Mary Ellen Davis

This documentary follows four female First Nations artists—Doreen Jensen, Rena Point Bolton, Jane Ash Poitras and Joane Cardinal-Schubert are First Nations artists who seek to find a continuum from traditional to contemporary forms of expression. These exceptional artists reveal their philosophies as artists, their techniques and creative styles, and the exaltation they feel when they create. A moving testimony to the role that Indigenous women artists have played in maintaining the voice of their culture.

The folkloric Dance of the 24 Devils sheds new light on the reality of Guatemala. The Devils reveal a strong antagonism, both contemporary and mythological: they've declared war on humanity and have set out "to capture all souls", while Death heralds the end of mankind! Combining lyricism, realism and irony, The Devil's Dream explores the soul of this paradoxical country. We discover not only the beauty of the landscape, the people and their creative imagination, but also the wretched conditions of life, the spectre of violence, and a pervasive sense of the absurd. Guatemala is a society split between native and non-native, rich and poor, civil and military. Native people pick cotton for two dollars a day, their children work for half that amount. Those who dare to protest risk their lives. In this documentary, the people tell the story in their own words.

Alejandro Cotto, a pioneer of Salvadoran cinema, celebrates his 63rd birthday in Suchitoto while the youth celebrate the end of the civil war. He speaks with Escalón about the struggles faced by Third World filmmakers, the horrors of war, the fate of his village, and the pursuit of his dreams.

A portrait of the country of Mexico, as seen through the eyes of Mario Rojas Alba, a physician and former member of Congress, who fled to Montreal as a political refugee after surviving a brutal physical assault. During a cautious trip home, he guides us through the workings of political repression and violence in Mexico. The resulting film reveals the darker side of this vast country which became our official trading partner in 1994 under NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement), an accord criticized by a great many Mexicans, especially the indigenous people of Chiapas, who rose in revolt, demanding a more just and democratic society. On the Day of the Dead, families and friends remember those who have "disappeared"; widows lay flowers on the graves of husbands slain for opposing the ruling party. By their side, Alba reaffirms his commitment to a peaceful transition toward true democracy.

Scenes of everyday life in the occupied Palestinian territories, with a dream-like feeling, reminiscent of home-movies of the 60s. But instead of a day at the beach, or in the backyard: an olive tree, a wall, a bulldozer, soldiers harassing grandmothers. The wall’s path does not obey the "borderline" (the designated Green Line demarcating Israel from the occupied West Bank). Rather, it snakes its way through kilometers of Palestinian land, barring the passage of Palestinians to their homes, workplaces, universities, schools, mosques, hospitals. On Arab village land, in Arab neighbourhoods, Israeli soldiers brutally repress disarmed civilians. It appears then a natural recourse for a people to rise up against such endless expropriation.

Larry Towell is the only Canadian member of the legendary Magnum Photo agency, known for its humanist and universal approach. Towell belongs to this tradition. This documentary reveals the artist and the man through his photography and his thoughts.

Two paths cross on a descent into Guatemala's past: that of Mateo Pablo, a Maya survivor of one of many massacres committed by local government troops, and Daniel Hernández-Salazar, a concerned Guatemalan artist and photographer. Together they travel to a remote site in the highlands where the community of Petanac once stood. The bones found there by archaeologists tell a mute story of agony.