Me Espera un Pueblo (in production)

 Documentary feature film that explores affective experiences of return of Indigenous migrants from Zapotec and Chinantec pueblos in the central valleys and northern highlands of the state of Oaxaca. The protagonists, Fidel, Vanessa, Rocío, Hugo, Jessica, Noel, Estefanía, Lily, Sandra and Aylin, were born, grew up or lived in the U.S. for many years, and are now back in their ancestral homelands. They reflect on displacement, ancestry, family separation, and belonging to land.
Me Espera un Pueblo roughly translates to “a community/hometown is waiting for me".
I borrowed the title from a song by Zapotec musician, philosopher, and land defender Jaime Martínez Luna, who wrote songs as political education tools for children and adults that speak to the collective stories and experiences of indigenous Oaxacans living in the pueblos of the northern highlands. Jaime is also my elder. This song explores the conflicting feelings of returning to one's community after many years of absence, especially what one dreams of finding when returning home.

Excerpts from interviews with Fidel Gómez who returned to San Batolomé Quialana, Vanessa Hernández who returned to Santiago Matatlán and Rocío Hernández who returned to Ixtlán de Juárez.

Film crew laughing with Jessica in between takes of her interview in San Francisco Lachigoló. Photo by Luis Hernández.

Fidel and I on top of El Calvario in San Bartolmé Quialana. Photo by Luis Hernández.

Film crew shooting B-roll with Estefanía, on top of the Guíha xi-van hill in Santa Ana del Valle. Photo by Mariana González.

Film crew shooting B-roll in Vanessa's home in Santiago Matatlán. Photo by Mariana González.

Photo of the film crew, by Fidel Gómez, who asked to take a portrait of us after completing his interview in his grandparents' home in San Bartomolé Quialana. From left to right: Mariana González (production assistant), Danielle Cosmes (director), Luis Hernández (cinematographer) and Mónica Arias (sound mixer).

Cinematographer Cassandra Casasola filming during the patron saint festival of Santo Tomás Apóstol in my hometown, Ixtlán de Juárez.

"Me Espera un Pueblo" written by Jaime Martínez Luna and interpreted by Angél García.

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