Linguapax
"Por Dinero", documentary about the Chatino of Mexico seeks funding
Three seniors in college have set out to make a documentary about a community of indigenous Mexicans, the Chatino and their family members living and working in the U.S.
The film:
Two-part 30 minute experimental documentary using a Bolex 16mm motion picture camera. The film focuses on a particular indigenous language native to a small town in Oaxaca, Mexico. The mother tongue of these Mexicans is that of the Chatino language; only 23,000 people speak it. Eight Chatino-speakers live in our hometown of Gainesville, Florida. We've worked and become friends with most of them including the youngest, for four years. Our primary focus is on the anthropological linguistics of dying languages and native speakers' own apathy to the preservation of it. We wish to do this through juxtaposing the small community of Chatinos in our town working in restaurants versus the lives of their families back home working in agriculture.
All in all, the reason for the title "Por Dinero" is simple: Mexicans are here for money; they come to this country for the same opportunities that we often take for granted. They are happy to work 72 hours a week for 5, 10, maybe 20 years. One of our goals is to deconstruct the stereotype of a "lazy Mexican" and give rise to the fact that these people sacrifice their lives to create a better world for their families.
The first part is told in three sections approximating 15 minutes in black&white footage in the small city of Gainesville, Florida. One is about a young Mexican named Israel illegally working in the restaurant life. The other is about another working Mexican named Susu told through the perspective of his wife at home with their two children. The third section highlights their small community gatherings.
The second part concerns their homeland and the families living self-sufficiently in the southern state of Oaxaca located in the small town of San Miguel Panixtlahuaca (Color- about 15 minutes also). We'd also like to focus on the cultural differences of agricultural and restaurant life and Mexicans' perseverance in helping their families with money.
PLANNING:
Over the next two months, we (Brendan, Salah, and I) will film ten rolls of B&W film (7266 TriX Reversal) here in our home town following the lives of two Mexicans working in restaurants and also community gatherings of Chatinos for fiestas. $240 of film stock and processing: $9 each roll + $15 each roll for processing.
Then we plan on traveling to Guatemala City, taking a bus to Oaxaca City and then another bus to San Miguel Panixtlahuaca (transportation for us three: $600 for plane tix, $240 for bus tix- 6 bus trips or 2 for each of us). Once in this small town, we'll shoot 10 rolls of color film (7201 50D) with Israel's family. So that's $580 film stock and processing: $25 each roll + $33 each roll for processing.
We'd like to digitize the processed films into video files (so we can add some sound and music in Final Cut Pro) which will cost about $750 for 20 rolls.
For the three weeks there, we want to live in their home and help in their fields while filming. We'd like to give them $500 for lodging and meals. Our friend, Israel, as you can see by the still shot of him cooking, says that's more than enough! And his family will appreciate it immensely. We also plan on buying a screen printer and designing our own T-shirts for rewards for your guys' generous contributions! That'll be around $250 for the screen printing materials.
So! in total: $240 + $600 + $240 + $580 + $750 + $500 + $250 = $3160 but let's round up because of flu, Hep A, tetanus shots, kickstarter fees, and all those crazy-cool small gifts for a grand total of $3500!
Project location: San Miguel Panixtlahuaca, Mexico
Take a look at the trailer: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/blacksmyth/por-dinero