The construction of identities in the “indigenous documentaries”

Abstract

In the essay different ways of representing ethnic identities are analyzed in documentary films produced between 1992 and 2011 by Ojo de Agua Communication, an organization of communicators in Oaxaca. This analysis is based on the problematization of the concepts of documentary film and indigenous video, and his ability to relate to the other, so that it can present itself in an audiovisual narrative. It is argued that the use of language of observational documentaries (Bill Nichols) prevents the emergence of the other, because they committed a single source of discourse and an evaluation of the other in that it does not participate. Furthermore assembly organization and selection of the facts and ideas is always the responsibility of the filmmaker.