A day after the first film crew returned from Gabon, another head cameraman, José ReynËs headed for Guatemala (on February 14, 2009). Perfectly fluent in Spanish, he is assisted by two Guatemalan linguists, Juliana Sis’Iboy and Juventino Perez, from the OKMA Centre (Oxlajuuj Keej Maya’ Ajtz’iib’), who specialize in documenting Mayan languages.

Like Muriel Lutz in Gabon, José will spend 3 weeks on site to film two languages: Tektiteko and Kaqchikel. The goal here is again to bring back roughly 50 hours of rushes that will be used for scientific study as well as for the realization of short films to be broadcast in the future on the Sorosoro website.

Jose Reynès’ trip takes him to two locations. He first headed for Tectitan, a western region of Guatemala, near the Mexican frontier. In this mountainous zone, at 3000 meters high, only a few thousands of people still speak Tektiteko. The shooting crew filmed traditional narratives and myths, rituals such as marriage proposals, healing ceremonies or daily activities such as weaving and basket making. The program was intensive and according to the team’s first impressions, the collected material is excellent, even sometimes exceptional.

The next phase takes them to the surroundings of Chimaltenango, in the middle west of the country, at 1800 meters high. José Reynès is now there to film one of the four most spoken languages in Guatemala after Spanish, the Kaqchikel, with about 450 000 speakers. On February 22, at Iximche’ (photo opposite), capital city for the Kaqchikel Mayas until 1524, ceremonies were held to celebrate the Mayan New Year, a major event in the lives of the indigenous populations of Guatemala. Crafts, traditional music, tales and legends, local pharmacopeia, hunting and gathering are also part of the program of the upcoming days.

Two other shooting sessions are planned for May and November of this year. They will enrich the audiovisual collection. In one year, Sorosoro hopes to film 6 Mayan languages in this country and 6 others the following year so that the program will have documented in pictures and sounds 12 out of the 22 Mayan languages spoken in Guatemala.