A Place Called Chiapas
The Nettie Wild Collection
•
1h 33m
Directed by Nettie Wild ∙ 1998 ∙ Canada ∙ 92'
On January 1, 1994, the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN), made up of impoverished Indigenous peoples from the state of Chiapas, took over five towns and 500 ranches in southern Mexico. The Mexican government deployed its troops, and at least 145 people were killed in the ensuing battle. Fighting for Indigenous peoples to regain control over their lives and the land, the Zapatista Army—led by the charismatic guerilla and poet Subcommandante Marcos—started broadcasting their message to the world via the internet. The result was what The New York Times called "the world's first post-modern revolution."
Renowned Canadian filmmaker Nettie Wild traveled to the tropical canyons of southern Mexico to film the elusive and fragile life of this uprising. Her camera effectively and movingly captures the human dimensions behind this war of symbols, telling a complex story of Indigenous rights pushing back against corporate interests in the wake of NAFTA.
A PLACE CALLED CHIAPAS is part of Cinema Politica's Nettie Wild Collection. Click here to rent or buy the entire collection, or click here to subscribe and start streaming now.
Up Next in The Nettie Wild Collection
-
Blockade
Directed by Nettie Wild ∙ 1994 ∙ Canada ∙ 90'
A 22,000 square mile tract of land in northern British Columbia is the site of an explosive set of competing ownership claims. In 1984, the Gitxsan people launched a land claim for the entire area, claiming it as unceded Indigenous territory. But si...
-
Fix : The Story of an Addicted City
Directed by Nettie Wild ∙ 2002 ∙ Canada ∙ 93'
In this documentary, a group of Vancouver, British Columbia, activists, led by former computer salesman Dean Wilson, lead the charge to curb the city's drug problem and high HIV rate by opening North America's first safe-injection site. Surprisingly,...
-
A Rustling of Leaves: Inside the Phil...
Directed by Nettie Wild ∙ 1988 ∙ Canada ∙ 112'
A RUSTLING OF LEAVES: INSIDE THE PHILIPPINE REVOLUTION offers a remarkable behind-the-frontlines look at the aftermath of the anti-Marcos “Yellow Revolution” that brought Corazon Aquino to power in the Philippines in 1986. Shot over eight months, of...
