Historical scenes from southern Mexico, filmed between 1926 and 1939 in Oaxaca and Chiapas, are being revived thanks to a rescue project led by Víctor Vásquez Quintas.
The materials consist of five 16mm film reels, now digitized, that were stored in Santa María del Tule.
“The archive belonged to the library founded by my grandfather, Genaro V. Vásquez, a politician from Oaxaca,” Vásquez Quintas explained in a statement released by the Ministry of Culture (SC).
“For years, it was a family space until, in 2009, when we were taking down the books due to a leaking roof, we also found photographs, documents, and, in 2015, these five reels of film.” The rescue project is supported by the Mexican Film Promotion Program (Focine), of the Ministry of Culture, under the title Vestiges: Rescue and Dissemination of the Film Collection of the Library of Genaro V. Vásquez, who was Governor of Oaxaca from 1925 to 1928.
According to Vásquez Quintas, the content of the films offers an unprecedented glimpse into life in Oaxaca and Chiapas during the first decades of the 20th century.
“Among the most significant images is what could be the first film footage of a woman drinking mezcal at a local wedding, scenes from the 1928 Lunes del Cerro (Monday on the Hill) – before it was called Guelaguetza – and public works projects underway,” he explained.
“There is also a family film starring his grandmother, Amparo Colmenares Garmendia, with intertitles that tell a domestic story, and two other films about the Isthmus of Tehuantepec that document Genaro V. Vásquez’s visit as governor, demonstrating an early political use of cinema,” the Ministry of Culture reported.
One of the five films is from Chiapas, featuring images of indigenous communities.
The intention is to distribute this material free of charge online.
Source: reforma
