1 00:00:00,480 --> 00:00:04,080 Speaker 1: There's a very clear connection to me between what happened 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:08,840 Speaker 1: in the conquest and what is happening today. For many 3 00:00:09,039 --> 00:00:12,000 Speaker 1: communities in Mexico. The conquest hasn't ended. 4 00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:21,800 Speaker 2: From Fudromidia and PRX. It's Latino Usa I Maria no 5 00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:26,080 Speaker 2: josa today. A new film takes on the violent legacy 6 00:00:26,239 --> 00:00:36,440 Speaker 2: of the Spanish conquest in Mexico. A little over five 7 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:40,560 Speaker 2: hundred years ago, in Nancortes and a few hundred other 8 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:45,239 Speaker 2: Spanish conquistadores arrived on the shores of the Americas in 9 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:49,080 Speaker 2: what is now called Mexico. From the coast, they marched 10 00:00:49,120 --> 00:00:53,560 Speaker 2: inland to Denotch Diplan, the capital of the Aztec Empire. 11 00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:57,760 Speaker 2: They intended to overthrow the Aztecs and claim that territory 12 00:00:57,800 --> 00:01:02,280 Speaker 2: for the Spanish crown, and they did. On August thirteenth, 13 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:07,040 Speaker 2: fifteen twenty one, the Spanish conquistello Is declared the fall 14 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:11,680 Speaker 2: of the Aztec Empire, changing life in the Americas forever. 15 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:15,920 Speaker 2: In his new film four hundred and ninety nine, director 16 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:21,880 Speaker 2: Rodrigo Reyes revisits that moment, but not as a history lesson. Instead, 17 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:25,840 Speaker 2: four hundred and ninety nine connects past and present by 18 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:30,160 Speaker 2: bringing a ghostly Conquistello to the twenty first century to 19 00:01:30,319 --> 00:01:35,200 Speaker 2: retrace the route he walked five centuries ago. On his journey, 20 00:01:35,240 --> 00:01:39,080 Speaker 2: the conquistellod is forced to listen to testimonies of present 21 00:01:39,160 --> 00:01:45,399 Speaker 2: day violence. After it was completed, four hundred and ninety 22 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:48,520 Speaker 2: nine was shown in film festivals around the world, and 23 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:52,640 Speaker 2: it even won an award for its cinematography. But Rodrigo, 24 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:56,480 Speaker 2: the director, felt that something was missing from the project, 25 00:01:56,640 --> 00:02:00,520 Speaker 2: so in the summer of twenty twenty one, Rodrigo turned 26 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:03,600 Speaker 2: to the root of Cortes. He screened the film in 27 00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:06,600 Speaker 2: eleven cities for the people who had shared their stories 28 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:09,560 Speaker 2: with him. The tour ended in the place and on 29 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:13,919 Speaker 2: the exact date the Aztec Empire had fallen, five hundred 30 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:18,520 Speaker 2: years before Mexico City. In this segment of How I 31 00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:22,160 Speaker 2: Made It, Rodrigo talks about the reasons why he made 32 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:27,040 Speaker 2: his film and why it's important to question history's official narratives. 33 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:29,640 Speaker 2: Here's director Rodrigo Reyez. 34 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:34,160 Speaker 1: My name is Rodrigo Reyes. I am a film director 35 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:38,480 Speaker 1: and I made a film called four hundred and ninety nine, 36 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:42,480 Speaker 1: which is about the anniversary of the fall of the 37 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:45,160 Speaker 1: Aztec Empire at the hands of Cortes. 38 00:02:45,160 --> 00:02:50,840 Speaker 3: And his allies abarisis tu namagniana blriente in las prajas 39 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:58,000 Speaker 3: de verra cruz issun estrana coincidencia geaste casikinian to sign 40 00:02:58,200 --> 00:03:05,320 Speaker 3: this puez te conquista, imperios teka alado litu capitan ernano courtes. 