G 10-Adult
Steve Bartz
in Box n20
"This documentary is both a stellar model of sympathetic, non-intrusive,
and naturally eloquent ethnographic film-making, and an excellent stimulus to discussion about the fate of
indigenous peoples, their cultures, and their homelands around the world."
- Luisa Maffi, Ph.D. President, Terralingua
Northwestern University
"As an anthropologist and instructor concerned for more than thirty years with indigenous
people's struggle for autonomy...I was surprised and excited to discover that [To the Roots is ] able to deal with
the complex issues of ethnic identity, cultural recuperation, and indigenous knowledge among Maya Indians of Mexico
and Guatemala in an aesthetically accurate piece of cinematography..."
- Stefano Varese, Professor of Native American Studies University of California Davis
To The Roots depicts the journey of two Itza Maya elders from their village in the Peten in northern Guatemala to meet, for the first time, their Lacandon Maya relatives deep in the rain forest of Chiapas, Mexico. This is a sequel to the highly praised In Good Hands: Culture & Agriculture in Lacandon Rain Forest.