On Saturday, August 30 at 7 PM, “Voices of the Chichinautzin” screened at the Moondance International Film Festival, in Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A. The documentary was very well received by an international audience of filmmakers, writers, and the general public. Many people were interested to learn more about the Chichinautzin region, the current status of illegal logging, and the issues the local communities continue to face.

The Moondance Film Festival’s primary goal is “to present films and scripts which have the power to raise awareness about vital social issues, educating writers, filmmakers and film festival audiences and inspiring them to take positive action. Moondance believes in the unique power of the world of entertainment media to create great social and environmental change”.

I had the pleasure of attending the Moondance Festival and it was very rewarding to see the documentary generating awareness about the issues in the Chichinautzin and inspiring people to take action on similar issues in their own backyards. A great honor was to receive the Sandcastle Award for “Best Feature Documentary”, which is an award for a female and male filmmaking team. As writer-director, I had the opportunity to work with a great team on this project. Congratulations to all of our crew, everyone at the UNU Media Studio, the Autonomous University of the State of Morales in Mexico, the communities of Tepoztlan,  Nepopualco, and San Juan Atzingo, and especially many thanks to my collaborator, producer and co-director, Luis, for his creative energy and commitment to this documentary project.