Film: Los Guardianes del Maíz Screening and Panel (SF Main Library)

Submitted by the Event Organizer

A not miss special screening and panel discussion of Los Guardianes del Maíz/The Keepers of Corn, featuring insights from director Gustavo Vázquez and producers Jonathan Barbieri, Yira Vallejo and Daniela Tabora.

Indigenous farmers, artisans and cooks narrate the story—in Spanish and their native languages—of the origins of native corn and how their ancestors shepherded these ever-evolving seeds from the dawn of agriculture to the 21st century, a collective labor spanning over 350 generations. Their voices are joined by community leaders, scientists, chefs and others who stand in defense of food sovereignty, genetic integrity, diversity and community ownership of native seeds. Together, they uphold a durable cultural legacy and a way of life.

Gustavo Vázquez Orozco (Jalisco, 1954) studied film at the San Francisco Art Institute and is an independent filmmaker with over 30 productions, including documentaries, video installations and experimental narrative films. He has won various international awards, such as the Rockefeller Grant and the Eureka Grant for Visual Art. His work focuses on intercultural studies, identity and the US-Mexican border. Notable films include Que viva la lucha and segments for Visiones: Latino Art & Culture. His work has been exhibited at the Smithsonian Institute, the De Young Museum, and the St. Louis Science Center. He is currently a professor in the UC Department of Cinema and Digital Media, Santa Cruz.

Yira Vallejo worked for ten years in the wine and spirits industry in New York City. In 2014, she returned to Mexico and began working with smallholding farmer families producing native corn. In 2017, she joined the organizing committee of the Agrobiodiversity Fair, which facilitates an exchange of native seeds and brings together over 400 farmers from indigenous communities across Oaxaca. Along with her husband, Jonathan Barbieri, Vallejo created Maíz Nation Whiskey, Mexico’s first 100% solar-powered distillery, where they distill whiskeys based on native corn and other grains. Her work with small farming families, who practice traditional farming methods, led to the creation of the award-winning documentary film Los Guardianes del Maíz.

Jonathan Barbieri (b. 1955, Washington D.C.) is a fine arts painter who has lived in Oaxaca, Mexico, for 35 years, spending 27 of those years in small towns and villages in the Oaxacan countryside. His artwork is featured in public and private collections in the US, Europe and Mexico, including the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the Di Rosa Preserve in Napa Valley and the Instituto de las Culturas de Oaxaca. In 2007, he started the iconic mezcal brand Pierde Almas and, in 2015, expanded its portfolio to include the first ancestral corn whiskey from Oaxaca. His pursuit of firsthand knowledge about native corn and its many ecosystem-specific varieties led him to towns and villages across Oaxaca’s Valles Centrales, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, la Chinantla, la Sierra Norte, la Costa, Costa Chica and la Mixteca Baja. In these communities, he came to appreciate the deep, historical relationship each local polity has with their regional corn.

Vasquez, Barbieri and Vallejo began filming the documentary, Los Guardianes del Maíz/The Keepers of Corn, in 2017. The film showcases the efforts of Indigenous farmers in Oaxaca to conserve native maize in the face of an uncertain future.

Daniela Tabora’s journey of reconnecting with the land began through herbalism, driven by a desire to preserve the intergenerational wisdom surrounding plant medicine and her lineage. She is deeply passionate about bridging access to resources—whether knowledge, space, or opportunity—for her community, believing strongly that Black and Brown communities should be at the forefront of access to these essential resources.

Beyond her love for the land, Daniela expresses her creativity through painting, writing, and dancing. She finds joy in creating space for child-like excitement and positivity in everything she does.

NR, 58 mins., 2021. In Spanish, Zapotec and Chinantec with Closed captions (CC) in English.

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