Educational Media Reviews Online

The Sower also named El Sembrado is a documentary spoken in Spanish with English subtitles. This documentary focuses on children’s education and what living is like at Monte de Los Olivos, Chiapas, a poor and rural town that is only accessible by walking, as there are no roads. Mr. Bartolome Vasequez Lopez, the only teacher in town, teaches at the Mariano Escobedo bilingual primary. The school has grades preschool to sixth grade. There is a great deal of independence and communal learning as Mr. Bartolome uses unorthodox methods to teach his students away from the classroom. Students are taught respect, tolerance, life lessons and to have dreams. Children at this school may or may not have as much opportunity following sixth grade, so any learning and literacy opportunity is something to value. The documentary also mentions the loss of Mr. Bartolome’s native language, (Tzeltal or Tseltal, a Mayan language in Mexico), as Spanish became the only acceptable language when Mr. Bartolome was a student. He wants to be able to prevent the children from losing the same language, so students at the school are able to be bilingual.

There is a number of challenges for Mr. Bartolome as there are barely any schoolbooks, and the continuing challenge teaching children at different levels. Classes are expected to increase in size, so Mr. Bartolome relies on the older students to help younger kids with their studies. Many times, during class there is a lot of self-study time as Mr. Bartolome advocates the importance of peers being the best teacher, rather than adults, namely himself.

Another challenge that the children face is social gender expectations where females are not expected to study beyond what is given and their dreams for further education and careers may not be fulfilled. An example that can be vexing for the females, during the school’s activity at the nearby waterbody, only the male went swimming, and the females watched. A parent also discouraged their daughter from their dreams of advancing in schooling, citing lacking money as a deterrent.

This documentary is about another culture, and people need to see perspectives from other sides. There are many strong points that make this documentary quite relatable. The story is hopeful for the town as time progresses. There is mention of some students going beyond the sixth grade at a further away town they need to travel to for remote classes. The recommendation for this documentary is highly recommended. It is good to purchase by public libraries and by higher education with liberal arts education and social science courses.

Awards:
Award for Documentary Made by a Woman, Morelia Int’l Film Festival, Mexico; Mexican Public Documentary Feature Award, Morelia Int’l Film Festival, Mexico; Honorable Mention, José Rovirosa Prize, Best Student Documentary; Audience Award, FotoFilm Tijuana Festival, Film and Photo Festival, Mexico; Best documentary, ONE Country ONE Film International Film Festival, Bolivia

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