Conference of Laughter organized by Brotherhood of Latin Clowns
by the El Reportero’s news services
Hundreds of clowns gathered at Mexico City’s Monument to the Revolution on Wednesday to celebrate the 24th annual International Conference of Laughter.
The nearly 450 professional jesters hailing from Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Peru, the United States and other countries used the conference to speak out against violence, as well as to exchange ideas to use in their acts back home.
Organized by the Brotherhood of Latin Clowns, the four-day event hosts seminars and workshops in which professional clowns can hone their craft and stay up to date on the latest costumes, makeup, oversized shoes, wigs and magic tricks.
As they danced and cracked jokes for curious spectators, the clowns hoped their actions here and at home would compel people to smile and laugh more, rather than resort to anger and violence.
Mexico has a rich clown culture and the profession is popular among street performers. The Latin American Clown Association reports that there are around 10,000 registered professional clowns in the country.
As further testament to the popularity of clowning around in Mexico, the U.S.-based organization Clowns Without Borders (CWB), which works to bring laughter to people in areas of crisis, has more projects in Mexico than any other country in the world.
In March 2019, CWB held a five-day event in Tijuana, hosting workshops and performing for migrants stranded there. The organization primarily works with indigenous communities in Chiapas.
Sources: Telediario (sp), News First (sp)
Filmmaker documents stories of victims of violence and impunity
Relatives offer harsh accounts of how unbridled violence has taken sons and daughters, sisters and fathers
The documentary Soles Negros (Dark Suns) by Canadian filmmaker Julien Elie, now being shown in Mexican cinemas, is an attempt to shine a dark light on the pervasive violence driven by unchecked impunity.
The film focuses on the victims of this violence, taking on the topics of femicides in Ciudad Juárez and México state, assassinations of journalists, the forced disappearances of the 43 students in Iguala, Guerrero, the 2011 San Fernando massacre of 72 migrants and the ruthless force of the drug cartels.
“I wanted to make a movie about femicides,” said Elie about his inspiration for the film, “but upon seeing the violence in the whole country… it seemed important to me to portray the terror [in all its forms].”
Soles Negros premiered on Sept. 27, and is now being shown in commercial and independent theaters across the country.
The relatives of the victims of each one of these stories offer harsh accounts of how the country’s unbridled and rising violence has taken from them their sons and daughters, sisters and fathers. The camera focuses on their faces as they recount their journeys on the often endless road to justice and the strength they have to keep going.
Source: Sin Embargo (sp).
