CHIAPAS MEDIA PROJECT / Promedios

Chiapas Media Project founded in 1998, was a bi-national collaboration that facilitated the production and distribution of video, radio and multimedia through four regional media centers we built and equipped in collaboration with the Zapatista communities in Chiapas, Mexico. Chiapas Media Project collaboratively produced 32 indigenous and non-indigenous documentaries for international distribution, (from Chiapas, Guerrero, and Chihuahua.) These films were screened at over 120 film festivals in 20 countries between 1998 and 2010. Numerous book chapters and articles have been written about our work and we have been recognized as one of the first bi-national indigenous media projects in Latin America.

Indigenous media is recognized by UNESCO as intangible heritage that documents practices, knowledge, skills and languages that define communities and cultures throughout the world. Many of the Zapatista productions were produced in Mayan languages and covered issues such as environmental sustainability, indigenous cultural practices, and sustainable food production.

These productions carry messages that continue to be relevant as the human race faces an ever-expanding imbalance with the natural world. Currently, Chiapas Media Project is known as ProMedios de Comunicación Comunitaria, a Mexican NGO based in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas. ProMedios continues to work with indigenous and non-indigenous communities in Southern Mexico providing audiovisual training and technical support.

CHIAPAS MEDIA PROJECT DOCUMENTARIES IN DISTRIBUTION

These award winning documentaries in distribution are a collection of Chiapas Media Project produced short advocacy films together with other independently produced films from Mexico. The vast majority were produced between 1999 and 2007 and document important social movements of the time.