2014

S3.E1 ∙ Vidrieros

Wed, Dec 31, 1969

In the year 1935, in the City of Puebla, a true artisan, Mr. Martinez - as he was known at the time - decided to work hard, and save up as much money and scrap material as possible - however many years it might take - with a clearly set goal of starting his own business, a blown glass factory, and devote the rest of his life to what he loved best, creating original artisanry in glass.Today, more than 80 years after La Fábrica de Luz opened for business, we find Jaime Fernandez, another self-identified true artisan, fashioning blown glass in the same factory which opened nearly a century ago with the dream of keeping the glass blower's demanding trade alive.

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S3.E2 ∙ Carlos Jurado

Wed, Dec 31, 1969

For Carlos, the perception of other planes existing beyond what our senses allow us to perceive was part of the construction of his existence, magic, alchemy, fantasy, a world where the barriers of the seen and the touched fade with the felt, the sought after, the found. In photography he found an ally, known in centuries past as "the art of capturing images." In his world, unicorns, wizards, magic, the innocence of children which give our inner reality its glow, the reality which inhabits us, so completely nonexistent in the eyes of others, have accompanied him in his creative processes, through which we observe beauties which move the most sublime, most sensitive souls. He himself considers photography an act of magic.

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S3.E3 ∙ Reparador de Niño Dios

Wed, Dec 31, 1969

Maximino is 67 years old, of which he has devoted 50 years to creating fine crafts and restoring images of Child Jesus. Among his childhood memories, he recalls with a certain fondness how he did not like the tradition of Child Jesus, when the courtyard of his house was filled with molds and loose pieces and his family would shout at him for doing what he liked best, playing ball, as the ball bounced willy-nilly into one of the molds and shattered it, triggering scolding and slaps upside the head from his mother. At the time he thought he would never make his career in the family business.

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S3.E4 ∙ Tortillera

Wed, Dec 31, 1969

Catalina is an 82-year old woman, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. She is the center of a family which learned the trade of making tortillas for pleasure, as a tradition, out of necessity, because there's no other option, because that's what I have to do. At a very early age Catalina was faced with the need to learn the trade known as tortillería; in other words, she learned to make tortillas by hand, at a time when the tortilla was a staple, and by far the best option for the majority of Mexicans, in a diet, combined with beans, chili peppers - and with luck the occasional meat dish - as their preferred daily fare.

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S3.E5 ∙ Embalsamadores

Wed, Dec 31, 1969

Janette comes from a family dedicated to matters of the dead, of burials, of farewells... Her family, owners of a funeral home, instilled in her unconscious mind the vision of creating a profession through the departed. From an early age she watched her parents and her uncles and aunts work with death, and as a result she grew up seeing those cold bodies as part of an imminent reality which will overtake us all.

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S3.E6 ∙ Charros

Wed, Dec 31, 1969

One thinks of charros and does not readily see that behind a man in the dress so characteristic since colonial times, with its elegant originality, which distinguishes us worldwide, identifies us as Mexicans, and symbolizes - to put it bluntly - the typical image lodged in the collective unconscious of the "Macho Mexicano" is a un doctor, a man devoted to study, to a profession, encouraging his children to prepare themselves to be productive members of society, and a loving husband to a beautiful woman, who is also a distinguished physician.

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S3.E7 ∙ Cantinero

Wed, Dec 31, 1969

Roberto is a man who has worked 60 years in a bar, always giving his best effort. From an early age, at just 17, he made his start in what he refers to as "el ambiente," or "the milieu." At first his job was to move cars, and today he has served 46 years behind the bar at La Potosina. We see in Roberto a man proud of his work, and from his position behind the bar he tells us how "Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa came here for tequilas, and Fidel Castro and Guadalupe Posadas also came for drinks," the anecdotes told through a melancholy smile at something he did not experience first-hand but which is an important part of his profession: to serve, listen, learn, converse, and even "act as psychologist."

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S3.E8 ∙ Luchadora

Wed, Dec 31, 1969

Irma Gonzalez, the champ A legend in women's professional wrestling in Mexico, also well known in various international arenas, today at 70 years of age, Irma Gonzalez shares her skills and accumulated knowledge with young women who dream of one day entering the world of women's professional wrestling. The daughter of circus performers, at age 13 she came to Mexico City after a fire destroyed her father's circus. Thus, conditions present themselves, often inexplicably, for a person, and she was invited to a professional wrestling function and offered the chance to get in the ring in place of a performer who had failed to show up. That night, her life changed.

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S3.E9 ∙ Reparador de pianos

Wed, Dec 31, 1969

This story begins with a family of musicians, grandfather, father, children, and grandchildren, coming full circle when they decided to learn the trade of piano repair. Salvador, the third of four children, studied at the National School of Music to be a performer and composer and chose the piano as his instrument. Today, at age 70, he sends his time repairing pianos and organs and giving music lessons. He recalls his grandfather, Nicolas Felix Hernandez, opening pianos to then tune them. "We are the ancient masters of the keyboard. As a great pianist told me, "What would become of us, the great pianists, without you, the great piano repairmen?"

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S3.E10 ∙ Partera

Wed, Dec 31, 1969

Mercedes Bautizta Lopez Mercedes is a woman who has spent 66 years performing a beautiful task: helping other women give birth. The name of her impressive and beautiful profession is midwifery. The first time Mercedes plied her trade was at the tender age of 16. Her mother, also a midwife, was away assisting the birth of her niece, and Mercedes knew "she would not be home for a long time," she recalls with a twinkle in her eye and a giggle, as if savoring the memory, so, knowing that and with a patient in labor in her living room, in a matter of minutes Mercedes remembered everything her mother had told her and all she had seen, made the young mother comfortable, and without further ado - as she puts it - "caught her first baby."

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S3.E11 ∙ Bailes de salón

Wed, Dec 31, 1969

Irma Montero was a restless and timid child. She was born in a working class neighborhood and her parents wanted the best for her, including education and advancement through a conventional career. Whenever she could, she would escape with friends to block parties and neighborhood dances. Any excuse would do, what mattered was to dance. And so she learned the steps to the popular and traditional-ballroom dances practiced in Mexico.

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S3.E12 ∙ Animador Cinematográfico

Wed, Dec 31, 1969

Mario Noviello found an open space, an opportunity, and slipped in - accompanied by a smile which reflects the joy of living, and embarked on a distinguished career in Mexico as a film animator in the 1970s and 80s, when animated motion was achieved with pictures drawn frame by frame. Neapolitan by birth, Mexican at heart, he drinks copious amounts of coffee and considers himself fortunate. "I've been very curious all my life and it all began in my childhood, when I liked operating a camera," he explains, smiling, in his lilting Spanish. He recalls how, as a boy, he experienced the Second World War and considers it a near miracle that he is alive today.

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S3.E13 ∙ Herbolaria

Wed, Dec 31, 1969

Raised smelling, drying, and gathering plants, flowers, and roots, she learned quickly what they could be used for; in her world, in a culture more connected to the earth, rain, air, and fire of nature cures, heals, and promotes many forms of wellness. A possible path is laid out, a heritage of Zapotec tradition - in her case - which flows through her veins and serves as her guide, and Florentina takes it, makes it her own, and forges her destiny with it.

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