Press kit

The Chunta Press Kit

Our fire blooms dancer 006

“It’s about joy. It’s about waking up the earth and its seeds, waking up color, waking up life itself.” – José Eliezer Esponda Cáceres

Synopsis

In a small town in Mexico, once a year, men transform into women and become the Chuntá. Follow two gender-bending gangs of dancers as they face off in a struggle between queer identity and powerful traditions.

Press

Las Chunta Willamette Week

“Las Chuntá is both a scrappy chronicle and an ethnographic portrait of an unlikely subculture that’s touchingly timely.” —Remezcla

Press release available here

The Chunta screening Tonala 13

“There’s a cost for the Chuntas going against gender roles and machismo, and coming out as homosexual.People don’t like it because it makes them uncomfortable. Traditional celebrations like the Fiesta Grande can help us to raise consciousness about this.” – José Eliezer Esponda Cáceres

Photos

Film stills

Photos of screenings

Headshots

Poster

The Chunta still 08

“It’s about accepting ourselves just as we are. Respecting each other, and dancing with joy. For me it’s a very emotional thing to do a fertility dance. It means belonging to the earth, belonging in this world.” – Isauro Vidal

Videos

Trailer

Night scene

Dance scene

Enemies scene

Interviews (Spanish only)

Screener available by request, contact us here

Director Genevieve Roudané listens to an audience member, alongside Chunta dancers Fabian Chairo, Isauro Vidal, and Domingo Flores.

Bio

Genevieve Roudané is a queer filmmaker who has worked as director, cinematographer, editor, educator, and organizer on diverse productions across the Americas over the past decade. She is the director of the documentary film The Chunta, the story of a queer gang of gender-bending dancers fighting to exist in southern Mexico. Roudané’s work focuses on the intersection of art and activism, and she has been a part of grassroots media organizing projects in Mexico and Central America. She is a co-leader of the Portland chapter of Film Fatales. Roudané is a member of Women in Film, the Mexican Documentary Filmmakers Network, and the Women Behind the Camera cooperative; co-founder of Proyecto Medusa and the Ocote Film Festival; and founding member of Cine Catrina productions.

 

Additional information

Duration: 61 minutes

Location: Filmed in Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapas, Mexico

Language: Spanish with English subtitles

English title: The Chunta

Spanish title: Las Chuntá

Genre: Documentary, Drama

Screenings

FAQ

Quotes from the film

 

Links

Website: www.laschunta.com

Facebook:

@thechunta: www.facebook.com/thechunta (English)

@laschunta: www.facebook.com/laschunta (Spanish)

Instagram:

@thechunta: www.instagram.com/thechunta

Contact

chuntachiapas@gmail.com