Campus

LATIN AMERICA: RACE, FILM & NATION
APRIL 11-12

Latin American Studies is bringing a Cuban scholar and Mexican filmmaker to Skidmore on Monday, April 11, and Tuesday, April 12.

In addition to meeting with classes in Spanish & History, these visitors will be making informal presentations, screening films, and lunching with students.

April 11

Rafael Duharte Jiménez, Cuba
Oficina del Historiador de la Ciudad de Santiago de Cuba
 
1:00 PM, Informal presentation/conversation.  Location: Case Center, Inter Cultural Center
Contemporary Cuba: Race, Migration & Other issues

RAFAEL DUHARTE JIMENEZ

Rafael Duharte Jiménez is a historian of slavery, race, tourism &  migration in Santiago de Cuba, where he runs a cultural center focused on the city's history and also has recently started scriptwriting and producing documentaries.  He is in the area to participate in a conference on Abolishing Slavery in the Atlantic World; The Underground Railroad in the Americas (April 8-10) --info at  http://ugrworkshop.com/?page_id=669.

A university professor since 1973, Duharte Jiménez has published nearly a dozen books on the local history of Santiago de Cuba and on subjects related to slavery in Cuba and the Caribbean. In 1983, he helped found the Casa del Caribe, a prestigious cultural institution in Santiago de Cuba. He has lectured and conducted seminars throughout the Caribbean and in Latin America, Europe and the U.S. More recently, Duharte Jiménez has developed a scriptwriting career on a Cuban TV show, and he produced a series of documentaries, "History and its Protagonists," about history in Santiago.  He is in the Capital District to participate in the Underground Railroad Workshop Conference (April 8-10) Abolishing Slavery in the Atlantic World:The 'Underground Railroad' in the Americas, Africa, and Europe. (http://ugrworkshop.com/?page_id=669)
 
Fundador de la Casa del Caribe de Santiago de Cuba. Organizador del Coloquio Internacional "El Caribe que nos une" y el Encuentro de Historiadores Locales durante diecisiete años consecutivos. Además ha coordinado congresos y eventos nacionales e internacionales auspiciados por la Casa del Caribe y la Oficina del Historiador de la Ciudad de Santiago de Cuba. Colaboró con el Proyecto de la UNESCO Ruta del esclavo. Trabajó en la fundación de espacios de reflexión académica: Aula San Basilio Magno (Seminario San Basilio Magno); Aula "Ernesto Buch López", y Conversando entre historiadores (Oficina del Historiador de la Ciudad).
 
Books include:
 
-  El negro en la sociedad colonial. Editorial Oriente, Santiago de Cuba, 1988
-  La huella francesa en Santiago de Cuba. Editorial L´Harmattan, París, 1988
-  Nacionalidad e Historia. Editorial Oriente, Santiago de Cuba, 1989
-  Rebeldía esclava en el Caribe. Comisión V Centenario. Gbno. del Estado, Veracruz, México, 1992
-  El Fantasma de la Esclavitud. Prejuicios raciales en la América Latina y el Caribe. Editorial Pahl- Rugestein, Alemania, 1997 (Elsa Santos, coautora)
-  Hombres y Dioses. Panorama de las religiones populares cubanas (Elsa Santos, coautora)
-  Santiago de Cuba y África: un diálogo en el tiempo, Santiago de Cuba, 2002
-  Santiago de Cuba, siglo XX. Cronistas y viajeros miran la ciudad. Compiladores Rafael Duharte y Elizabet Recio, Editorial Oriente, 2005
-  Pensar el Pasado; Ensayos sobre la historia de Santiago de Cuba. Ediciones Caserón, UNEAC, Santiago de Cuba, 2006
-  Lo real maravilloso – santiaguero. Premio ensayo "José María Heredia", UNEAC, 2008

April 12

Francesco Taboada Tabone, Mexico - Independent documentary filmmaker 

12:40-2:00 PM, Discussion of Los Últimos Zapatistas, HI 111C (TLC 301; open) Pre-screening on Wednesday, April 6, 7:30 pm, Location: TLC 301

3:30 PM, Informal Discussion of Mexico/filmmaking. Location: TBA

7:00 PM, Screening: Maguey (http://www.vivaelmaguey.com).  Location: Davis Auditorium

Francesco Taboada Tabone is a Mexican documentary filmmaker whose work draws on oral history and Mesoamerican studies to uncover the experiences of the last living members of Emiliano Zapata's revolutionary supporters, indigenous activists working to save water, land, air and lifeways, and other contemporary topics.

FRANCESCO TABOADA TABONE, MEXICO (www.francescotaboada.com)

With degrees in Communications Sciences and Mesoamerican Studies, Francesco Taboada is focused on research and rescue of Mexico's oral history through documentary films, journalism, and academic talks on subjects ranging from history and environment to participative democracy, cinematography, Zapatismo and Villismo, among others.  He began his film career with the short La Julia (México, 1996) and Enchilada Suizas (Suiza, 1997), and has twice won the "Prix des Jeunes Realisateurs" at the Festival de los Jóvenes Realizadores in Switzerland.

His first feature film, Los Últimos Zapatistas (México, 2003) [The Last Zapatistas]—an oral history of the last members of Emiliano Zapata's followers in the Mexican Revolution—put him at the vanguard of Latin American documentary cinema, and the film won 10 prizes, including Best First Work at the Festival de Cine Documental Santiago Álvarez, Santiago de Cuba and Best Documentary and Photography,  Festival de Cine Chicano de Los Angeles. The film has been an official selection at more than 20 film festivals on 3 continents.  In 2004, he made the radio series, Heros on the Radio: Zapatista Voices, and has twice won fellowships from the Mexican State & National Funds for Culture & Arts. In 2005 President Hugo Chávez  of Venezuela interviewed him on the Sunday show "Aló Presidente," which led to a current documentary Project on the "Revolución Bolivariana" (Bolivia-Ecuador-México-Venezuela, 2009).  His feature length films include Pancho Villa, La Revolución no ha terminado; Tin Tan (México, 2010), on language; and Maguey (México, 2010 and "13 PUEBLOS, en defensa del Agua, el Aire y la Tierra" (México, 2008, which tackle environmental and social issues of land, wáter and agriculture in rural Mexico. 13 Pueblos has won 8 prizes, including the Rigoberta Menchú prize at the Festival of Indigenous Cinema in Montreal, and Special MEntion by the Jury in the International Latino Film Festival (Los Angeles) and social organization prize at the International Festival of Cinema and Video of Indigenous Peopules La Paz (Bolivia).

RAICES Webpage

• Skidmore's Student-run club for Latin American/Latino students
• November: Latino Heritage Month