Dioses y reyes / Gods and Kings
A film by Robin Blotnick
USA, Culture/Spiritual Documentary, 2012
87 min, MiniDV, Color/Black & White
Spanish, English, Mayan with Spanish, English subtitles
This film was screened as a part of the 2014 Cine Las Americas International Film Festival (CLAIFF17)
At a festival in the Guatemalan highlands, devotional Maya dances are disrupted by an eerie spectacle, where horror movie monsters dance beside Maya gods and Cold War dictators. As old and new masqueraders compete for attention in the town center, the audience must confront a strange and troubling history that links Guatemala with the US, magic with pop culture, and religion with burlesque entertainment. Presenting a striking case never before documented on film, DIOSES Y REYES illuminates the tensions between cultural change and continuity, and the way mass-produced media take on surprising meanings in new contexts. The film has been screened to enthusiastic audiences internationally, including stops at Morelia IFF and RAI International Festival of Ethnographic Film.
US Premiere
About the director
Robin Blotnick’s first documentary, CHOCOLATE COUNTRY (2006), about the work and music of Dominican cacao farmers, received a Grand Jury Prize at the Seattle International Film Festival, and is used as a teaching tool by educators and Fair Trade advocates. His latest film, THE HAND THAT FEEDS (2014), co-directed with Rachel Lears, recently won the Audience Award at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival and will broadcast on PBS in 2015.
Credits
Producer: Robin Blotnick
Production Companies: Namshub Films
Screenwriter: Robin Blotnick, Rachel Lears
Cinematographer: Elyse Neiman, Carl Wooley
Editor: Robin Blotnick
Sound Design: Roger Mason Music: Ryan Blotnick
Print Source: Robin Blotnick, robin@jubileefilms.org
