Guatemala: Heart of the Mayan World
★ 5.4 · 2019 · 66m · Documentary
From Sierra de las Minas to Esquipulas, explore Guatemala's cultural and geological wealth, including ancient Mayan cities and other natural wonders.
More Like This
When the Mountains Tremble
1983 · ★ 9
A documentary on the war between the Guatemalan military and the Mayan population, with first hand accounts by Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú.
More info →
Sin Voz
2025
Told almost entirely without spoken words, this film unfolds in the language of its subjects: Guatemalan Sign Language. In a country where more than 850,000 Deaf people receive little institutional support, silence becomes both a barrier and a form of connection. Through classrooms, homes, and everyday life, the film observes a community building its own means of understanding and belonging. Among those leading the way are Melkin, Dairy, and Jonathan, the teachers, students, and leaders within Guatemalan Deaf Ministries, where the language of hands has become the language of hope.
More info →
Sonidos eclécticos de Guatemala
2014
Documentary Eclectic Sounds of Guatemala, is a medium-length film about the electronic music scene in the Central American country, in which it emerged in the 1990s with the “Common Graves” parties. Later, over the years, record labels and groups of DJs emerged, such as: Cube Culture, Danzón Pérez, Intu Deep, Disco Rebels, among others. Participating in the documentary: Rod V, Carl nunes, Básico 3, Casta, Mickey Franco, Bruxxas, Mncve, Edu Pretz, Junior Rivera, Dubby Dub, Mario Palomo, Mariano Santolino, Gonzo.
More info →
Quiet Type Documentary (Clandestine Parties)
2016
The Tipo Tranquilo parties arose from the initiative of three friends (Gabriel, Erick and Alejandro), who were looking for something different in the Guatemalan electronic scene. He realized several factors that affected deejays and true music lovers, for that reason they started this movement of having various parties in different places. Inviting friends in a hidden way, without much publicity, they can only be reached through a map.
More info →
Widows ( Viudas de pilotos de transporte público - Avitransp)
2017 · ★ 10
Widows is a documentary about the wives of pilots, who have been killed while working on the streets of Guatemala City. Being a van or taxi driver in the Central American country is considered one of the most dangerous jobs in the world.
More info →
Maximón: Devil or Saint
2014 · ★ 10
MAXIMÓN - Devil or Saint is a documentary about the controversial Maya deity, also known as San Simon or the drinking and smoking saint of Guatemala. He is a mixture of ancient Maya beliefs and Christianity. The movie concentrates on the people who surround Maximón with their strong personalities, opinions and faith. The documentary gives us a rare view into the rituals and fiestas honoring Maximón. The cult of Maximón is flourishing because he performs miracles. He is also feared and despised because he is used to cast curses that can result in death. Ultimately, Maximón transcends the duality of good and evil, reflecting the Maya cosmovision in which everything in the universe co-exists.
More info →Discovering Dominga: A Survivor's Story
2003 · ★ 9
Denese Joy Becker, a manicurist living in Iowa, discovers she is indeed Dominga Sic Ruiz, a survivor from a 1982 Guatemalan massacre, when more than 200 people were killed in the small village of Rio Negro, after opposing the construction of a dam, sponsored by World Bank. She then tries to unveil the truth.
More info →
Xejuyup más que un club de fútbol
2022
The Perechú family is afraid that the ancestral costume of their ancestors will disappear, but they see soccer as an opportunity to keep their culture and legacy alive.
More info →
Granito: How to Nail a Dictator
2011 · ★ 4.5
A story of destinies joined by Guatemala's past, and how a documentary film intertwined with a nation's turbulent history emerges as an active player in the present.
More info →
Ancient Maya Metropolis
2022
The ancient ancestors of today’s Maya people thrived in large sophisticated cities across Central America for centuries. Why, around 750 CE, did they begin to abandon many of their major cities? Archaeologists investigate dramatic new evidence of the catastrophic droughts and instability that pushed cities beyond their limits.
More info →
Comparsa
2025 · ★ 10
From the shadows of a Guatemalan neighbourhood scared into silence, two sisters lead a luminous rebellion—unleashing joy, art, and radical truth in a fight for survival.
More info →
Mother Tongue
2015
"Mother Tongue" chronicles the first time a documentary film about Guatemalan genocide in Guatemala was translated and dubbed into Maya-Ixil—5.5% of whom were killed during the armed conflict in the 1980s. Told from the perspective of Matilde Terraza, an emerging Ixil leader and the translation project’s coordinator, "Mother Tongue" illuminates the Ixil community’s ongoing work to preserve collective memory.
More info →