Totonacapan youth use community cinema to preserve heritage

In the Totonacapan region of Veracruz, Mexico, indigenous youth and activists are utilizing community cinema and cultural workshops to preserve regional heritage and resist systemic violence. Since 2015, annual encampments in Papantla have provided a space for intergenerational dialogue, featuring activities such as traditional music, theater, pottery, and medicinal arts.

The initiative, supported by the Mexican Fund for Culture and Art (FONCA) and the Intercultural Center for Sustainability of Papantla, originally grew from a weekly gathering of musicians coordinated by activist Omar Lázaro García. In 2025, the community film collective Xolo Films joined the encampment to provide audiovisual training to youth in rural and indigenous areas.

Operating with grassroots methods rather than commercial technology, Xolo Films uses filmmaking as a tool for community building and counter-storytelling. The collective, established in 2015 following a popular education program in Xalapa, focuses on documenting local memory and creating pathways for collective action.