The Tree of Life
by Bruce "Pacho" Lane
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Totonac Indians of MexicoDirector: Bruce "Pacho" Lane
DVD: Region Code 0
Format: Color, Dubbed, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled
Running Time: 91 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-10-10
Studio: Ethnoscope Film & Video
DVD Reviews of The Tree of Life
DVD Review: Democracia Indigena - "Indian Theology" at work
Summary: 5 Stars
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2NSGMH7XS964B The Tree of Life Archbishop Samuel Ruiz wrote "Fortunately when Christopher Columbus came to the Americas, he did not bring God with him, because God was already present in the Indian religions."
In the last few years, Catholic priests and nuns working with Mexican indigenous communities are creating a new synthesis of Christian and Mesoamerican traditions, called "Teologia India" (Indian Theology). Based on this synthesis, the Totonacs and other indigenous groups are organizing to claim their right to retain their traditions, and to take political power in their communities.
DVD Review: Three Extraordinary Films on Mexico
Summary: 5 Stars
The Sierra Norte de Puebla, the Northeastern tip of the state of Puebla, is one of the most traditional and least developed areas in Mexico - home to indigenous Nahua, Tepehua, Otomi, and Totonac communities. This is "Mexico Profundo" - the "Deep Mexico" tourists - and urban Mexicans - never see: the Indian Mexico that has changed surprisingly little over the last 500 years.
The three films on this DVD are a window into this world. All are set in one Totonac Indian community, Huehuetla. Each film looks at a different facet of the community. "The Tree of Life" is a breathtakingly beautiful look at the ancient ritual of Los Voladores (the flyers), pictured on the front cover of the DVD. "The Tree of Knowledge" and "Democracia Indigena" examine the spiritual basis of the Totonac resistance to "integration" into mainstream Mexico. Taken together, these films belong in the collection of anyone who is interested in understanding Mexico.
But they are more than that. The films also show us a different vision of ourselves: a mirror to our own European roots, and to the very nature of spirituality. For their underlying theme is the spiritual integration of Mexican Indian and Judeo-Christian myth and ritual - not as separate and opposing belief systems, but as a single story, each part enriching and illuminating the other.
As Samuel Ruiz, the former Archbishop of Chiapas, put it: "Fortunately Christopher Columbus did not bring God with him in his three caravels, for God was already present in the Indian Religions." That's what these films are about.
DVD Review: Volador Flight - from "The Tree Of Life"
Summary: 5 Stars
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R14YVZRSHSMD9J The Tree of Life
Description of The Tree of Life
Combining ritual, dance, music, poetry, and art, "THE TREE OF LIFE" (29 min) is a meditation on the mystery at the heart of human life. It calls us to keep the world in balance with our lives."Los Voladores" (the Flyers) is a 1500 year-old rite sacred to Quetzalcoatl, the Morning Star. From its origins on the Gulf coast of Mexico, the ritual spread throughout Mesoamerica: a special square was reserved for it in Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital, and a variant is still known among the Quiche' Maya in Guatemala.
Today "Los Voladores" is best known in its original home in the Huasteca region, especially among the Totonac, who have lived in the area for millenia. The version shown in "THE TREE OF LIFE" is from Huehuetla, in the Sierra Norte de Puebla.
THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE (25 min) contrasts two systems of education. The public school system uses patriotic symbols to "integrate" Indian pupils into the national culture while teaching them to reject their own identity. In contrast, the "Danza de los Huehues" urges young Totonacs to learn from the school, yet warns them not to abandon their own culture.
INDIAN DEMOCRACY (37 min) examines the rights revolution of Indian Mexico and the liberating role of "Indian Theology". "We have been to school, we have learned Spanish. Now you must stop treating us like animals. Our gods were here first, and we are proud to be Indians."
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