User:Brendaanowell/Ixcanul

Lead - no changes
Ixcanul ([ʔiʃ.kʰa.nɯɬ], Kaqchikel for "volcano") is a 2015 Guatemalan drama film, a debut written and directed by Jayro Bustamante. It was screened in the main competition section of the 65th Berlin International Film Festival where it won the Alfred Bauer Prize. The film was selected as the Guatemalan entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards but was not nominated. It is the first film produced in the Kaqchikel language of the Mayan family.

Cultural Significance
Ixcanul presents real-life issues in a slightly fictionalized manner. Its use of the Kaqchikel language accurately portrays Kaqchikel culture and the community's unique problems Unlike other films in Indigenous languages, this film gives significant speaking roles to non-native actors. It features first-time actors from the communities near where it was filmed in Guatemala, which is uncommon in making movies and various types of media.. In an interview with Indiewire, Bustuname expressed that he was trying to illuminate a misrepresented culture. He then emphasizes that he acknowledges that if it were any other people, he would not have been able to do it. He stated that he felt comfortable enough to make a film because he grew up around Mayan people in Guatemala, so he felt an authentic connection. Bustamante grew up in the highlands of Guatemala and identified as mestizo Bustuname intended to make a film that genuinely honored the Mayan people without being exploitative or "looking at them as if they were in a zoo."

Ixcanul has been celebrated for its authentic portrayal of Mayan culture and for bringing attention to the experiences of indigenous peoples in Guatemala. The film has been well-received by both Mayan communities and scholars of indigenous studies. It has been shown at international film festivals. According to scholar K.C. Barrientos, the film incorporates Mayan circular cosmologies central to Mayan culture and worldview. The circular motifs in the film are meant to represent the cycles of life, death, rebirth, and the interconnectedness of all things.

Ixcanul has had a significant impact on the film industry and has brought attention to the underrepresented perspectives of indigenous peoples in cinema. Indigenous people have historically been portrayed in films as exotic, primitive, and backward, perpetuating colonialist stereotypes and erasing their diversity and complexity as distinct cultural groups. However, author Milton Fernando Gonzalez Rodriguez points out there has been a shift toward more nuanced and respectful portrayals of indigenous cultures and histories in Latin American cinema, and Ixcanul is an example of this. He explores how indigenous filmmakers and actors are challenging dominant narratives and representations of indigenous peoples and using film as a tool for cultural affirmation, political activism, and social change.

Community Reception
Ixcanul has also received some critiques from scholars and critics. One major critique is that the film continues to reproduce negative stereotypes of indigenous people as being "primitive," which can be seen as exoticization despite Bustuname's efforts to avoid this. While the film attempts to subvert these ideas by showing the complexity of Mayan culture, some believe it ultimately reinforces them, along with the stereotype of indigenous women as passive and submissive and Mayan people as a whole as having a predisposition to alcohol abuse. Similarly, in their review of the film, the collective Oxlajuj Ajpop, a non-governmental organization focused on studying Kaqchikel (Maya) language and culture, notes that "Ixcanul continues a centuries-long tradition of representing the 'other' through an exoticizing and fetishizing lens."

Many people have criticized the movie Ixcanul for how it portrays indigenous people, which is a problem seen in other movies and media too. These portrayals often show indigenous characters as ignorant, uneducated, and uncivilized, which reinforces harmful stereotypes and contributes to the continued marginalization and oppression of indigenous communities. Scholar Ariel Tumbaga points out that these types of narratives can have long-term effects and ignore the complexity of indigenous culture, reinforcing the idea of their inferiority.

put this somewhere else:

Hollywood has a long history of portraying indigenous people as savage and uncivilized, as discussed in articles analyzing Apocalypto and Pocahontas. These films perpetuate colonialist ideologies and present inaccurate and romanticized versions of indigenous cultures, erasing the violence and oppression of colonialism.