Flying Film Festival Presents CIUDAD MAYA Review – Entertaining Film with an Important Message

A group of young urban Maya operate mysterious technological instruments to carry out a kind of archaeological survey of a ruined site IMAGE COURTESY OF FLYING FILM FESTIVAL

In Ciudad Maya, the mysteries of the ancient Mayan people are explored by modern day Mayans. Showing disdain for the commercialization of their legacy, they attempt to document some of the realities of what has become a money-making tourist attraction.  It opens with images suggesting extraterrestrial involvement with the ancient peoples, and indeed, the entire film has a sci-fi feel to it.

History books and even images online show these grand ruins standing as awesome remains of a once thriving civilization that inexplicably disappeared thousands of years ago. But the young people in this film make it clear that they have not disappeared and there are proud Mayans living today.

Unable to buy expensive equipment, they make their own tools, some of which are quite clever, that they use to explore and document. At the same time they are making us aware of the encroachment of modern society, like the sound of a passing plane and trash on the ground.

With impressive visuals and imaginative camera work, Ciudad Maya is a thought provoking and entertaining film with a very important message. It runs about 24 minutes and has English subtitles.

Filmmaker Andrés Padilla Domene
Filmmaker Andrés Padilla Domene is a Media artist born in Guadalajara, Mexico. He has exhibited his work in art spaces and film festivals internationally. Lives and works between Mexico and France. IMAGE COURTESY OF FLYING FILM FESTIVAL

At the time of this writing, the best way to see all these short films in the Flying Film Festival is to book a flight on Swiss Air. Stay tuned to these pages for updates on how to find these films after this juried festival closes.

When:

November and December 2017

Where:

Swiss Air Long-Haul flights

Tickets:

Air fare! For 500,000 people scheduled to fly Swiss Air before 2018.

Stay tuned for more information on where to find these films after the festival ends.

 
IMAGE COURTESY OF FLYING FILM FESTIVAL

Steve Bellinger was born and raised on the West Side of Chicago by a single mom who worked nights for a printing company. She would bring home books and magazines to encourage her kids to read. This is how he discovered Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke and the other masters of classic science fiction. It didn’t take long for him to get the itch to write. Over the years he’s written everything from newspaper articles, comic strips and radio drama to short stories and fan fiction. He is the author of the science fiction time travel novel The Chronocar. His second novel, Edge of Perception is due to be released in 2018.

www.SteveBellinger.com

Share this:

Make a Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *