that are ever-present in Huichol ritual life – Enrique Ramírez Ramírez and Juan José Ramírez García entered the stage attired in traditional Huichol costumes, including white trousers and tunics embroidered with emblems of their culture: peyote, maize and deer. The audience was invited to participate in a ritual blessing that called on the five Huichol cardinal points before the film’s director, Hernán Vilchez, opened the screening.
Shot between the rugged sierras of the Huichol homeland and their five places of spiritual pilgrimage, the Last Peyote Guardians proved to be a fascinating and ambitious odyssey into the complex cultural landscape of Mexico’s ‘purest’ indigenous people. Known as the Wixárika in their own language, the Huichol claim pre-Toltec ancestry and an unbroken living tradition said to be more than two millennia old. Unlike many other Mexican cultures whose cosmovisions were diluted or destroyed by overzealous Catholic missions, the Huichol guard a form of untainted pre-Columbian mysticism rooted in the worship of land and nature. Pantheistic and animistic, their spiritual life orbits around the collection, cultivation, consumption, and reverence of Lophophora williamsii – the hallucinogenic peyote cactus native to Mexico, whose visions teach, bond and connect the Huichol with their ancestors and guardian spirits.
During its two hour running time, The Last Peyote Guardians supplies an astonishingly personal document of Huichol cultural life, including scores of startling scenes never before captured by outsiders. Punctuated with otherworldly songs, chants and ritual dances, footage of an all-night peyote vigil dedicated to the light of dawn marks the stunning visual climax of Vilchez’s highly aesthetic work.
Such images are entirely thanks to a collective decision by the greater Huichol community to open their doors to the media in an effort to raise awareness and solidarity. Starting in 2011, the Mexican government has granted some 78 mining concessions in and around the ore-filled deserts of Wirikuta, an ecologically diverse stretch of arid wilderness sprawled at the foot of the sierras near the crumbling colonial town of Real de Catorce. Here, the desert’s the fragile cacti garden is the land where the beloved peyote blooms – the holiest of holy sites in the annual Huichol pilgrimage.
Thus the Last Peyote Guardians is not simply a treasure of anthropological inquiry, but a vital record of social and political struggle. Bolstered by an army of experts and interviewees on all sides, Vilchez explores a thorough and almost sprawling range of themes as he narrates the Huichol’s efforts to protect their ancestral heritage: the economic benefits of mining versus its environmental impacts; the sacred and profane in the pursuit of profit; the destructive nature of neoliberal economics; sustainable development; modernity and cultural tourism; to name a few. At the end of two hours, viewers are confronted with their own contribution (or lack of) to the state of the planet – what are you doing for nature, asks Vilchez.
Beafore the screening at SOAS. London
The screening in London last Tuesday was not without problems: the start was delayed by 30 minutes due to a technical hitch, and later, less than half-way through, a tripped fire alarm caused the entire building to be evacuated until the fire brigade arrived (‘there are strong energies in this city’, joked Vilchez, adding that the previous night’s screening had had to be cancelled due to a technical problem). Nonetheless, the audience remained patient to the end, when they were rewarded by a Q and A with Vilchez and José Ramírez.
Questions ranged from ‘do you let foreigners take the pilgrimage’ to ‘what are the best ways to support you in your struggle?’ One of the most intriguing responses came from Ramírez as he explained why, according to Huichol thought, nature had bestowed humanity with powerful plants such as peyote.
“It is like food and water.” Said Ramírez, translated into English by Vilchez. “Five days without that and you don’t have energy. Spiritually, it gives you the essence… these are the tools the earth gives us to connect to the essence… to realise that we are all temples, each one of us, we are temples…
“This is the seed of the essence of what is contained in the earth. The plants come from this essence, all the plants of certain use. The bees are carrying pollen and fertilising the flowers and bringing all this mixture of herbal knowledge that is contained in the earth. The peyote and the other sacred medicines are like the essence contained and concentrated. They are very old plants.
We are connectors, antennas between the sky and the earth… for humanity there are no frontiers, we are all one. There are no borders and we all have to check that from our own temple… each one of us is important in this big network.”