41 00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:08,400 Speaker 1: The film is called four hundred and ninety nine because 42 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:12,720 Speaker 1: really what we're trying to do is to subvert this anniversary. 43 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:17,000 Speaker 1: We're trying to intervene in this idea of five hundred years. 44 00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:19,440 Speaker 1: Four hundred and ninety nine is kind of like a creepy, 45 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:23,880 Speaker 1: you know, disturbing something that makes you uncomfortable to look at. 46 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:37,360 Speaker 4: Ksanekubrier inkosiglos get tra juansrotimpu buscularist bista inritus balaras. 47 00:03:39,080 --> 00:03:41,640 Speaker 1: I wanted to make a film that wasn't authoritative, that 48 00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:45,720 Speaker 1: wasn't a teaching tool, or wasn't something that you know, 49 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:48,080 Speaker 1: you could watch in your history class so you could 50 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:51,520 Speaker 1: learn some facts. I really wanted to use this anniversary 51 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:54,760 Speaker 1: as an opportunity to look at the present and how 52 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:59,040 Speaker 1: history impacts the present, how history remains here even if 53 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:02,960 Speaker 1: the shapes and forms of violence have changed. There's a 54 00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:06,640 Speaker 1: very clear connection to me between what happened in the 55 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:12,440 Speaker 1: conquest and what is happening today. For many communities in Mexico, 56 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:19,599 Speaker 1: the conquest hasn't ended. In the prologue of the film, 57 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:24,400 Speaker 1: the Conquistello emerges from the waters and discovers that he's 58 00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:28,679 Speaker 1: in the twenty first century. He washes up in Vera Cruz, 59 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:33,240 Speaker 1: and he is forced to walk back to de Nostititlan, 60 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:36,920 Speaker 1: which is now Mexico City, along the same path that 61 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:41,159 Speaker 1: he followed in his invasion. I've often been asked why 62 00:04:41,279 --> 00:04:43,960 Speaker 1: I chose to have a Conquistallo and why didn't I 63 00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:48,320 Speaker 1: just do something very straightforward that just focused on the 64 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:51,560 Speaker 1: stories of the victims of violence. But I think my 65 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:54,039 Speaker 1: job as an artist really is to find the ways 66 00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:58,360 Speaker 1: to break through two deeper truths. I wanted a symbol. 67 00:04:58,400 --> 00:05:01,000 Speaker 1: I wanted somebody that people would look at and say, 68 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:05,600 Speaker 1: that is power, that is authority, and the Conquistelo embodies that. 69 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:09,560 Speaker 1: He's also a very uncomfortable part of Mexican history. We 70 00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:12,560 Speaker 1: like to pretend that we're the inheritors of only the 71 00:05:12,640 --> 00:05:15,600 Speaker 1: good guys of history, or only the glorious Aztecs who 72 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:19,080 Speaker 1: were tragically defeated. But I think what's more important is 73 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:22,600 Speaker 1: to bring this connection of how we have repeated some 74 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:25,839 Speaker 1: of the strategies of conquest and how we have internalized 75 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:33,960 Speaker 1: this conquistello. The conquistello is played by an actor, but 76 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:37,960 Speaker 1: really he embodies something that exists in Mexico today. The 77 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:41,839 Speaker 1: conquistello has always been there. He's living there in the shadows. 78 00:05:41,880 --> 00:05:44,720 Speaker 1: When a young girl is murdered, or when a journalist 79 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:48,960 Speaker 1: is silenced, it's the same kind of mechanic of control. 