VENDEMOS RECUERDOS - MEMORIES FOR SALE

(Directed by Carolina Corral Paredes, 2009, 25 min., Spanish with English subtitles)

San Cristobal is a place where every year nationals, foreigners, backpackers, families, revolutionaries and voluntaries pass by. They are all after a more authentic and cultural México. The film shows the parallel lives of three locals that are dedicated to try to offer the tourists what they might be looking for in a picturesque and indigenous Chiapas.Doña Rosa is an indigenous old woman that was expelled from her catholic town for becoming an evangelic. Like many others from her town, she now sells Zapatista handcrafts in San Cristobal because “tourists like the revolution”. Carlos played in a rock band when he was young. Currently he works in a travel agency as a tour guide. His charisma makes the tours to indigenous communities more exiting and “authentic” experiences. The tour stops in Paola’s home, an indigenous woman that runs a cooperative that offers food and handcrafts to tourists. According to her, that is more rewarding than going to school. Interweaved into the story is the exploration of the different relations that photography creates amongst tourists and locals. The film is also a commentary on the ethical dilemmas that permeate the relation between the visual anthropologists and “the subjects”.