Vilchez and his companions have a few more stops on their UK tour, including a Stonehenge ceremony on Thursday 14 May and a screening in Leeds on Friday 15. For the latest news, see their website,https://huicholesfilm.com/en/ or their Facebook page,https://www.facebook.com/HuicholesTheLastPeyoteGuardians. If you can’t make it to a live event, the documentary is also available to watch online: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/huicholesfilm
Source: http://unseenamericas.com/2015/05/the-last-peyote-guardians-in-london/
European Film Tour 2015
The tour was again presented by our protagonists and the film´s director in cities like Paris, London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Munich, Innsbruck, Zurich, Wien, Barcelona, Madrid, Oslo, Helsinki, Toulouse, and Edinburgh, with an outstanding resonance both among the public and the press of the visited countries, most of them having their first contact with the Wixarika culture through our movie.
Life Accord in Wirikuta – Productive and Cultural Projects
We are very proud to share with all of you the effort of a very important number of civil organizations who are working in Wirikuta.
The Wixárika people since the very beginning of the movement has shown its concern about the living conditions of the inhabitants of Wirikuta; their concern is both for the present as well as for the future, and particularly if mining companies work in their territory.
For many years, a bunch of organizations and private initiatives have started productive and cultural projects in the region with the aim of developing and strengthening sustainable alternatives for the inhabitants of the Bajío and the hills of Catorce. These alternatives want to raise the living standards, to reinforce the social fabric and to preserve the natural environment of the region- unique in the world in terms of biodiversity.
What we call today LIFE ACCORD is the intertwining of people, communities, organizations and projects that have the following guidelines:
- Culture
- Exchange of knowledge
- Environment
- Tenement and food sovereignty
- Conscious and participative tourism
- Conscious businesses
- Community health
- Culture of saving and self-financing
- Human rights
The strengthening of the social structure of the area we have so far seen is an incentive to continue to search for new technologies, capacitation and support form other organizations to attain a healthy relation between the inhabitants, pilgrims and environment of Wirikuta.
You can download english and spanish Life Accord document from our Dropbox.
Plkease, read, support and share. Thanks
Huicholes: The Last Peyote Guardians cited as successful case for independent screenings in 2014 in México
- The documentary directed by Hernán Vílchez ranks second in the Top 10 listing of Taquillómetro, the leading platform documenting independent film attendance.
- During 2015 more screenings will be held in Mexico and a European tour is planned.
As part of the 13th edition of the International Film Festival in Guadalajara (FICG) the Mexican Institute of Cinematography (IMCINE) presented the Statistical Yearbook of Mexican Cinema 2014, in which a thorough investigation of the Mexican film industry is presented, with the purpose that “the sectors that make up the industry have information that enables us to design strategies for the present and future scenarios.”
In the chapter on Distribution and Screening, in the section “Alternative Screening,” a case study is presented, which refers to screening strategies designed by Paola Stefani and Hernan Vilchez for Huicholes: The Last Peyote Guardians. The chapter begins with the following: “One of the alternative screening strategies used by budget filmmakers in Mexico is to bring projects to film clubs, festivals and public plazas, while allowing access to them online through digital platforms. Here is a case study that has successfully reached different target audiences, according to their possibilities of distribution.” Particular attention is given to the use of social networks and online exhibition that producers have engaged since May 2014, when the film was released in Real de Catorce, San Luis Potosi. “As part of the promotion, the production crew has sought to position the film on social networks and video playback platforms, where they offer teasers aimed at different niches of the public for multilingual audiences with subtitled videos. On the other hand, they have opted for online exhibition, available on the Vimeo On Demand platform, which has achieved 1,109 copies in 48 countries.”
In Taquillómetro’s case study, attendance was measured in four screening halls in three complexes: The 68, Cine Tonalá, Alcalá Theatre, and Museum of Contemporary Art of Oaxaca; Huicholes: The Last Peyote Guardians, placed second in attendance during 2014.
During the month of March, the documentary will be presented at the VII Exhibition of Socio-Environmental Film at the Guadalajara International Film Festival (FICG) in Guadalajara, at the Alamos Mágico International Film Festival in Sonora and in independent screening halls in the city of Xalapa, and it will form part of the Third International Exhibition “Cinema at the Summit” of Cumbre Tajin 2015, in which two functions are given, with the presence of film protagonists and producer Paola Stefani.