80 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:55,880 Speaker 1: The conquistello arrives on the beach and he thinks he's 81 00:05:55,960 --> 00:05:59,200 Speaker 1: back in the sixteenth century. He starts to walk up 82 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:03,479 Speaker 1: a doom, a gigantic mass of sand next to the beach, 83 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:05,560 Speaker 1: and then all of a sudden he finds a plastic 84 00:06:05,680 --> 00:06:08,920 Speaker 1: cup and it just flips his mind. And then beyond 85 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:12,440 Speaker 1: on the next hill he sees a four wheeler, so 86 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:16,400 Speaker 1: he starts to really like lose the sense of where 87 00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:22,680 Speaker 1: he is. Soon enough, he arrives at an elementary school 88 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:25,840 Speaker 1: full of little kids on the beach in Veracruz, and 89 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:30,000 Speaker 1: they're honoring the Mexican flag like they do every Monday 90 00:06:30,120 --> 00:06:33,839 Speaker 1: in every school in Mexico. They're marching with the flag 91 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:38,200 Speaker 1: and with military music, and he interrupts the ceremony to 92 00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:41,960 Speaker 1: claim the territory for the Kingdom of Spain. 93 00:06:42,480 --> 00:06:51,920 Speaker 4: Number carno primedotros sushieros or not dividios. 94 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:57,840 Speaker 5: You're oh no yet there no all. 95 00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:03,480 Speaker 1: Laira gives a speech where he's talking about all the 96 00:07:03,640 --> 00:07:08,800 Speaker 1: different legal reasons why the Spanish should have rights to 97 00:07:08,920 --> 00:07:12,480 Speaker 1: this territory and how basically the locals have to be 98 00:07:12,600 --> 00:07:14,960 Speaker 1: either with them or against them, and if they're against them, 99 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:18,720 Speaker 1: then the Spanish can wage all manner of brutal war 100 00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:22,080 Speaker 1: against them. And as he's giving off this spiel, the 101 00:07:22,160 --> 00:07:25,200 Speaker 1: kids are just looking at him in shock, until suddenly 102 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:39,880 Speaker 1: he just loses his voice and he's silenced. Why, we 103 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:42,840 Speaker 1: don't know. It's the magic of cinema, right, It's the 104 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:45,760 Speaker 1: magic of his journey. He has been silenced, and now 105 00:07:45,880 --> 00:07:51,480 Speaker 1: he must listen. Across the world today, we can think 106 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:54,800 Speaker 1: of any kind of struggle, from the Black Lives Matter 107 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:57,920 Speaker 1: struggle to the struggle of indigenous rights here in the US, 108 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:01,840 Speaker 1: to the struggle like even talking about US history in 109 00:08:01,920 --> 00:08:05,440 Speaker 1: a more honest way. There is a lack of listening 110 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:07,960 Speaker 1: in our world, and I think it's so damaging and 111 00:08:08,080 --> 00:08:12,320 Speaker 1: so problematic when positions of power, refuse to listen to 112 00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:15,600 Speaker 1: people who are victims of power. We should be listening 113 00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:22,560 Speaker 1: to them, even if it's uncomfortable. Slowly through his memories, 114 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:26,200 Speaker 1: he starts to be confronted also with actions from the 115 00:08:26,320 --> 00:08:30,160 Speaker 1: past that that question his values, and they questioned facts 116 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:38,719 Speaker 1: of what he did, that epartism. He was nonaiets in 117 00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:46,439 Speaker 1: Embargo me So and Trambo. I'm also not trying to 118 00:08:46,559 --> 00:08:49,760 Speaker 1: say that somehow the Conquista is redeemed in this story. 119 00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:52,880 Speaker 1: It isn't a white savior story, but it is a 120 00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:57,880 Speaker 1: story about trying to dismantle that mindset of colonialism and 121 00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:02,160 Speaker 1: trying to follow it character as their world is expanding 122 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:17,320 Speaker 1: and falling apart. The Conquista is played by Document, an 123 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:21,240 Speaker 1: actor from Madrid, Spain, who had never been to Mexico. 