Blossoms of Fire is a 2000 documentary film

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

 about the people of Juchitán, Oaxaca, Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

.

About the film

Author Elena Poniatowska

Elena Poniatowska

Elena Poniatowska is a Mexican journalist and author. Her generation of writers include Carlos Fuentes‎, José Emilio Pacheco and Carlos Monsiváis.-Life:Poniatowska was born in Paris to Prince Jean Joseph Evremont Sperry Poniatowski and Paula Amor Yturbe...

 described the women of Juchitán de Zaragoza

Juchitán de Zaragoza

Juchitán de Zaragoza is an indigenous town in the southeast of the Mexican state of Oaxaca.It is part of the Juchitán District in the west of the Istmo de Tehuantepec region...

, a city in the Mexican state of Oaxaca

Oaxaca

Oaxaca , , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca is one of the 31 states which, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided into 571 municipalities; of which 418 are governed by the system of customs and traditions...

, as “guardians of men, distributors of food.” Artists like Miguel Covarrubias

Miguel Covarrubias

José Miguel Covarrubias Duclaud was a Mexican painter and caricaturist, ethnologist and art historian among other interests. In 1924 at the age of 19 he moved to New York City armed with a grant from the Mexican government, tremendous talent, but very little English speaking skill. Luckily,...

 and Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo de Rivera was a Mexican painter, born in Coyoacán, and perhaps best known for her self-portraits....

 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 on articles in the foreign press that depict them as a promiscuous matriarchy

Matriarchy

A matriarchy is a society in which females, especially mothers, have the central roles of political leadership and moral authority. It is also sometimes called a gynocratic or gynocentric society....

. In particular, an article in the Latin American version of ELLE Magazine infuriated the community during the time the filmmakers were shooting in 1994. Yet, it is expressed throughout the film by the women that they do not consider their society to be a matriarchy.

The people interviewed in this film share a common work ethic and independent streak rooted in Zapotec culture. The movie demonstrates powerful women, the region’s progressive politics, and a tolerance of homosexuality. Veteran film editor and former Les Blank

Les Blank

Les Blank is an American documentary filmmaker best known for his portraits of American traditional musicians....

 collaborator Maureen Gosling and codirector Ellen Osborne tell of an indigenous community whose "flare for survival in the modern world is a fighting spirit and the undeniable influence of women."

Scenes

• 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
• Many proudly describe the challenges they face in their work and their families.

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).

Credits

• Producer, Director, Editor - Maureen Gosling
• 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