500 Years

Join New America NYC at the Bronx Documentary Center for a screening and conversation with award-winning filmmakers Pamela Yates and Paco de Onís, along with Bronx urban planner and community leader Cesar Yoc, to discuss the transformative power of activism.

From an historic genocide trial to the ousting of a president, 500 Years tells a sweeping story of mounting resistance played out in Guatemala's recent history, through the actions and perspectives of the majority indigenous Mayan population, who now stand poised to re-imagine their society. 

In 500 Years, the Mayans lead Guatemala to an historic tipping point, from the genocide trial of former dictator General Rios Montt to the citizen's uprising that toppled President Otto Pérez Molina. While indigenous peoples of Guatemala are no strangers to oppression, with the recent events that took place over a tumultuous three-year span, change finally seems possible when their movement is met with the general public's will to end corruption. 

500 Years is the third and final installment in director Pamela Yates's epic trilogy on Mayan indigenous resistance in Guatemala, The Resistance Saga, which began with When the Mountains Tremble, followed by Granito: How to Nail a Dictator. 

PARTICIPANTS

Pamela Yates @pameladyates
Director, 500 Years

Paco de Onís @pacony
Producer, 500 Years 

Cesar Yoc
Founder, Bronx Institute for Urban System

Olivia Adechi @followbdc
Program Coordinator and Gallery Manager, Bronx Documentary Film Center