Gods of Mexico is a captivating portrait of indigenous peoples of Mexico who still maintain centuries old traditions and ways of living.
The film centers on the concept of white and black - starting with a traditional process of making salt: collecting briny water, spreading it under the sun in terraced salt pans, digging a pit to forge a lime kiln. It ends with a depiction of miners toiling in the bowels of an industrial mine using far more extractive practices, and between these are couched Black and White portraits of traditional peoples of Mexico.
Watching it, I was struck by how much beauty can exist in simplicity. I found myself reminded that powerful things can happen with patience. I realized that magic is a thing that can be real if you give it air to breathe. I wondered what my life might be like if I gave it a bit more silence and reverence.
I found myself comparing it against George Steinmetz’s similarly striking Feed the Planet, whose scenes highlight the various ways in which we go about feeding the world’s 8 billion people.
I wanted to share some of the imagery here, in hopes that someone else might be moved to watch it, and by watching, it might move something in you. Let me know if you do!