124 00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:24,319 Speaker 1: The moment I saw him in the airport, I remember 125 00:09:24,840 --> 00:09:28,160 Speaker 1: noticing his long fingernails, which folks will see in the 126 00:09:28,280 --> 00:09:31,040 Speaker 1: in the film. He has this very long, kind of 127 00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:35,280 Speaker 1: dracula esque fingernails, and I asked them, well, why do 128 00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:37,520 Speaker 1: you have these long fingernails, and he said to me, well, 129 00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:41,679 Speaker 1: in the sixteenth century, Europeans then cut their fingernails. And 130 00:09:41,800 --> 00:09:45,280 Speaker 1: I realized that he had fully committed to this project 131 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:47,839 Speaker 1: and he was going to bring everything he had to 132 00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:57,160 Speaker 1: It is record Americo. He's the only actor in the film. 133 00:09:57,480 --> 00:10:01,319 Speaker 1: Everyone else, everybody else that you the on screen is 134 00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:06,760 Speaker 1: actually a real person. So as I was making the film, 135 00:10:07,200 --> 00:10:09,000 Speaker 1: I had a lot of doubts. I didn't know if 136 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:11,559 Speaker 1: it was going to work because so many of these 137 00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:14,079 Speaker 1: time traveler films are comedies, but I was trying to 138 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:17,559 Speaker 1: do something dead serious, and so I didn't know as 139 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:19,880 Speaker 1: I was shooting the film if it was going to work. 140 00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:23,079 Speaker 1: Every moment, every stage of the process, there was a 141 00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:26,040 Speaker 1: question mark. When I talked to the people, for instance, 142 00:10:26,120 --> 00:10:27,920 Speaker 1: and invited them to the film, there was always a 143 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:31,520 Speaker 1: question mark. But that question mark also led to a listening, right, 144 00:10:31,920 --> 00:10:35,959 Speaker 1: a listening as part of the filmmaking process. How do 145 00:10:36,120 --> 00:10:38,719 Speaker 1: you want this conquisell or to enter your space? What 146 00:10:38,880 --> 00:10:41,400 Speaker 1: do you want to share with him? And that led 147 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:51,680 Speaker 1: to really interesting scenes. The conquis Cello's journey is divided 148 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:56,080 Speaker 1: into chapters, just like a traditional kind of pilgrimage. He's 149 00:10:56,160 --> 00:10:59,839 Speaker 1: on this path and he's listening to stories of the 150 00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:04,000 Speaker 1: families of murdered journalists, or to a mother who is 151 00:11:04,559 --> 00:11:08,800 Speaker 1: looking for her son who has disappeared. He visits a 152 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:14,520 Speaker 1: Native American community, He visits migrants who are traveling from 153 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:18,240 Speaker 1: Central America up to the US Mexico border. He meets 154 00:11:18,640 --> 00:11:22,000 Speaker 1: a hit man, He meets the mother of a young 155 00:11:22,040 --> 00:11:27,000 Speaker 1: girl who was murdered in a brutal feminist side. Chapter three, 156 00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:29,840 Speaker 1: when we go up to an indigenous community in sort 157 00:11:29,840 --> 00:11:32,079 Speaker 1: of that at Sompa, which is like now what the 158 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:35,719 Speaker 1: speaking community. The lead character there is a poet. His 159 00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:40,920 Speaker 1: name is Sixto, and Sixto refused to give an interview 160 00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:43,079 Speaker 1: for the film. He said, I don't want to give 161 00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:46,920 Speaker 1: an interview. I want to speak in poetry because our 162 00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:50,800 Speaker 1: struggle is to keep our language. So I want to 163 00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:55,000 Speaker 1: demonstrate the beauty of our language. I want people to 164 00:11:55,120 --> 00:12:17,520 Speaker 1: hear it and to think poetically. Masqui ma work. The 165 00:12:17,800 --> 00:12:21,280 Speaker 1: music was composed by Parlo Monra, who's an old friend 166 00:12:21,320 --> 00:12:24,200 Speaker 1: of mine, and he did this amazing job in crafting 167 00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:29,160 Speaker 1: music that sounded like a soundscape, like a landscape of sound. 