The Lesson of the Snail
53m
Directed by Sylvie Lapointe ∙ 2013 ∙ Canada ∙ 53'
Following the uprising of January 1, 1994, the Indigenous peoples of Chiapas in Mexico assessed their disaffection with the Mexican education system, describing it as a vector of poverty and injustice. Since then, the Zapatista resistance has remained one of the most intriguing organizations among contemporary international revolutionary struggles, pushing back against the margins of the hegemonic neoliberalism of Western nations and self-proclaimed "democracies". In the context of globalization, they have also warned the rest of the planet that another world must be made possible.
THE LESSON OF THE SNAIL is a film about decolonizing education and creating spaces for community-based learning. Filmmaker Sylvie Lapointe investigates the daily lives of these Indigenous communities, disclosing their alternative education systems in which all has been recreated to fit with the values and dreams of transformation. Refuse all government funds in order to keep their freedom, these revolutionaries are strongly committed to protecting their language and culture for future generations.