Educational Media Reviews Online

This documentary depiction of life in a small Mexican town opens with the legend of Vincente Ferrer, the patron saint of Juchitan. According to tradition he received a bag of queers from God and dropped one everywhere he traveled. Along the way the bag broke and spilled it contents in Juchitan. As depicted, the town is open and excepting of its gay citizens and is a center of cultural tradition. The people speak Spanish as well as the native Zapotec Indian language. People love their fun, and the town enjoys many celebrations. There is constant preparation for the next party or event. The film begins on November 1, All Souls Day, as people prepare for Day of the Dead observances. It closes at a rowdy drag ball and the crowning of a queen.

Three queer men involved with the initial preparations share their stories as the film proceeds. The analytic school teacher leads a frank discussion on sexuality with a college class. The extrovert shopkeeper laughs and jokes as he shows off the town. The hairdresser, living life as a woman, spends time helping out family and parents who talk candidly about raising an effeminate queer son. Each leads a life quite different from the others, but in a small town they are part of the same daily fabric. Oddly, in a town billed as a queer paradise, there is no hint lesbian presence or depiction of gay women.

The principles share their own perspectives and varied experiences with queer life. All three men identify themselves as Catholics and have various levels of participation in the church. They offer their assessments of the church including a scathing critique of the pope. They all talk about the meaning of family. The hairdresser spends time with his parents and is involved in the lives of nieces and nephews. The shopkeeper keeps close ties with his sisters and is raising a son. He turns serious when he talks about of raising a child to think for himself and be unaffected by prejudice. The teacher’s family of choice is in the poorer working class side of town. He says that people there are much more tolerant of difference than the ones in his middle class neighborhood.

The participants are unaffected as they discus their lives. There are no grand political statements or saccharine musings on the nature of society. They simply tell their stories and relate their daily ups and downs. The second half of the film hints at a darker side of life in Juchitan. The middle class tends to be more conservative and less tolerant. Even in Juchitan children learn intolerance and can taunt peers who don’t fit in. The previous year a popular drag queen was killed in a drunken brawl. As the film closes at a well planned and choreographed drag ball, the camera follows late night participants as they stumble through broken bottles for another trip to the bar. The overall portrayal throughout the film is quite positive, but the illusion of paradise lasts only as long as its energetic participants preserve it.

The interviews are conducted in Spanish and the translation can be distracting. Rather than choosing one consistent style, the director mixes narration, voiceover translation and subtitles. This is an honest film more concerned with documenting the life of a unique location than trying to draw any broad conclusions. The filmmakers do not get in the way of their subjects or push them in directions they would not naturally go.

Awards
• Honorable Mention, New York Lesbian and Gay Film Festival