Tote Grandfather by María Sojob
The Mother Tongue Film Festival, organized by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, National Museum of the American Indian and Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, will screen seven feature and short films from Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico, as part of its 2021 edition.
The festival celebrates cultural and linguistic diversity by showcasing films and filmmakers from around the world, highlighting the crucial role languages play in our daily lives. Since 2016, the annual festival has celebrated International Mother Language Day on February 21. The sixth annual festival will take place via a monthly online screening series between February 21 and May 31.
The festival will showcase the experimental documentary Teko Haxy / Being Imperfect by Patricia Ferreiro and Sophia Pinheiro from Brazil. The film explores the personal relationship between two women—a Karetxu filmmaker and a Brazilian anthropologist— embodying the tensions of ethnographic and Indigenous filmmaking. The protagonists, each equipped with a camera, navigate the complexities of vulnerability, interpersonal relationships, and power dynamics as they film each other and their surroundings.
The festival will also present the Mexican documentary feature Tote Grandfather / Tote Abuelo, by María Sojob, which explores questions of love, family, tradition, and marginalization. The filmmaker seeks out her grandfather while he sits and weaves a traditional hat. Throughout the process, a complex portrait develops: contrasting the point of view of the younger generation with the traditional world, and we are revealed the meaning of love in Tzotzil.
Additionally, the Mother Tongue Film Festival will also stream five Latin American documentary shorts: the Colombian short Kiraiñia / Long Flutes by Juan Castrillón, the Brazilian short Yaōkwá, Imagem e Memória by Vincent Carelli, the Mexican short Nixíí / Bastón de mando by Jose Luis Matias, the Chilean short Mujeres Espíritu / Spirit Women by Francisco Huichaquero, and the Ecuadorian short Kawsakunchik by Alberto Muenala and Frida Muenala.
All screenings are presented in Indigenous languages with English subtitles, and they will stream for free with talkbacks with some of the featured filmmakers. For more information visit www.mothertongue.si.edu.