168 00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:36,480 Speaker 1: It was something that seemed to come out of the 169 00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:39,600 Speaker 1: landscape and the spaces and the moments in the film. 170 00:12:45,080 --> 00:12:48,040 Speaker 1: Bablo also brought on a team of sound designers and 171 00:12:48,160 --> 00:12:52,920 Speaker 1: they really worked to balance out the music with the silence. 172 00:12:53,559 --> 00:12:56,679 Speaker 1: I think silence is very, very important in the film 173 00:12:56,800 --> 00:13:00,679 Speaker 1: because it draws us into the reality of things. We 174 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:04,559 Speaker 1: also built the story so that the encounters of the 175 00:13:04,600 --> 00:13:08,680 Speaker 1: conquistello would get more and more intense as we move forward. 176 00:13:08,800 --> 00:13:10,880 Speaker 1: So by the time he gets to the askirts of 177 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:15,360 Speaker 1: Mexico City, he has witnessed a lot of horrific testimonies, 178 00:13:15,480 --> 00:13:19,319 Speaker 1: and yet there's still something deeper that takes him to 179 00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:24,439 Speaker 1: a breaking point when he encounters the story of Fatima, 180 00:13:24,760 --> 00:13:27,760 Speaker 1: a young twelve year old girl who was murdered brutally 181 00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:31,480 Speaker 1: by her neighbors. So by the time the conquistallo gets 182 00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:37,200 Speaker 1: to meet Fatima's mother, Lorena, and the mother's narrating this horrible, 183 00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:41,080 Speaker 1: brutal crime that happened to her little girl, the sound 184 00:13:41,240 --> 00:13:44,160 Speaker 1: just disappears and all we hear is like her naked voice, 185 00:13:44,559 --> 00:13:45,240 Speaker 1: just really. 186 00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:56,760 Speaker 3: Stark yas heva I am Prima. 187 00:13:55,880 --> 00:14:04,360 Speaker 1: Studio, and it makes the scene really intense. And people 188 00:14:04,520 --> 00:14:07,320 Speaker 1: have told me just how much it cuts into them 189 00:14:07,400 --> 00:14:14,120 Speaker 1: when they watched the testimony of Lorena. From the very beginning, 190 00:14:14,160 --> 00:14:16,280 Speaker 1: when we set out on this journey, I knew that 191 00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:19,040 Speaker 1: the film had to come back on the road to 192 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:21,560 Speaker 1: the locations where we shot it. It had to be 193 00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:25,320 Speaker 1: presented there. It didn't matter where. It didn't have to 194 00:14:25,400 --> 00:14:29,520 Speaker 1: be a theater. It could be a bookstore, a cultural home, 195 00:14:29,720 --> 00:14:32,200 Speaker 1: could be in a migrant shelter, it could be on 196 00:14:32,280 --> 00:14:35,560 Speaker 1: a soccer field. But the film had to be present 197 00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:39,480 Speaker 1: physically along the route and around the time of this 198 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:45,080 Speaker 1: very important anniversary of five hundred years, because otherwise, what 199 00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:47,600 Speaker 1: you're doing as a filmmaker is that you're just coming 200 00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:50,520 Speaker 1: and taking what you need and you're not giving anything 201 00:14:50,680 --> 00:14:54,880 Speaker 1: back to the real people involved. Is Amos and Pressndo 202 00:14:55,920 --> 00:15:02,520 Speaker 1: is Thamos and Hira Sorellas pro Corpes Remachimendo. Presently, this 203 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:06,040 Speaker 1: tour granted an opportunity for for the folks in the 204 00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:10,000 Speaker 1: film to do interviews, to share the film with their families, 205 00:15:10,440 --> 00:15:13,600 Speaker 1: to have an experience to really see a work of 206 00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:16,440 Speaker 1: cinema on a big, you know, three meter by five 207 00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:20,800 Speaker 1: meter screen. It's amazing to see the real people relate 208 00:15:20,880 --> 00:15:23,840 Speaker 1: to the film, talk about the film and connect it 209 00:15:23,920 --> 00:15:26,560 Speaker 1: to their own lives, back to their own struggles that 210 00:15:26,640 --> 00:15:32,040 Speaker 1: are still ongoing. I remember, for instance, seeing Marta in 211 00:15:32,160 --> 00:15:37,000 Speaker 1: Kalapa talking about forced disappearances with a government official on 212 00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:42,720 Speaker 1: one side and a nonprofit leader on the other, some 213 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:51,600 Speaker 1: of Madre and really expressing her dilemma in this really 214 00:15:51,880 --> 00:15:56,040 Speaker 1: beautiful way that touched everybody, and that kind of adds 215 00:15:56,240 --> 00:16:00,320 Speaker 1: to the process of trying to stop this violence. I 216 00:16:00,480 --> 00:16:04,680 Speaker 1: remember seeing Lorena Rutierrez at the Commission for Human Rights 217 00:16:04,720 --> 00:16:07,800 Speaker 1: in Mexico City and and you know, standing up there 218 00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:11,920 Speaker 1: with all these leaders that are trying to address this 219 00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:23,560 Speaker 1: the issue of feminist side Lusticia and her having this 220 00:16:23,760 --> 00:16:27,080 Speaker 1: amazing platform where she could really kind of talk at 221 00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:32,000 Speaker 1: length in a more artistic way about her experience as 222 00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:42,920 Speaker 1: a victim and as survivor of violence. Even though it's 223 00:16:42,960 --> 00:16:45,880 Speaker 1: a painful project, it had a lot of joy. The 224 00:16:46,040 --> 00:16:48,760 Speaker 1: route and the presentations were full of joy. We had 225 00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:53,040 Speaker 1: one evening where like the fandango school was dancing this 226 00:16:53,280 --> 00:16:57,560 Speaker 1: traditional music from Vera Cruz under the rain after our screening, 227 00:16:58,080 --> 00:17:05,280 Speaker 1: kind of like celebrating the and they encounter. And I 228 00:17:05,359 --> 00:17:08,040 Speaker 1: think for me, the film didn't finish until it was 229 00:17:08,200 --> 00:17:13,080 Speaker 1: present in Mexico. For me, the film was incomplete even 230 00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:15,840 Speaker 1: though it had gone to all these festivals until it 231 00:17:15,920 --> 00:17:19,000 Speaker 1: went back to the Route of Cortez and it was 232 00:17:19,119 --> 00:17:21,720 Speaker 1: shown to the people who opened up their hearts. The 233 00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:29,160 Speaker 1: film was not finished. Oftentimes we don't realize how important 234 00:17:29,280 --> 00:17:32,800 Speaker 1: history is. Every leader of every country in the world 235 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:36,520 Speaker 1: is always trying to interpret and tell us what history 236 00:17:36,560 --> 00:17:40,200 Speaker 1: should be, and Mexico is no different. Mexico, in fact, 237 00:17:40,280 --> 00:17:45,040 Speaker 1: has a very long history of building nationalistic sentiment, and 238 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:48,920 Speaker 1: the core part of this nationalism is this idea that 239 00:17:49,160 --> 00:17:53,680 Speaker 1: somehow we as Mexicans were conquered by the Spanish, when 240 00:17:53,760 --> 00:17:57,359 Speaker 1: in reality that conquest was very complicated and there were many, 241 00:17:57,520 --> 00:18:01,920 Speaker 1: many different communities that existed at that time that agreed 242 00:18:02,119 --> 00:18:06,920 Speaker 1: and supported and participated in the overthrow of the Aztec Empire. 243 00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:11,520 Speaker 1: This construction of we as Mexicans were wounded and destroyed 244 00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:16,320 Speaker 1: and attacked, but somehow we survive is very useful because 245 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:19,959 Speaker 1: it creates this sense of pride and unity that helps 246 00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:24,840 Speaker 1: you modern governments kind of keep control of things. People 247 00:18:25,080 --> 00:18:28,880 Speaker 1: feel somehow that the film offends our sense of patriotism 248 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:31,840 Speaker 1: and our sense of pride in Mexico. Some people feel 249 00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:35,240 Speaker 1: that way. Other people feel that the film really reveals 250 00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:38,960 Speaker 1: the urgent needs of our country in the present. Even 251 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:42,360 Speaker 1: when people feel uncomfortable or they start to push back 252 00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:44,560 Speaker 1: I think that leads to a good thing, because we 253 00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:47,080 