By PhD Rubén Solís Mecalco (They/Them)
Project co-funded by the Catalyst Fund 2024
One of the main reasons behind this project was, in one hand, sharing my individual and collective non-conformity, as part of a Mayan Assembly, against some filmmakers from the global north/minority of the world and from the big cities in Mexico more interested to share and screen their films related to the impacts of megaprojects on rural areas from indigenous territories in international film festivals, than between the affected communities that participated on their documentaries. On the other hand, was important collectively create our own proposal/way about how, as Mayans, we imagine develop filming process with a completely different goals than the film industry and having as our main audience the Mayan populations from rural and urban areas, as well as other populations around the world affected by the same oppressive capitalism, patriarchal and neoliberalism system/CIStem.
Is important to say that this project was possible thanks to each person from Múuch’ Xíinbal Mayan Assembly that voluntarily decided to participate and learn together, special greetings to the photographer & territorial defender Haizel de la Cruz Martin. The non-binary and female perspective behind the how-know of both short films was important along all the process from the script till the launch on YouTube. To make this possible it was necessary for us to be the ones who this time took the camera as a tool of communication, denunciation and identity, but also to be part of every step of the creative process behind and in front of the cameras, which implied learning about scriptwriting, moving and static shots, sound, editing and post-production in record time.
video shooting process
Participating in every step of the creative process behind and in front of the cameras, has shown us once again the power of being autonomous about the narratives and aesthetic proposals that as Mayas we want to share with other Mayan Communities and around the world, it is how we see the world and we want to share it, in this sense we adapt the cinematographic tools to our complex realities, and not the other way around.
Edition and post-production process of KOOL & JA’
We have made two amazing short films KOOL & JA’ in less than one year, both audiovisual materials the first one in Yucatecan Maya, and the second one in Spanish, have subtitles in English, Spanish and Yucatecan Maya, and both are available in open access on YouTube with the aim that our message reaches all possible geographies and peoples in resistance to megaprojects in the world, being faithful to our belief that these audiovisual materials are urgently needed in our communities in free formats and easy distribution, and not between film festivals in distant geographies.
KOOL (11min. 21sec., 2025)
This short film entitled KOOL addresses different approaches of defenders of the territory on the ancestral/contemporary meanings of the Maya Milpa, its importance for the communities, as well as the risks and dangers in times where there are multiple megaprojects advancing in the region. Because of insecurity conditions in one of the filming locations, and to protect the integrity of one of the main characters the face images, personal information and locations were omitted.
KOOL was launched on YouTube last 3rd of February it was the first audio-visual proposal and experience developing a documentary short film having Yucatecan Maya as the main language, even that I was personally nervous about how audience will receive it, I was at the same time confidence about the meaningful contents and beautiful images, that together make the message even more powerful.
KOOL (English Subtitles)
CREDITS
Director / Producer: Rub(én) Solís Mecalco
Script: Rub(én) Solís Mecalco
Photographie/ Video shooting/ Edition: Haizel de la Cruz Martín
Poetry/ Mayan & Spanish Subtitles: Pedro Uc Be
Pos-production: Néstor A. Jiménez
Dron: Emanuel Uribe
English subtitles: Rub(én) Solís Mecalco
Script accompaniment: Aracely Méndez
JA’ (9min. 44 sec., 2025)
This short film addresses, from the perspective of a female & a male defender of the territory in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, the spiritual and cultural meanings related to the day-to-day activities related to water for the Mayan peoples of the region. Starting from the foundational understanding of water for the Mayan peoples, community proposals for organization and response to the latent threat of devastation to which life in all its expressions is affected by the imposition of a single vision of development, which is also colonial, patriarchal and neoliberal, by the local, national and international political and economic classes who believe they own the world and the Yucatan Peninsula. Beyond ways of resisting in the face of so many abuses against the Maya peoples, water and life in the region, the short film reflects multiple ways of re-existing and continuing to organize in these modern (non-linear) times through the legacy of collective thought with deep and revolutionary meanings of our Maya grandmothers and grandfathers.
JA’ was launched on YouTube last 21st of April having Spanish as the main language, even that as a team tried to reply to a similar formula than in our first short film experience, here we applied some technical critics from filmmakers and post-production developers, so the meaningful contents and powerful images were enrichment with more film and post-production techniques.
Ja’ (With English subtitles)
CREDITS
Director / Producer: Rub(én) Solís Mecalco.
Script: Rub(én) Solís Mecalco, Haizel de la Cruz Martín, Néstor A. Jiménez.
Photography / Video shooting: Haizel de la Cruz Martin, Asamblea de Defensores del Territorio Maya Múuch’ Xíimbal, & Alexis Jooy.
Edition: Haizel de la Cruz Martín.
Poetry/ Mayan Subtitles: Pedro Uc Be
Post-production & color: Néstor A. Jiménez
English Subtitles: Rub(én) Solís Mecalco.
Script accompaniment: Aracely Méndez
Screening Sessions
Before and after launching each short film I organized screening sessions to get some feedback before launching, as well as to know how the audience were receiving and perceiving each short film after launching them on YouTube. All the screening sessions were made in rural areas and some peripheric urban neighborhoods from the Yucatan Peninsula.
Pre-launch Screening Session – Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico
I had just one unexpected opportunity to share KOOL in a small space at RightsCon-2025 in Taipei, Taiwan with a small but international audience coming from three different continents: America, Europe and Asia. This time was powerful how people from different parts of the world connected with some contents, problems and situations told in the short film, opening the space to share experiences from their own localities and geographies.
Session RightsCon-2025, Taipei, Taiwan
In the Yucatan Peninsula, one of my biggest surprises on the post-launched screening sessions in the case of KOOL were the good reception, some of the audience share the deep connection with their Mayan roots that they felt after watched the short-film and the debates were more focus about contemporary Mayan identities, what we have, what we lost and change along the years. In the case of JA’ debates were around the impacts of megaprojects in the region, as well as the importance to defend nature, water and life.
Screening Session after launched KOOL & JA’ – Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico
I hope that KOOL & JA’ short films will reach more communities and be a small impulse for them to take the camera and tell their own story, and their own struggles. In my case, I will use all the film tools that I learned to develop and accompany new collective short film experiences over the next few years, this is just the beginning of a long way.
Finally, I want to say many thanks to the Green Screen Coalition, Mozilla Foundation as a member of this coalition, and their Catalyst Fund for co-funded these short films and giving the first material conditions to start and make possible each step from this amazing filming path.
