In Mexico, El Día de Muertos starts on Nov. 2 and is celebrated annually. Whereas in Guatemala, this festival takes up to three days starting on Oct. 31 and extending to Nov. 2.
To the indigenous peoples of Mexico and Guatemala, death was considered the passage to a new life, therefore, the deceased were buried with personal objects that would be used in the afterlife. In other words, this festival does not only celebrate death but also the cycle of life. From skulls to toys, indigenous people use them to decorate tombs and make the remembrance of the death of their loved ones easier to bear.
In Guatemala, another popular tradition that takes place during the Day of the Dead is the Kite Festival, many of which are held across the country in big, open spaces where people gather to show off their kites, lift them up, and make them compete to honor the dead. What makes Kite Festivals in Guatemala unique is the size of the kites. People spend all year long building them and coming up with the design, many of which are 40 feet or larger, and the spectacular displays fill the air over cemeteries across the country.
Festival Barriletes en Sumpango (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
La Ofrenda: The Days of the Dead
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A first and thorough look at the Mexican celebration of the dead, the sacred days when the souls of the departed return to visit the living. Tracing the Days of the Dead tradition from its roots in Indian culture to its manifestations in contemporary Chicano communities, this unconventional and visually arresting documentary contemplates the loving and sometimes humorous Mexican cultural attitudes toward "that constant companion," death.
Visiones: Latino Art & Culture - Episode 3
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Episode three features Luis Valdez and the legendary Teatro Campesino, a segment of San Antonio's Day of the Dead Celebration, the image of the Virgen de Guadalupe as a Latina icon, experimental border filmmaker Willie Varela, and a profile of Chicago's soapbox artist Carlos Cortez.
Mexico - Culinary journeys. Season 2, episode 9, Enrique Olvera
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With the Day of the Dead as the backdrop. Chef Enrique Olvera tells the history of Mexico is one that is told through its cuisine - bold flavours from the Aztecs of Mesoamerica and the conquistadores of Spain which have fused together and are found today in streets filled with tortas, tacos and tamales.
The day of the dead
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The Mexican character, shaped by the fusion of Christianity and indigenous religion, is perhaps epitomized in the celebration of the Day of the Dead. This fanciful film takes us to the village of Patzcuaro, where, like villages all over Mexico, on October 31 people return home from everywhere to celebrate their ancestors and communicate with their long dead loved ones. This impressionistic pilgrimage takes us to the cemetery where graves are decorated and turned into works of art, with flowers, personal objects, food, offerings and thousands upon thousands of candles. For a twenty-four hour period,we follow Death on a tongue-in-cheek guided tour through the soul of a people.
Unseen cinema. 8, The mysteries. Death day
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THE MYSTERIES is part of the film retrospective UNSEEN CINEMA that explores long-forgotten American experimental cinema. One of three films released through Hollywood independent producer Sol Lesser in 1932-34, “Death Day” is comprised of footage shot by Sergei Eisenstein for his unfinished film “Que viva Mexico!” This short subject focuses on the Day of the Dead festivities held in Mexico and pays homage to the artist José Guadalupe Posada.
