Todos Santos Cuchumatan: Report from a Guatemalan Village: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A documentary film with the title Todos Santos Cuchumatan: Report from a Guatemalan Village. It consists of a single reel of color 16mm polyester film with optical sound.

The documentary looks at the life of the residents of the Mayan village Todos Santos Cuchumatan in the Guatemalan highlands just before a violent military coup in 1982. Some of the topics discussed in the documentary include the increasing role of cash in the community, which largely consists of subsistent farmers; the Fiesta of Todos Santos celebration, which includes dancing, drinking and a horse race; as well as the mass migration of Todosanteros to Guatemala’s lowlands in search of work on cotton plantations.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1982
• Directed by: Olivia Lucia Carrescia, American, born 1944
• Produced by: Olivia Lucia Carrescia, American, born 1944
• Edited by: Olivia Lucia Carrescia, American, born 1944
• Owned by: D.C. Public Library, American, founded 1896
• Type: sound films
• Type: color films (visual works)
• Type: 16mm (photographic film size)
• Medium: polyester film
• Dimensions: Duration: 37 Minutes
• Dimensions: Length (Film): 1300 Feet
• Place used: Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
• Place filmed: Todos Santos Cuchumatán, Huehuetenango, Guatemala, Latin America, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Communities
• Topic: Documentary films
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Folklife
• Topic: Holidays and festivals
• Topic: Migrations
• Topic: Social life and customs
• Object number: 2017.55.33.1a
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Transferred from the DC Public Library
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Restrictions likely apply. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.