13th International Film and Communication Festival of Indigenous Peoples –FICMAYAB’ 2018.

The Latin American Coordinator Film and Communication of Indigenous Peoples (Coordinadora Latinoamericana de Cine y Comunicación de los Pueblos Indígenas, CLACPI) calls to participate in the 13th International Festival of Film and Communication of Indigenous Peoples –FICMAYAB’ to be held in Guatemala from October 2nd to 17th, 2018. The festival will hold its main events in Totonicapán, Quetzaltenango, Guatemala City, Cobán and in Chisec (Alta Verapaz), with complementary activities during the previous months in the Mesoamerican territory (El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Mexico and Guatemala).

We welcome participation of works of the following audiovisual genres: fiction, documentary, reportage, animation, video clip, experimental, program or television series, or any combination thereof, regardless of their duration, whose theme addresses culture, history, traditions , narratives, aspirations, organizational processes, demands and struggles of Indigenous and Native/First Nation Peoples from any part of the world. Works made from 2015 to date will be accepted.

Reception of Works:
Deadline for registration and receipt of works: May 15, 2018
Download the registration form at: http://www.ficmayab.org
 
CONVOCATORIA
The Latin American Coordinator of Indigenous Peoples´ Film and Communication (CLACPI), along with with the Indigenous peoples of Guatemala and Mesoamerica that share the identity of the Mayan people, along with many other Indigenous peoples and civil society organizations, under the motto For Memory, Life and Territory

INVITE
our Indigenous sisters and brothers from all continents, Indigenous organizations, collectives, communicators, filmmakers, Indigenous and non-Indigenous filmmakers and all people throughout the world who produce, promote and disseminate audiovisual works that reflect the voices, visions, knowledge and struggles of indigenous peoples, to participate in the 13th International Festival of Film and Communication of Indigenous Peoples - FICMAYAB' 2018, that will be guided by the following:
 
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Eligibility
The works of the following audiovisual genres will be able to participate: fiction, documentary, reportage, animation, video clip, experimental, program or television series, or any combination thereof, regardless of their duration, whose theme addresses culture, history, traditions , narratives, aspirations, organizational processes, demands and struggles of Indigenous and Native Peoples from any part of the world.
Works made from 2015 to date will be accepted.
Works that promote racism or discrimination of any kind, that denigrate or discriminate against women or justify gender violence, as well as works that promote a political party or religious group, will not be accepted; nor will those that promote institutions or specific groups for profit or propaganda purposes.
Work that have already participated in the 12th International Film and Video Festival of Indigenous Peoples, organized by CLACPI in 2015, will not be eligible.
 
Official Selection
The selected works will form part of the Official Selection of FICMAYAB' that will be screened from October 2 to 17, 2018 in Guatemala and will have as main exhibition sites Totonicapán, Quetzaltenango, Guatemala City and Chisec in Alta Verapaz.
All the works of the Official Selection will be eligible for any of the prizes and recognitions that the Festival will award on the day of the Awards Ceremony.
Special Screenings
The Selection Committee will be able to choose from submitted works and select other relevant works to design a Special Screening Program that will not be part of the Official Selection, but that will be especially attractive for the attending, local public; this selection will include works from Guatemala and Mesoamerica’s recent past, and may be included in a program devoted to Historical Memory and another section featuring recent works by young creators and students.
 
Language and duration of the works
Works in any language are accepted and works that use Native or Indigenous languages will be favored. Any work whose language is not Spanish must be subtitled or dubbed in Spanish.
The works can be of any duration. In the case of productions or series that last more than 90 minutes, the Festival may choose only a part of it, with prior authorization from the representative of the work.
 
The Selection Committee
A Selection Committee will be composed of representatives of the Mesoamerican, South American and other regions from around the world, and will be responsible for selecting the works, according to the guidelines of this Call for Entries.
The selected works that will be part of the Official Selection and the Special Screenings will be made public on the website of http://www.ficmayab.org in the month of September 2018.
 
The Jury
The Organizing Committee of FICMAYAB' will invite an International Jury made up of at least five persons with recognized trajectory in Audiovisual Media and Indigenous Peoples and who do not have a direct relationship with any of the works of the Official Selection. This Jury will review all the selected works to determine which will receive recognitions.
 
Awards and honors
The Jury will award recognitions to the following genres and formats:

• Documentary: short and feature film
• Fiction: short and feature film
• Documentary: short and feature film
• Television program or series
• Current news reportage

 
For the purpose of awards, short films will be understood as any work under 30 minutes and full-length films for any work over 30 minutes.
 
Likewise, the International Jury will award recognition to the works that in their proposal highlight the following topics:

• Indigenous Women’s Rights
• Defense of Life, Mother Earth and Territory
• Defense of Indigenous/First Peoples’ Rights
• Strengthening Indigenous/First Peoples’ Identity and Cultures
• New audiovisual languages and Contributions to Indigenous/First Peoples’ Narratives
• Work with Indigenous participation
• Work with children-youth participation and/or aimed at children-youth audience
• Recognition of Sexual Diversity
• Historical Memory
• Migrations and Trafficking
• Socio-Organizational Processes

The awards and recognitions that will be granted will consist in works of Indigenous Art. Additionally, the Festival organization may leverage, according to its possibilities, donations of audiovisual equipment as a complement to the recognition of the award-winning works.
The decisions of the Selection Committee and the Jury are unappealable and will reflect in a Memo the reasoning behind recognition. The Jury reserves the right to decree one or more award categories deserted.
 
