Border Crossings: Releb'al Q'ij (Where The Sun Is Born) + Alma & Esperanza + Q&A

This screening is preceeded by the short film Alma & Esperanza (2012), and followed by a Q&A with Maya scholar Genner Llanes-Ortiz

One of the most important films to emerge from the Mayan culture of Central America, Releb'al Q'ij is a magical realist journey through the history of a people, and a response to the change of era in the Mayan calendar. The central character, Maya, passes from the time of the conquistadores to the modern era, encountering violence, visions and weaving across the centuries.

Releb'al Q'ij (Where The Sun Is Born), dir. Elías Jiménez, Guatemala 2012, 84 mins, Maya K'iche' with English subtitles

Alma & Esperanza
Alma & Esperanza is the story of a girl and her grandmother who meet in a moment of grief. Alma is a ten-year old girl living in the United States. Esperanza is her 75 year old grandmother living in an indigenous community in the Mexican mountains. The girl and her grandmother have never met before. But one day, Esperanza receives a devastating phone call. Alma has lost her mother and will travel to her grandmother's village. The girl and her grandmother have no common language and are not able to communicate. Nevertheless they are able to find closeness without words.