María Sojob

María Sojob, a Tsotsil woman from Chenalhó, Chiapas, Mexico, is the mother of two girls. She studied in the Master's in Documentary Film program at the University of Chile with the support of the Ford Foundation. She has produced videos and short films with girls and boys from her community. In 2014, she directed Bankilal / El padre mayor, which in 2015 won the award for Best Documentary at the Morelia Indigenous Film and Video Festival in Mexico, and was selected at festivals such as Berlinale Native, Edinburgh Film Festival, Ficvaldivia, among others. In 2019, Tote_Abuelo premiered at the 17th Morelia International Film Festival, where it won the La Musa Award for Best Documentary Made by a Woman and the Ambulante Award for Best Documentary. The film has toured various festivals nationally and internationally. Currently, María is in the editing stage of the documentary Por la vida, filmed in Honduras and which tells the stories of struggle and resistance of Lenca women in defense of their territories. She is co-founder of Cine Bolomchon, a space for training, exhibiting and exchanging experiences in her hometown of Chenalhó. In 2020, she was selected to be a member of the National System of Art Creators of Mexico.

‍

ABOUT Riox, Palabra florida (Riox, Flowery Word)

Upon returning to her village after many years away, María meets a village elder who is the only woman to speak the Riox, the ceremonial language of their people. Soon, María embarks on a quest to learn the language, but her training will only be complete if she is granted permission by a sacred cave.