Directed by
José Assadourian Martínez
Country of Origin
Mexico
Runtime
01:17:32
Category
“Alexa: a tale of the Mixteca” is about family ties, migration, climate change, discrimination, and the preservation of indigenous cultural heritage told through the voice of its women in the Mixteca Region of Oaxaca, Mexico.
In Río Blanco, Oaxaca lives the Ortiz Cortés family, one of the last pottery artisans that work with clay decorated with dripping, an ancient technique exclusive to the region. Its region has become depopulated due to emigration and climate change, making agriculture an unreliable livelihood. Their cultural heritage and language, Mixtec, have been fading away with each generation, fueled by the discrimination against indigenous culture in Mexico. Remaining in their village and persisting in their trade is a choice between the harshness of the country versus the city comforts. Their culture and their futures are at stake in each piece of clay.
Director’s Biography- Assadourian Martínez
José Assadourian is a film director and music composer born in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Throughout a career of more than ten years, he has written and produced numerous audiovisual projects for film and tv. He studied for an MBA in Film Documentary at ECIB Barcelona in 2019-20. His last short documentary, “#art” (2021), was part of the official selection of the Fine Arts Film Festival in Venice, California, and others worldwide. “Alexa: a tale of the Mixteca” is his first feature-length documentary.