Gods of Mexico

A documentary that delves into forms of resistance to modernization in rural Mexico and depicts the great diversity of indigenous peoples and afro-descendants throughout the country. The film is a tribute to these people, to their daily work, and to those who fight to preserve their cultural identity.

The film is able to celebrate Mexico and its ancient traditions without reducing them to exploitable anthropological artifacts. The subjects shown on camera are never exoticized or seen through an imperialist gaze.

Although it doesn’t have a traditional plot, so to speak, one can trace a retelling of the birth of the world through the images Dosantos captured throughout most of a decade, working directly with the communities presented in the film to understand how they wanted the rest of the world to see them and how to show their essence onscreen.

Using richly saturated color and hypnotic black-and-white interludes, filmmaker Helmut Dosantos takes viewers through salt pans, deserts, highlands, jungle, and underground mines, taking us into a journey that expertly combines poetry, anthropology, and cosmology. Surrounded by an otherworldly beauty the film invites to immerse oneself into its moving images.

The film will be followed by a music performance of Mexican music.