This is a great story about artists supporting artists and I definitely recommend looking into it more. The short version is that in the 1980s a group of filmmakers sought to teach indigenous ikoot women the craft of filmmaking and it was wildly successful. A group of 6 women worked together to produce 4 films about their way of life. Two of which were published with Spanish translations and subtitles and have been shown at film festivals around the world.
According to Teófila Palafox (Elriva’s younger sister), “Adquirimos la primer experiencia de usar un equipo moderno. Porque nosotras somos mujeres tejedoras y hacemos imágenes sobre un textil: la pieza textil. Pero, es una expresión limitada. Toda arte tiene… que dar vida, imagen y vida. Entonces como artesanos siempre queremos expresar algo. Ellos [el equipo del INI] nos enseñaron a hacer historias…La gente sí se impresiona pero al mismo tiempo cree que… al obtener las imágenes, es un negocio que se puede hacer. Posiblemente los que se dedican a eso. Pero como nosotros no nos dedicamos a eso, fue un documental nada más. Un trabajo… un testimonio.”
Elvira Palafox y Guadalupe Escandón durante el Primer Taller de Cine Indígena del Instituto Nacional Indigenista. D.R. © Alberto Becerril, 1985, Instituto Nacional de los Pueblos Indígenas.
“To understand these films and properly understand them, viewers must first consider that the scripts were conceived by the weavers to show their origins, their daily lives, their work, their dreams, and their culture. The films they created both portray and are a product of the social dynamics of their community and the way in which relationships of kinship, friendship, and camaraderie are woven. In their production, the Ikoot women demonstrated the daily effort they put into getting ahead and how they faced the challenges posed by the hegemony of Western culture, fighting to preserve, transmit, and keep their cultural legacy and traditions alive.
The short films and the documentary have undeniable historical value, as they are testimonies of beliefs, forms of organization, feelings, behavior, dress, speech, and the daily interactions that existed among the Ikoot people during the 1980s, allowing us to contrast them with what San Mateo del Mar is like today. They are audiovisual documents of great value because they record actions and events whose memory, were it not for this project, would likely have faded over time, given that Indigenous communities are constantly changing.
Through their participation in the workshop, some of these women not only became visible nationally and internationally, but also generated changes within their communities. Challenging the norms of their own community, they transcended traditional roles as housewives, weavers, and merchants, without disregarding or abandoning them, to become film producers, cameramen, sound engineers, screenwriters, and editors. By justifying the filming, the women gained access to an environment previously denied to them: the sea, a physical and symbolic space that, in Ikoot culture, is essentially and exclusively masculine.
Through the three short films and "Weaving Sea and Wind," it is possible to appreciate how the Ikoot women took on the challenge and overcame it, even facing accusations, rumors, and backbiting within their own social context. Through their participation in the workshop, they demonstrated that they could do much more than fulfill the duties the community had assigned them as women, which in themselves were no small task, despite the fact that they were rarely recognized and valued.
While today there are countless audiovisual productions based on the knowledge and traditions of Indigenous peoples, most of them have been generated from an external perspective. The importance of the films presented here also lies in the fact that they were not made to be consumed by intellectuals, documentary filmmakers, or critics, but rather to faithfully portray themselves and present themselves in a dignified and honorable manner, first before the Ikoot themselves and, secondly, before the rest of Mexican society. Although the workshop's objective was not to generate ethnographic records, the value these films possess, from the perspective of visual anthropology, is undeniable. They combine an interest in storytelling and the need to listen, in an intersection of the social and the visual (Martínez, 2008).”
Sources:
The interview with Teófila Palafox
For further reading about the project and impact
Leaw amangoch tinden nop ikoods (La vida de una familia ikoods)
Teat Monteok: el Cuento del Dios del Rayo (Dir. Elvira Palafox)
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