500 Years

Sponsored by the Oak Institute for Human Rights

500 YEARS tells the epic story that led Guatemala to a tipping point in its history, from the genocide trial of General Ríos Montt to the citizen uprising that toppled President Otto Perez Molina. While indigenous peoples of Guatemala are no stranger to oppression, the recent events that took place over a tumultuous three-year span, change finally seems possible when their movement is met with civil society’s outcry to end corruption. As witness to this heroic moment in Guatemalan history, 500 YEARS documents the beginning of the end of an unaccountable rule of law, and a society ready for change. Focusing on universal themes of justice, racism, power and corruption, 500 YEARS tells the story from the perspective of the majority indigenous Mayan population, and their struggles in the country’s growing democracy.

In Spanish, Kaqchikel, and Ixil with English subtitles.

Post-film discussion with Oak Fellow Ana Lucia Ixchiu Hernandez.

Lucía Ixchíu is an Indigenous K’iche woman from Totonicapán Guatemala. She is a journalist, artist, and activist with a focus on the rights of Indigenous peoples. She was called to action after witnessing the army of Guatemala, the country where Ixchíu was born, massacre her people for demonstrating against the rise in privatized electricity, controlled by a foreign transnational corporation. The racist media coverage of what happened made her realize that it was time for her people to tell their own story. For this reason, Ixchíu decided to become a journalist to “denounce, write and theorize the various realities” that they had to live as indigenous peoples.