Fiscal Spotlight: Latin America Under the Lens
Film Independent’s Fiscal Sponsorship program supports a huge variety of projects. While many are based here in the US, the program is truly an international affair. This month we look at three films that examine the culture, politics and people of Latin America. Jaripeo looks at the hypermasculine cowboy culture of rural Mexico through a queer lens. Jaltäña explores the inner life and desires of a “Wrestling Cholita” in the city above the clouds, El Alto, Bolivia. Finally, How to Get Away with Greenwashing investigates the dark underbelly of the most successful eco-tourist destination in Chile.
As always, these projects were helped by Film Independent’s 501(c)3 nonprofit status to obtain institutional grants and tax-deductible donations via Fiscal Sponsorship. Learn how it works in the short video below or in this full-length Fiscal Sponsorship Q&A
Learn more about this month’s films—Jaripeo, Jaltäña and How to Get Away with Greenwashing—and how to support them below.
Jaripeo
Project type: Nonfiction Feature
Project status: Production
Director: Efraín Mojica, Rebecca Zweig
Producer: Sarah Strunin, Victoria Gutiérrez Fernández
About the project: At the rural rodeos in Michoacán, México, a hypermasculine tradition is rife with hidden queer encounters. Guided by director Efraín Mojica, Jaripeo follows two rancheros as they navigate desire, machismo, and mass migration from one rodeo season to the next.
Meet the filmmaker: To learn more about Jaripeo and how to support the project, click here. Efraín Mojica (they/them) is a photographer, filmmaker and multi-disciplinary artist from Michoacán. Their work has shown in galleries around the world including in Berlin, Barcelona, Seattle and Mexico City. Rebecca Zweig (she/her) is an award-winning poet, journalist, and literary translator based in Mexico City. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Nation, and Revista Nexos, among others.
Jaltäña
Project type: Fiction Short
Project status: Post Production
Writer/Director: Cristhian Barron
Executive Producer: Denys Sanjinés Rodriguez
Producer: Mariana Sandoval
About the project: The sensational “Wrestling Cholitas” is a sweaty, no holds barred battle (involving hair pulling, choke holds, flips, and body slams) that showcases indigenous female wrestlers from El Alto, La Paz.
Casilda and Santusa, are daughter and mother and are part of a wrestling group. Casilda, a young and imaginative “cholita,” dreams of pursuing a career as a professional fashion designer abroad. She secretly plans to leave behind the wrestling life, bringing her baby along with her. However, Santusa dismisses Casilda’s passion for fashion as nothing more than a whimsical daydream.
Meet the filmmaker: To learn more about Jaltäña and how to support the project, click here.
How to Get Away With Greenwashing
Project type: Nonfiction Feature
Project status: Production
Writer/Director: Samuel Pigott, Benjamin Espinoza
About the project: A ragtag team of journalists, scientists and filmmakers visit a famed for-profit nature reserve in southern Chile, uncovering a shocking pattern of laboral and environmental abuse within the reserve. Despite ever worsening acts of wrongdoing, the reserve continues to receive awards and praise from respected organizations.
Meet the filmmaker: To learn more about How to Get Away with Greenwashing and how to support the project, click here. Samuel Pigott is a biologist and co-director from rural Indiana whose work examines democratic and just forms of conservation. As a Thomas J. Watson Fellow and graduate of Earlham College, Sam has studied a variety of conservation models in as many as 12 countries around the world. Benjamin Espinoza is a seasoned Chilean political scientist and economist, is driven by a passion for social justice and human rights. His international experience encompasses work in Chile, the U.S., and Europe, notably with refugees and research on economic crimes during Pinochet’s dictatorship.
To learn more about Fiscal Sponsorship, including its benefits and eligibility requirements, visit our website. See which projects are currently being supported via our Sponsored Projects page.
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