La Yerbabuena - Comunidad en resistencia

(La Yerbabuena - A Community in Resistance)
by Nicolas Défossé
39’, Mexico, 2008

Colima, in western Mexico. At the foot of the Volcano of Fire, with the pretext of the danger of being swept away by the eruptions of lava, the residents of the community of La Yerbabuena have been evacuated from their land. In reality, the scope of this operation is to increase tourism in the area by building a new residential complex next to the luxurious hotel whose principal attraction is its view of the volcano. However, despite strong pressure, some families decide to remain on their land and to resist, and succeed in involving the Zapatistas and other, nearby communities, in their struggle.

Nicolas Défossé
Born in Paris in 1972, he earned a degree in philosophy and cinematography at the Sorbonne. In 2000 he moved to Mexico, where he lives and works as a documentary filmmaker. From 2006 to 2008 he made a series of ten documentaries, presented in numerous festivals around the world, that took him to the indigenous villages and communities of farmers and fishermen in northeastern Mexico. In 2009 he directed and produced his first feature-length film, Viva Mexico!