During the months of April and May, Hernan Vilchez, with Jose Luis “Katira” Ramirez and his son Enrique will travel to various countries in Europe (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, UK, Spain, France,etc.) to publicize the documentary and the Wixárika message to protect life on the planet and the sacred place of Wirikuta.
Readers can consult the documentary’s Facebook and Twitter pages to follow the screening schedule and activities being organized.
https://www.facebook.com/HuicholesTheLastPeyoteGuardians
https://twitter.com/PeyoteGuardians
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Contact: [email protected]
WIXARIKA LEADERS TO FIRST MAJESTIC SILVER CORP: FOLLOW IDM MINING LTD EXAMPLE, ABANDON MINING PROJECT IN SACRED LANDS
VANCOUVER, B.C., Nov. 28, 2014 –– Members of the production crew for the film Huicholes: The Last Peyote Guardians delivered a powerful message from Wixarika (Huichol) traditional authorities, revealing that another Vancouver-based mining company, IDM Mining LTD (formerly Revolution Resources) has abandoned plans to pursue a mining project in Wirikuta, the sacred land of the Wixarika people of Mexico, to which they have carried out their pilgrimages since time immemorial. The authorities provided new information regarding the dire situation with regard to water resources in the region and pleaded that First Majestic Silver Corp. follow the example of its competitor.
“We are pleased to be able to facilitate the communication between the Wixarika authorities and the leaders of First Majestic Silver Corp. in the context of our 20-city North American Film Tour,” said Hernan Vilchez, director of the film. “We believe that as the public has come to know the details of this case, they have made their wishes known, and we are pleased that IDM Mining has wisely chosen to bow to the public opinion.”
The letter was delivered to the film crew on the eve of their journey to Vancouver to present the film at British Columbia University, Simon Fraser University and Dogwood Centre in three public screenings and discussions. Accompanying the film are Vilchez and two Wixarika marakate or shamans who are protagonists in the film, José Luis “Katira” Ramirez and his son Enrique Ramirez.
The elder Ramirez, who along with his son serves as a spiritual guide for his people, stated: “For us it is a great honor, both to be received in this way by First Majestic President Keith Neumeyer, and to receive this message from the leaders of our people. It is not easy to be in this place, but we are praying for solutions, and we wish President Neumeyer a cordial salute, a long friendship and no problems.”
The letter from the Wixarika authorities emphasized the fragile nature of their sacred desert and the urgent importance of its preservation for the ongoing cultural survival of the Wixarika people, one of the tribes that have most successfully maintained its ancient spiritual traditions.
“We want to emphasize to you, First Majestic Silver Corp. shareholders, that the entire Universo Project – which was ongoing inside of Wirikuta, run by the Canadian company Revolution Resources – was totally cancelled by withdrawal of the company, probably because they decided to quit when they realized how problematical it is and will be to destroy a place with such a spiritual power as is Wirikuta,” the Wixarika authorities wrote in an official letter to First Majestic Silver President Keith Neumeyer, president and CEO; to Todd Anthony, director of investor relations; and to the members of the public. “Step back, renounce to your project of death and act in favor of life. Our people are defending life; we pray, we fast and we keep a vigil for our Mother Earth, for our older brother, the Híkuri-Venado, for our origin that is our present and also the future for all of our people.”
The Wixarika authorities also shared that the 3 aquifers in the zone are currently overexploited by 2 million cubic meters per year,, and that is without mining activity. “It is impossible to give even one more water concession, Moreover, it is a strong aggravating fact that the main silver vein that Project La Luz intends to exploit is placed at the same level as the groundwater layer. That guarantees that the water is going to be polluted, since it is impossible to leave it untouched while extracting tons of rock, dirt and water at that level to be able to work.”
Huicholes: The Last Peyote Guardians has been packing venues throughout the Western U.S. and Canada since it began its six-week, 20-city tour on Nov. 5 in Houston. After its Vancouver presentations, the tour will spend a week in Arizona and another week in Northern California. It won Best Documentary Film by the Red Nation Film Festival, the premier showcase for Native American and Indigenous film in the United States.
