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El Maíz en Tiempos de Guerra

Name: El Maíz en Tiempos de Guerra
Director: Alberto Cortés Calderón
Released: 2017
Duration: 88 min

Representation Score

9.1/10

Excellent

2017

Director

Alberto Cortés Calderón

Runtime

88 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

El Maíz en Tiempos de Guerra is a cinematic exploration of Indigenous agricultural practices in Mexico. It shifts the narrative away from Western-centric industrial progress to focus on the cyclical, labor-intensive relationship between communities and their land. The film excels by centering Indigenous ability to act and traditional ecological knowledge. Through documenting the nuances of seed selection and soil preparation, it elevates ancestral wisdom over modern capitalist agricultural models. While the film offers deep cultural insight, it lacks specific information regarding gender roles or the representation of LGBTQ+ and disabled individuals. The focus remains strictly on the agricultural process and communal survival.

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Category Breakdown

Does El Maíz en Tiempos de Guerra have LGBTQ+ representation?

Fair

The documentary focuses on agricultural cycles and Indigenous land use. There is no explicit mention of LGBTQ+ characters or narratives within this subject matter.

How does El Maíz en Tiempos de Guerra portray gender?

Good

The film highlights families working together during harvest time, emphasizing a collective approach to labor. This communal focus may challenge Western patriarchal structures.

How racially and ethnically diverse is El Maíz en Tiempos de Guerra?

Excellent

The film centers Indigenous populations by documenting the yearly cycles of four specific maize plots. It gives significant narrative authority to non-white, Indigenous subjects.

How does El Maíz en Tiempos de Guerra represent religion and culture?

Excellent

The narrative emphasizes ancestral wisdom and traditional seed selection over industrial norms. This approach values subsistence and traditional ecological knowledge over modern technological intervention.

Does El Maíz en Tiempos de Guerra include disability representation?

Fair

There is no information regarding the depiction of physical disabilities or neurodivergence. The score reflects a neutral baseline for the documentary's scope.

Present on Screen

Centers Indigenous ability to act and cultural practices through the study of maize plots.
Challenges Western industrial agricultural models by valuing traditional ecological knowledge.
Provides a non-Western perspective on labor, focusing on tenacity and ancestral wisdom.

Limited or Absent

Lacks explicit representation or information regarding LGBTQ+ identities.
Provides no visible information concerning disability or neurodivergent representation.
Does not detail specific gender roles within the communal labor structures.

Official Synopsis

Maize in times of war traces the yearly cycle of four Indigenous maize plots in different regions of Mexico. This film illustrates the exceptional process of maize, the delicacy of selecting seeds, preparing the soil, the tenacity and the nuances involved in the whole process, then when the harvest arrives after months of work the families enjoy the fruits of their labor.

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