Speaker 1: need to have a dialogue. We need to be able 254 00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:50,000 Speaker 1: to talk about these big issues in a complex and 255 00:18:50,359 --> 00:18:57,679 Speaker 1: difficult way. I think for viewers in the US in general, 256 00:18:57,960 --> 00:19:00,600 Speaker 1: we need to know more about the history of the world, 257 00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:04,760 Speaker 1: and we need to understand how these histories also impact us. 258 00:19:05,240 --> 00:19:09,040 Speaker 1: We are in a moment where every debate, every political debate, 259 00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:11,560 Speaker 1: has a history to it. We need to learn to 260 00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:14,879 Speaker 1: read through that. We need to understand that when somebody 261 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:18,440 Speaker 1: refuses to acknowledge the history of slavery, for example, what 262 00:19:18,560 --> 00:19:21,320 Speaker 1: they're doing is that they're trying to rewrite and impose 263 00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:25,080 Speaker 1: history upon us. They're trying to build a silence. And 264 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:27,840 Speaker 1: so I think in many ways four ninety nine really 265 00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:31,400 Speaker 1: reflects the moment that we're in in this country, where 266 00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:35,520 Speaker 1: we are trying to grapple a complicated history and where 267 00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:38,480 Speaker 1: you just can't pick good guys and bad guys. There's 268 00:19:38,520 --> 00:19:39,680 Speaker 1: a complexity to it. 269 00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:46,320 Speaker 2: That was director rodrigore Is talking about his film for 270 00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:59,879 Speaker 2: ninety nine. This episode was produced by Victoria Estrada and 271 00:20:00,119 --> 00:20:03,280 Speaker 2: edited by Ricardo Marella. It was mixed by J. J. 272 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:03,880 Speaker 1: Carubin. 273 00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:08,679 Speaker 2: The Latino USA team includes Andrea Lopez Cruzado, Marta Martinez, 274 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:13,840 Speaker 2: Mike Sargent, Julia Ta Martinelli, Patricia Sulvanan Cini Montalvo, Alejandra 275 00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:17,600 Speaker 2: salasad Renaldo Leanos Junior and Julia Rocha, with help from 276 00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:21,919 Speaker 2: Rod Beritz. Our supervising Senior Engineer is Stephanie Lebo. Our 277 00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:26,280 Speaker 2: Assistant Senior Engineer is Julia Caruso. Additional engineering by gabriel 278 00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:29,040 Speaker 2: A Bias. Our digital editor is res Luna. Our New 279 00:20:29,119 --> 00:20:32,520 Speaker 2: York Women's Foundation Ignite Fellow is mari Es Kinka. Our 280 00:20:32,640 --> 00:20:36,560 Speaker 2: Latino USA Fellows are Elisa Bayena and Monica Morales. Our 281 00:20:36,760 --> 00:20:41,159 Speaker 2: Public's Lab Fellow from the CuNi Graduate Center is Andrew Vignalis. 282 00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:44,720 Speaker 2: Our theme music was composed by Zane Rubinos. If you 283 00:20:44,880 --> 00:20:46,719 Speaker 2: like the music you heard on this episode, stop by 284 00:20:46,760 --> 00:20:49,880 Speaker 2: Latinousa dot org and check out our weekly Spotify playlist. 285 00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:53,120 Speaker 2: I'm your host and executive producer Maria jo Josa. Join 286 00:20:53,200 --> 00:20:55,120 Speaker 2: us again on our next episode, and in the meantime, 287 00:20:55,520 --> 00:20:59,240 Speaker 2: find us on all of your social media. Alos Wacco Ciao. 288 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:07,760 Speaker 5: Funding for Latino USA is coverage of a culture of 289 00:21:07,880 --> 00:21:10,439 Speaker 5: Health is made possible in part by a grant from 290 00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:14,840 Speaker 5: the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Latino USA is made possible 291 00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:17,520 Speaker 5: in part by the John D. And Catherine T. MacArthur 292 00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:22,520 Speaker 5: Foundation and the Ford Foundation, working with visionaries on the 293 00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:24,800 Speaker 5: front lines of social change worldwide. 294 00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:29,520 Speaker 2: It's really hard to say