Film and monuments keep memory of forcibly disappeared people in Mexico alive

Double disappeared

111,916 people are listed as missing in Mexico: the tip of the iceberg. This number only covers the number of officially registered disappearances, some of whom have been missing since the end of the 20th century. Enforced disappearances are commonplace in Mexico: according to reports, almost 30 people are kidnapped or murdered every day without being reported. However, the real number of disappearances is impossible to determine – many families do not dare to report the disappearance of their loved ones for fear of violent consequences. The Mexican state points the finger at the big drug cartels and other organized crime, and at the border regime of the United States, but has a notorious part in these disappearances itself, the Mexican army has a long history of corruption and collaboration with the cartels. Every so often, mass graves or secret prisons are discovered by volunteers, often already known to the state but deliberately kept under the radar. Also, these structural disappearances – which have a huge impact on the daily lives and well-being of people in Mexico and survivors in the diaspora – are rarely a topic during election campaigns; the problem is not addressed, the impact is not taken seriously.

Not only are people subjected to the random disappearances, but their memory is also violently removed from public space. In 2024 alone, at least five monuments erected by survivors will have disappeared, been banned or destroyed.

Impacta cine: remembering and commemorating in public space

The Impacta Cine collective wants to honour the memory of the kidnapped people in public space through film screenings and meetings. Around the presidential elections in the summer of 2024, with the support of Het Actiefonds, they organised various events and reclaimed public space.

Actions

For example, they organised a Bordatón with around 100 people on the central Zócalo square in Mexico City, an embroidery marathon where dolls of disappeared people were decorated and displayed in large numbers on the square. They also projected various short films about the victims and relatives. In this way, they drew public attention to the lawsuit against the local government, which denies having removed the previous memorials.

They were present at the opening of the annual Festival de Arte para No Olvidarte – the art festival to remember – which is held in front of the house in the Narvarte neighborhood where five people were found murdered in 2015 in a still unsolved case. During the festival and afterwards in other places, they showed the film “In Broad Daylight – The Narvarte Case”, which extensively examines the investigation process into this case and exposes the corruption of the authorities. Impacta Cine also installed, together with others, a new memorial. After previous monuments repeatedly disappeared, they equipped the new plaque with a GPS tracer. Although the local authorities always deny any connection, after the monument quickly disappeared again, they were able to get an initial idea of ​​who keeps removing the monuments.

Impacta Cine printed some 3,000 photographs of recent victims of state and cartel violence, which were hung at the Glorietta de lxs Desaparecidxs, in the presence of relatives of disappeared people – including the Honduran Mary Martínez, whose son Marco disappeared in Mexico in 2013, and who is part of a large movement of Latin American mothers and families who do not give up the search for their loved ones.

Impacata Cine will continue to fight against structural forced disappearances through the collaboration between the government, the cartels and the US border regime, and for a lasting memory of those who have disappeared. Everywhere, in public spaces, with creativity. And with the support and solidarity of Het Actiefonds!