24 Nov A message of thanks as we work towards a liberated future

Let’s spend this time of thanks watching a 4-minute short film made in collaboration with human rights and environmental defenders in the Maya diaspora. Together, they imagine an indigenous future, south and north, without regard to borders, in a land known as Abya Yala where people migrate freely, and where everyone is treated with respect and their basic needs met.

The short film Tiichajil_Good Life is part of the film series Futures We Dream, a co-production commissioned by the Smithsonian and The Alliance for Media Arts and Culture for the groundbreaking FUTURES exhibit that reopened the Arts and Industries Building in Washington DC on Nov. 20, 2021.

Tiichajjl_Good Life was directed by Pamela Yates in collaboration with Maya-Ixil human rights and environmental defenders Kaxh Mura’l and La’s Chávez (pictured second from right and left); Dr. Giovanni Batz, a Maya K’iche’ anthropologist and author from Los Angeles (pictured second from left); and Saba, a graffiti artist and muralist from the Navajo Nation/Jemez Pueblo (pictured on the right). Music by Sara Curruchich, the internationally renowned Maya-kaqchikel singer and songwriter. The film was edited by Peter Kinoy and produced by Paco de Onís.