Please join us for for the Victoria Premier of Huicholes: The Last Peyote Guardians (Huicholes: Los últimos guardianes del peyote)
by Hernán Vilchez (Mexico, 2014) – 125 min

Huicholes: The Last Peyote Guardians is a story about the Wixarika People, one of the last living Pre-Hispanic cultures in Latin America, and their struggle to preserve Wirikuta, their sacred territory and the land where the peyote grows, the traditional plant that keeps the knowledge of this iconic culture of Mexico alive. However, this territory is in danger. In 2010 the Mexican government granted concessions to several mining companies to explore and exploit the area, a natural reserve of 140,000 hectares of desert and hills in the Mexican state of San Luis Potosí, rich in gold, silver and other valuable minerals. This visually stunning documentary explores the struggles and hopes of the Huicholes today.

Director in attendance! Q & A after the show

Hernán Vilchez (1971) studied filmmaking in his native Argentina and Cuba. In the past decade he has produced and directed commercials, television, music videos and documentaries in Latin America and Europe. Specializing in filming indigenous and ancestral ceremonies around the world, he has worked in the Amazon jungle, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Uganda, and Senegal. He currently directs his own independent documentary projects and a new international series project, The Roots of Faith.

Part of the proceeds of the show will support Mosqoy, a registered Canadian charity that promotes educational and cultural rights for Andean communities in Peru (mosqoy.org).