Blossoms of Fire
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Blossoms of Fire (also known as Ramo de fuego) is a documentary film about the people of Juchitán, Oaxaca, Mexico.
[edit] About the Film
Author Elena Poniatowska described the women of Juchitán, a city in Oaxaca, Mexico, as “guardians of men, distributors of food.” Artists like Miguel Covarrubias and Frida Kahlo celebrated their beauty and intelligence. Blossoms of Fire shows them in their daily lives as they run their own businesses, embroider their signature fiery blossoms on clothing and comment with angry humor on articles in the foreign press that flippantly and inaccurately depict them as a promiscuous matriarchy. In particular, an article in the Latin American version of ELLE Magazine infuriated the community during the time the filmmakers were shooting in 1994.
The people interviewed in this film share a strong work ethic and fierce independent streak rooted in Zapotec culture. These qualities have resulted not only in powerful women but also in the region’s progressive politics, manifested in their unusual tolerance of homosexuality. Veteran film editor and former Les Blank collaborator Maureen Gosling and codirector Ellen Osborne tell of an indigenous community whose "unique flare for survival in the modern world is a fighting spirit and the undeniable influence of women."
A midwife laughs over a young husband’s behavior during birth, a gay man cheerfully asserts that “the mom’s in charge” in Juchitecan society and many proudly describe the challenges they face in their work and their families. Their lives may be hard, and maintaining Zapotec culture and language may be an ongoing battle, but in the film it’s plain that not one of these individuals – man, woman, young, old, gay or straight – would willingly change places with anyone in the first world.
Pam Troy, San Francisco International Film Festival
[edit] Honors and Special Screenings
World Premiere - San Francisco International Film Festival, Castro Theater, SF and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley
Coral Prize for Best Foreign Documentary About Latin America: Havana International Film Festival, Havana, Cuba.
“Best Of"Sunnyside of the Doc Film Market, Marseille, France
Award for Excellence - Society for Visual Anthropology, American Anthropological Association
Best Documentary - Film Fest New Haven, Conn.
Second Prize, Community Category, Terres en Vues First People's Festival, Montréal, Québec
Prix Union Latine, Competition - La Cita Festival de Biarritz, Biarritz, France
El Foro de la Cineteca Nacional, Mexico City, Mexico (One of 12 international films chosen to screen at this prestigious Forum.) The film toured Mexico with the other films for three months following.
HBO Frame by Frame Series, The Screening Room, Manhattan
Tour of the Mexican Republic, including Juchitán, Oaxaca, Mexico City, and dozens of venues in the southern Mexican states. Sponsored by the Mexican Film Institute (IMCINE). May-June 2001.
HDerHumALC (Human Rights) Film Festival, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Toured with festival films to Lima, Peru (Dec. 2002)
World Social Justice Forum in Porto Alegre and Belem, Brazil (Jan. 2003).
[edit] Credits
Producer, Director, Editor - Maureen Gosling
Co-Director, Co-Producer - Ellen Osborne
Co-Producers - Toni Hanna, Maria Teresa García de la Noceda
Cinematographer - Xavier Pérez Grobet
Sound Recordist - Gabriela Espinoza
Field Producer - Susana Vásquez Sánchez
Associate Producer - Kelly Clement
Fiscal Sponsor - Film Arts Foundation, San Francisco
Featuring - the People of Juchitán and San Blas Atempa, Oaxaca
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