500 YEARS
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Project Details
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500 YEARS

Project
  • Branded
  • Documentary
  • Scripted
Role
  • Cinematographer
  • Director
  • Photographer
  • Producer
THE STORY

From a historic genocide trial to the overthrow of a president, 500 Years tells a sweeping story of mounting resistance played out in Guatemala’s recent history, through the actions and perspectives of the majority indigenous Mayan population, who now stand poised to reimagine their society.

500 YEARS tells the epic story that led Guatemala to a tipping point in their history, from the genocide trial of General Ríos Montt to the citizen uprising that toppled President Otto Perez Molina. While indigenous peoples of Guatemala are no stranger to oppression, the recent events that took place over a tumultuous three-year span, change finally seems possible when their movement is met with civil society’s outcry to end corruption.

 

“This is a country rising from the ashes of genocide, and that still lives in fear,” says Irma Alicia Veláquez Nimatuj, Journalist/Anthropologist and 500 YEARS protagonist.

As witness to this heroic moment in Guatemalan history, 500 YEARS documents the beginning of the end of an unaccountable rule of law, and a society ready for change. Focusing on universal themes of justice, racism, power and corruption, 500 YEARS tells the story from the perspective of the majority indigenous Mayan population, and their struggles in the country’s growing democracy.

 

500 YEARS
500 YEARS

This is the third chapter of the trilogy of documentaries on Guatemala, led by Pamela Yates, and follows the films When the Mountains Tremble (1983) and Granito: How to Nail a Dictator (2011). The documentary film premiered in January 2017 at the Sundance Film Festival.

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ACORN & THE FIRESTORM
ACORN & The Firestorm
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RON HAVIV: THE LOST ROLLS
Ron Haviv finds 200 undeveloped rolls of film.