Audience Award
Additionally, the public in attendance will grant the Special Audience Award.
 
Honorable Mentions
In addition to the official recognitions, the Jury may grant Honorable Mentions as needed, an incentive to creation and production processes.
 
SUBMISSION OF WORKS
 To submit a work, filmmakers, producers or those who hold the rights to the work must register the work before the closing date of this call (May 15, 2018). Steps:
• 1st - registration form duly completed
• 2nd - sending the downloadable link of the registered work
Both the registration forms and the download links of the works must be provided online through the following website: http://www.ficmayab.org
 
Notificaton and receipt of selected works
In July 2018, the Selection Committee will notify the representatives of the selected works, requesting a digital file of their work of the best possible quality for the purpose of projection. Preferably, whenever possible, these files will be sent electronically. Additionally, they must send a trailer, a photo of the director and a photograph or frame of the work.
Submission to the Festival has no cost.
The shipping costs of the selected works, if they are sent by postal mail, will be paid by the director and/or producer who submits the work.
Once the file has been received, your participation in the Festival will be formalized and the work can not be withdrawn from the program.
 
Shipping by mail of the selected works
In cases where it is not possible to electronically submit the digital file of the selected work, it may be sent to the Selection Committee by conventional postal mail or courier to the following addresses:
 
1.     Works from Guatemala, please send your works only by "Cargo Expreso" (do not use conventional postal mail) to the following address::
Red Tz’ikin - Realizadores Independientes de Guatemala -
To the attention of: FICMAYAB’ 2018 – CLACPI
Antigua Guatemala, Sacatepéquez
Guatemala
Phone: (+502)  7937 0014
Please specify on the package: Recoger en Oficina de Cargo Expreso de Antigua Guatemala.
Please notify Esta dirección de correo electrónico está siendo protegida contra los robots de spam. Necesita tener JavaScript habilitado para poder verlo. of each shipment. Provide a tracking number if applicable.
 
2.     Works coming from Mesoamerica or the rest of the world outside Latin America, please send your works to the following address in Mexico:
 CESMECA - UNICACH
 Attn.: FICMAYAB’ 2018 – CLACPI – PVIFS
 Calle Bugambilia #30,
 Fraccionamiento La Buena Esperanza
City: San Cristóbal de Las Casas
Zip code:. 29243
 State: Chiapas
 Country: Mexico.
 Tel. and fax: (+52) 967 112 04 84 (conmutador); (+52) 967 678 6921 (recepción)
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3.     Works from South America, please send your works to the following address in Bolivia:
 CEFREC - CAIB
 Attn.: FICMAYAB’ 2018 – CLACPI 
 Address: Calle José María Camacho Pasaje Aguirre No.693 Zona San Pedro (atrás Clínica Brasil)
 City: La Paz
 Department: Department of La Paz
 Country: Bolivia
Phone:  (+591) 2249-0094    (+591) 2249-2398                                                 
Please notify Esta dirección de correo electrónico está siendo protegida contra los robots de spam. Necesita tener JavaScript habilitado para poder verlo. of each shipment. Provide a tracking number if applicable.
 
In the case of shipments by conventional mail or courier service, the shipment documentation must state: "No commercial value, cultural purposes only."
In no case will the Festival organization team be held responsible for payment of taxes for the release of shipments at Customs Office sor similar agencies.
 
Use of works
The organization reserves the right to use screen shots or extracts of selected works for promotion of the works and of the Festival.
All the works submitted to the Festival will form part of the CLACPI film library.
Unless the representative of the work specifies otherwise, in addition to being part of the Official Selection or Special Screenings, selected works may also be included in eventual Film Showcases organized by CLACPI after the festival. Such additional screenings are exclusively for non- commercial or not-for-profit purposes.
 
Participation in the Official Selection
All directors of the selected works are especially welcome if they would like to participate and be an active part of FICMAYAB’ 2018 in Guatemala. Within reason and pending confirmation, the organization may be able to cover expenses of food and/or lodging.
If the necessary steps are achieved, some filmmakers whose works are selected could be invited with expenses covered by the Festival organization to participate in the main exhibition of Official Selection, to be held from October 2 to 17, 2018 in Guatemala.
 
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
The 13th International Film and Communication Festival of Indigenous Peoples –FICMAYAB’ is organized by a committee of members of the Latin American Coordinatior of Film and Communication of Indigenous Peoples (CLACPI) and local organizations including:
 
•                Red Tz’ikin - Realizadores Independientes de Guatemala.
•                Asociación Pro Bienestar en Acción Saaq Aach‘ool Nimla K‘aleba‘al (APROBASANK) of Alta Verapaz, Guatemala.
•                Tseltal Bachajón Comunicación, Chiapas, Mexico.
•                Videastas Indígenas Frontera Sur (PVIFS), Chiapas, Mexico
•                Ojo de Agua Comunicación, Oaxaca, Mexico.
•                Muestra Internacional de Cine Indígena de Venezuela (MICIV)
•                Centro de Formación y Realización Cinematográfica (CEFREC), Bolivia.
 