For details about the various screenings visit www.huicholesfilm.com. You can also find information on Facebook: @Huicholes: The Last Peyote Guardians and Twitter: @PeyoteGuardians, and it can be rented online at https://vimeo.com/ondemand/huicholesfilm. Itinerary attached.
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Arizona
Phoenix
Dec 1 – Crescent Ballroom – 7 pm
Tucson
Dec 2 – The Loft Cinema – 7 pm
Sedona
Dec 3 – Sedona Film Festival – Mary Fisher Theater – 4 pm and 7 pm
Flagstaff
Dec 5 – Center for Indigenous Music and Culture – 7 pm
Colorado
Denver
Dec 6 – Mercury Café – 2 pm (Film crew will not be present)
Northern California
Fort Bragg
Dec 9 – Spirit House – 7 pm
Santa Rosa
Dec 10 – Arlene Francis Center – 7 pm
Mill Valley
Dec 11 – Throckmorton Theater – 7 pm
San Francisco
Dec 12 – CIIS – 7 pm (tentative)
A spirited start: Devine Interventios 2.0 launches in Montereal with Huicholes
Last night nearly 500 people packed into Concordia University’s H-110 Auditorium to see HUICHOLES: THE LAST PEYOTE GUARDIANS, and for those of us involved with Cinema Politica Concordia, it was one of the most memorable screenings we’ve had in eleven years. HUICHOLES chronicles the struggles of Mexico’s Wixárika people against a Canadian mining company by focusing on the traditions of intense spiritual connections this embattled Indigenous group has between humans, the animal kingdom and the plant world. The documentary, which is directed by Hernán Vilchez, was shot over several years with the community and is much more than a document of resistance: it is a breathtaking poem made in honour of the Wixárika people.
Cinema Politica selected HUICHOLES as one of its main Divine Docs—documentaries that embody the theme of social justice and spirituality—for this year’s edition of Divine Interventions: Documentary, Social Justice and Spirituality. HUICHOLES perfectly and provocatively captures the spirit of resistance and transcendence while offering positive steps toward reconciling humankind’s destructive force on each other and the planet. As such, it is a magnificent film to launch the second instalment of Divine Interventions, which is a sidebar program of films circulating throughout the CP Network between Fall 2014 and Winter 2015, with over 40 CP locals participating. The program also has an online component, where audiences can join in conversation, post reflections, and encounter more related media to the films and their diverse subjects.
At the screening last night we were joined by the director, Hernan as well Jose Ramirez and his son Enrique, who are shamans and featured in the film. Jose and Enrique performed a sacred ceremony as part of the introduction, inviting the audience to join them in this blessing and giving thanks ritual. They also performed a song on their traditional instruments and afterward displayed their handmade crafts outside of the theatre.
At the end of the film, just before the credits rolled, we all watched Jose walk down the aisle to the front of the cinema to stand in front of the bottom of the giant screen in the light of the projector, showing such pride in his work, his people and this fantastic film. Our audiences were clearly moved by this and by the whole event itself, and all leapt to their feet in a lengthy standing ovation that was the perfect show of appreciation and respect.
The post-screening discussion lasted over half an hour (not bad following a film that runs over two hours!) and was engaged, dynamic and intelligent: A perfect cap to a perfect evening.
Muchos gracias to Hernan, Jose, Enrique and to Tracy Barnett (a journalist based in Mexico who has been helping coordinate the North American tour of the film) for an incredible night that managed to powerfully capture the spirit of our Divine Interventions program and to embody exactly what it is we do at Cinema Politica: create community spaces that are defined not by the material borders around us, but by the imaginations, convictions and dedication of those who transgress borders. In this case it was exactly the moment where spirit meets action, and we’ll never forget it.
To learn more about Divine Interventions, and how you can win prizes by tweeting reviews and reflections of Divine Docs using the hashtag #DivineDocs, visit divinedocs.com.
CONCORDIA 25/11/2014
http://www.cinemapolitica.org/blog/concordia/spirited-start-divine-interventions-20-launches-montreal-huicholes
