We are in the process of creating a documentary film titled, Voice of a Mountain. The film focuses on life after a 36 year war in Guatemala. We follow a coffee farming community, Santa Anita, consisting of ex-combatants who now harvest organic coffee. Members of the community share their story, from decades of fighting in a civil war to the new challenges of peacefully harvesting coffee and bananas. The film will include members of the community talking about the circumstances that led them to fight against their government and what they hoped the war would accomplish. The importance of selling coffee on the fair-trade market and new ideas surrounding migration will also be covered.
We would also like to use this film as a teaching tool within Guatemala. More than half the population in Guatemala today is uninformed about the 36 year civil war. We have learned that people living in the rural parts of the country simply don't know their history. Plans are already in motion to host screenings of the film throughout these areas in their native Mayan languages. The Mayan population is the majority in Guatemala and their education is crucial to the continuing development of the country as a whole. This film has the potential to be a huge catalyst for progress in Guatemala.
Dir. Tyler Rumph
Writer/ Producer: Matt Robinson and Michael Field