Faces Of The Modern Maya

We believe our documentary project’s original content and stories told by our protagonist over a substantial period of time holds great meaning in today’s world and will have a great impact in a social and communal sphere for many years and generations to come. 

The reason that this film is so relevant and timely stretches back to an Indigenous cultural crisis and subsequent revolution that has been well underway since the 1960’s and 1970’s across North America. We saw it in the United States with the American Indian Religious Freedom Act which shockingly was not passed into law until 1978. The Dakota Access Pipeline protests that began in  Standing Rock Reservation in the Dakotas, USA in 2016 mirrors many of the contemporary land disputes and the rapid growth of aggressive, capitalistic tourism in places such as Quintana Roo, Mexico and the Riviera Maya. Most heavily impacting the small Maya indigenous communities who are constantly being pushed out, and exploited for low wage service work, it is also endangering the animals, water and forests in those areas.  These issues of socio-economic-environmental importance along with the prevailing issue of preservation of one’s indigneous way of life, the very fabric of their identity, all tied to the land, is something I believe that will continue well into the future for all indigenous (and marginalized) communities across the Americas until significant, positive, just actions are made. This film seeks to uncover these issues as well as illuminate the local heroes in these communities who have risen up to engage in preserving their cultures, protect their communities and empower others for generations to come.

Our film will be a powerful tool, able to reach across borders and oceans, creating awareness about the continuing existence of the modern Maya, and their amazing stories, contributing to an authentic and accurate representation of these Maya communities, and the world at large. Our greatest hope is that this film, including the filmmaking process, will bring a greater sense of courage, agency, representation, respect, and future positive action to the Maya subjects we follow as well as to their communities. 

As the director, the reason that I feel called to create this documentary film, is to show the world why it is so important to never forget your roots. I am half indigenous (from the Navajo Nation) and I have personally struggled to learn and hold on to my own roots.

It is a history so complex and never-ending, in which indigenous people across all the Americas, have often been threatened to the very core of their identity. They have been coerced to forget where they come from and who they are. Their ancestor’s lives, beliefs, stories, words, paintings, teachings and songs were stolen, in exchange for a new colonized way of life in order to survive. 

But I am intrigued with how the beautiful, powerful and persistent culture, language and stories from our ancestors can never be completely silenced or forgotten. When I meet Maya people here – I see a reflection of myself. I see a strong sense of culture and family as well as the fight to preserve that for future generations to come. It is a reality for all indigenous people across the Americas, too.