- Additional Authors
- Description
- 1 videocassette (56 min.) : sd., col. NTSC; 1/2 in. (VHS)
- Summary
- Exploration of the cultural significance of the Mexican tradition of Los días de muertos, or Days of the dead. Its roots are traced to the beliefs of the Aztecs and other indigenous peoples, which were conflated with Catholic feasts introduced by the Spanish conquistadores ; also influential were the death images popularized by the engraver José Guadalupe Posada. Among the present-day Mexican practices examined are the making and selling of toys and art objects incorporating skeletons, skulls and other death images ; village plays and processions, with music and dancing, that employ death imagery for satirical purposes ; family traditions such as caring for the graves of loved ones, maintaining household altars in their memory, and holding feasts at which they are symbolically present. As the documentary moves from Mexico to the Mexican-American community in San Francisco, commentators discuss how the tradition functions as a link to the celebrants' cultural heritage and forebears, a means of bringing people together, and an approach to dealing with death, a topic generally shunned by western culture.
- Alternative Title
- Days of the dead
- Day of the dead
- Subject
- Genre/Form
- Documentaries and factual films and programs.
- Anthropological films and programs.
- Video.
- Note
- Subtitle on cassette label: The day of the dead.
- Credits (note)
- Co-producer, Emiko Omori ; editor, Vivien Hillgrove Gilliam ; writers, Fenton Johnson, Lourdes Portillo ; original music, Mark Adler.
- Performer (note)
- Narrator: Evelyn Martinez.
- Interviewees: Concha Saucedo, Amalia Mesa-Bains, others.
- Event (note)
- Filmed in Oaxaca and Mexico City, Mexico, and in San Francisco, Calif.
- Language (note)
- In English ; some interviews in Spanish with English subtitles.
- Call Number
- *MGZIA 4-5121
- OCLC
- Title
La ofrenda [videorecording] : the days of the dead / produced and directed by Lourdes Portillo and Susana Muñoz.
- Imprint
San Francisco, Calif. : distributed by Xochitl Films, c1988.
- Event
Filmed in Oaxaca and Mexico City, Mexico, and in San Francisco, Calif.
- Credits
Co-producer, Emiko Omori ; editor, Vivien Hillgrove Gilliam ; writers, Fenton Johnson, Lourdes Portillo ; original music, Mark Adler.
- Performer
Narrator: Evelyn Martinez.
Interviewees: Concha Saucedo, Amalia Mesa-Bains, others.
- Language
In English ; some interviews in Spanish with English subtitles.
- Added Author
Posada, José Guadalupe, 1852-1913.
Mesa-Bains, Amalia. Interviewee
Portillo, Lourdes. Producer. Director. Author
Muñoz, Susana. Producer. Director
Omori, Emiko. Producer
Johnson, Fenton. Author
Xochitl Films (Firm)
- Research Call Number
*MGZIA 4-5121