Higgins, Nick & Tadgh O'Sullivan
2008 A Massacre Foretold. Brooklyn, New York: Icarus Films.
Notes: DVD color, 58 minutesReviewed 28 Jan 2009 by:
Daniel S. Margolies <dmargolies@vwc.edu>
Batten Associate Professor of History, Virginia Wesleyan College, Norfolk, Virginia, USAMedium: Film/Video Subject
Keywords:Acteal Massacre, Acteal, Mexico, 1997
Human rights - Mexico - Chiapas
Tzotzil Indians - Government relations
Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (Mexico)
Documentary films
Chiapas (Mexico) - History - Peasant Uprising, 1994-
Acteal (Mexico) - History
ABSTRACT: An unflinching documentary account of the events surrounding the political murder of forty-five indigenous people in a Mexican village called Acteal by paramilitary forces during the Zapatista uprising in Chiapas in 1997.
The film A Massacre Foretold chronicles a horrifying act of political violence during a critical period of the Zapatista uprising in Chiapas, when forty-five innocent people were killed by paramilitary forces in a church in a small village called Acteal in 1997. It provides a rare document of this attack and the portentous events surrounding it, particularly in terms of the Zapatista questioning of, and challenge to, the whole structure of state and system in Mexico.The film introduces the individuals who were later killed, and follows those who were forced to grapple with the aftermath of the killings. More pointedly, it directs focus on the "paramilitary logic" that seized Mexico policymakers at the time, and on the relative usefulness of terror, control, and death squad violence for a state facing an organized, popular, and effective uprising.
The victims in Acteal were not members of the Zapatista movement, but were instead part of a peaceful community group called Las Abejas (the Bees). This group was broadly supportive of the Zapatistas without embracing their militant approach. Indeed, Las Abejas sought an alternative to the militarization of the conflict, and despite constant pressure, refused to leave their homes because, as one villager says in the film, "the land belongs to us and God gave it to us so we could live and work".
The group was attacked because of its sympathy with the Zapatistas coupled with its disconnected (and therefore easily isolated) status and its inability and actual disinterest in fighting back. The attack, though carried out by irregular forces, was clearly timed to interfere with ongoing negotiations between the state and Zapatistas. It came at a time when Mexican tanks were patrolling Chiapas and when the authorities approvingly said the state was "burning". Many of the victims were women and children (nine men, 21 women, and 15 children), including five pregnant women who were mutilated as well as killed. In this way, the violence followed the sadly familiar pattern of death squad terror killings used to suppress popular movements in the region.
A Massacre Foretold presents a tragedy, but it does so with the clear-eyed understanding that this massacre had a direct link to state goals. The massacre was a politically useful act designed to terrorize the region and destroy the talks with the Zapatistas that may have produced change in different circumstances. This film unfortunately does not give background on the Chiapas revolt, on the specifics of the Zapatista movement, or on the broader significance for protest in this era of globalization. The very brief and promising narration of the beginning is stopped and the people are given the opportunity to tell the story. This creates a looser than optimal feeling for the work as a documentary.
Footage of selections of speeches at rallies hint at the broader objectives of the Zapatistas, but Nick Higgins, the filmmaker (who has also chronicled the Zapatistas uprising in a book), seems to presume that viewers are already familiar with the issues involved. Though there is a strong narrative arc about the massacre itself, and excellent footage, the context is not as clearly wrought as it could have been to make the film completely clear to uninitiated audiences. However, drawing this broad a context may be too tall an order for a single film.Overall this is a coherent and compelling film that methodically uncoils the attack while providing a moving visual essay of this vital moment in the Zapatista revolt. Higgins footage is rhythmic and interesting and his (at times elegiac) camera work captures the landscape of Chiapas effectively. The film provides truly heartbreaking footage of people discussing their fear only 28 days before being massacred, an image that starts the film and which is impossible to forget. Other footage of fleeing people and shivering children and heartbroken survivors provides an essential document. The film presents the actual attack on the village seen from afar, and it is an extremely unnerving feeling to be a witness as it takes place. It is striking how this act could take place in a region very well covered by the media, though this situation is not explicitly followed in the film. Higgins' interviews with witnesses and victims, and with the Bishop of Chiapas, yield strikingly forthcoming and emotionally open exchanges that are essential viewing.
This film is relatively short at 58 minutes and is easily accessible to audiences with some grounding in the relevant issues. It will be a useful addition to courses on globalization, Mexico, Latin American studies, and in surveys of political violence and terrorism. The film has been shown at film festivals around the world. In addition to being shown to university audiences it will be of interest to broader, non-academic viewers interested in social justice.
To cite this review, the American Anthropological Association recommends the following style:
Margolies, Daniel S.
2009 Review of A Massacre Foretold. Anthropology Review Database. January 28. Electronic document, http://wings.buffalo.edu/ARD/cgi/showme.cgi?keycode=3258, accessed February 10, 2010.© Anthropology Review Database
(available online: http://wings.buffalo.edu/ARD/)