CLACPI
Founded in 1985, the Latin American Coordinator of Film and Communication of Indigenous Peoples - CLACPI, is made up of organizations, groups and people from different communities and organizations of Abya Yala (Latin America) that, as a network, carries out a wide variety of exchange and mutual support activities in communication from a comprehensive perspective, as well as engaging in training, production and dissemination of Indigenous film and video. Its central activity has been the celebration of the International Film and Video Festival of Indigenous Peoples, with rotating venues in different countries and territories, taking into account the places where its members and partners are. This festival has become the most important in its kind for the Indigenous Peoples of Abya Yala and a great reference worldwide.
The CLACPI General Assembly meeting in Temuco, Wallmapu of 2015, determined that the 13th International Festival of Film and Communication of Indigenous Peoples would be held in Mesoamerica, with its main headquarters in Guatemala. The coordination of the Festival rests with the Tz'ikin Network as the main promoting group, with the collaboration of the other members of CLACPI in Mesoamerica.

ABOUT THE 13TH FESTIVAL
FICMAYAB’, the name given to the 13th International Festival of Film and Communication of Indigenous Peoples, will be a diverse space of film exhibition around Indigenous themes in different expressions and genres (documentary, fiction, animation, experimental, etc.), but above all, it is a space for participation and learning about cultural identity, struggles for the defense of Mother Earth, memory and communication challenges of Indigenous/Native/First Peoples.
 
The importance of 13
For the Mayan Peoples the number 13 (Oxlajuj) has a very special meaning since there are 13 cosmic and natural energies that go from 1 to 13 that enhance human capacities, which combined with the 20 nawales, as Edgar Choguaj states: “they suppose the probability and the possibility of 260 different entities or personalities, at the same time diverse intelligences and minds, complex and ordered among themselves, as it is the nature and the universe-pluriverse with its pluriforms”.
The number Oxlajuj (13) is always present. For instance, the number is present in the 13 months of 20 days of the Cholqi'j or Mayan Lunar Calendar, the 13 Baqtunes, Mayan calendar of the Maya long count that marks a solar age.  There are also 13 main articulations that give movement to our bodies.
 
The festival and its components
Following the mandate of the CLACPI Assembly, which established that the venues of the festivals should respond to Indigenous peoples and nationalities and not states, it was decided to name the 13th FicMayab Festival where “Fic” stands for International Film Festival (Festival Indígena de Cine, in Spanish) and Mayab' cites the greater Maya territory, which extends from what is now called Nicaragua to the southeast of Mexico. Although the main exhibition reach of FicMayab’ is Mesoamerica, its call is extended to the whole world.
 
FICMAYAB’ is carried out in 2 phases: a first phase happened in 2017, consisting in “Toward FicMayab” Itinerant Screenings that took place in communities, educational centers and municipalities in southern Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Venezuela, Europe and North America. The second phase, over the first months of 2018, will continue to present “Toward FicMayab” Itinerant Screenings in Guatemala and other Abya Yala territories to finally reach the Central Event of the 13th International Festival of Film and Communication of Indigenous Peoples – FICMAYAB’ from October 2 to 17, 2018 in Guatemala, which will have as main exhibition sites Totonicapán, Quetzaltenango, Guatemala City, Cobán and Chisec, in Alta Verapaz.
 
The main component of FICMAYAB’ is the presentation of the Official Selection Showcase, where the selected works will be exhibited according to the rules established in this Call. In addition there will be a series of parallel and complementary activities, among which are:
·      Special Screenings: exhibition programs of audiovisual works in addition to the Official Selection.
·      X International Meeting of Indigenous Peoples’ Film and Communication: internal meeting of communicators involved with media and Indigenous peoples, in which topics of interest will be discussed, experiences will be shared and articulated actions and strategies will be drawn up.
·      Political Forum of Indigenous Peoples: space for exhibition, discussion and presentation of proposals on aspects of interest to Indigenous peoples. The Political Forum facilitates the exchange with representatives of local and regional movements and of the struggles that we accompany as communicators.
·      Festilab: workshop space dedicated to practical work for the exchange of ideas and knowledge, with the presence of producers and artists from different regions, cultures and experience.
·      Community visits: participants will have the opportunity to approach some experiences of local communities and learn about successful examples of self-determined local development.
·      Artistic activities: Dance, music, theater, photography and visual arts, among others.
·      CLACPI General Assembly: an Ordinary Assembly will be held to evaluate what has been accomplished and draw up the work plan for the next period. Election of the venue and of the persons and organizations that will occupy the various positions and commissions responsible for the planning and execution of the next Festival.
 
For more information please visit:
www.ficmayab.org
www.clacpi.org