Etnocidio: Notas sobre el mezquital (Völkermord)

Few films have caused as much controversy at home as Paul Leduc's radical documentary on the situation of the Otomi Indians in the poor region of El Mezquital, conceived together with Mexico's leading sociologist Roger Bartra. Instead of off-screen commentary, the disturbing development is only conveyed through the stories of the indigenous people themselves and correspondingly powerful images that speak for themselves. The card index arrangement in chapters from A to Z reveals a history of ethnocide: from colonisation and persecution to a present where "civilising" and "civilised" forces have managed to eradicate Indian culture and livelihoods much more devastatingly than ever before, with crude suppression measures as well as sophisticated infiltration. It is also an exemplary work in that the genocide described can be applied to comparable cases throughout the continent, throughout the world. (C.H.)

Introduction by Christoph Huber on 20 March

Photo: Austrian Film Museum