Mexico Videos - The Documentary Network

The Subway Gangs of Mexico City

Documentary.net staff — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 17:18:44 +0000

It's Saturday morning in a Mexico City subway station, and the members of the Panamiur gang are headed to a party. Their leader, Cidel, is wearing huge sunglasses, a fauxhawk slathered in hair gel, cargo pants, and a T-shirt with a giant 2 and 6 airbrushed across it—a reference to November 26, 2010, the date the Panamiurs were founded. The four dozen kids surrounding Cidel are similarly adorned in fake gold chains, oversize shades, brightly colored baseball caps, and tight jeans. They shout chants at a member of a rival gang on the other side of the platform. "Jori's fucking mom is taking a bath, eh, oh!," they holler. "She's very close to our territory, eh, oh! With a huge dick in one hand and a rag with PVC glue in the other, eh, oh! And the gang says, we are gonna rape her, we are gonna rape her. Hard, hard in the ass! Fucking bitch!" .....

Mexico’s Third Gender

Documentary.net staff — Fri, 19 Jul 2013 06:58:08 +0000

Every November a celebration known as the Vigil of the Authentic Intrepid Searchers of Danger takes place in the city of Juchitán, Oaxaca, in Mexico. In this community of Zapotec indigenous people, it's generally understood that there are men, there are women, and there are muxes (pronounced "mooshez"). Muxes are born men, raised as women, and live as women all their lives. The Vigil—or Vela—is the most important event of the year for the muxes of Juchitán, as one of them is crowned queen during the festival. In this documentary we travel to Juchitán to meet members of the "third gender" of Zapotec culture, and to hang out at the Vigil, which was honestly one of the best parties we've ever been to. In the community of Zapotec indigenous people, it's generally understood that there are muxes. They are born men, raised as women, and live as women all their lives.

Mexico’s Female Crime Journalists

Documentary.net staff — Fri, 05 Jul 2013 17:20:45 +0000

We travel to Ciudad Juarez to meet the journalists who cover politics and crime for the Diario de Juarez. All of them are women and they have covered more crimes than anyone we can think of. They are also some of the bravest women we've ever met. We followed them around the city as they covered political rallies of the ruling party, PAN, and to crime scenes, to try to understand what happened there over the past few years and why the candidates were not fully addressing the most glaring issue in Mexican politics right now.

Mexican Vigilantes Stand Up Against Crime

Documentary.net staff — Wed, 01 May 2013 15:14:12 +0000

The state of Guerrero (which means "warrior") is one of the poorest in Mexico and the site of some of the worst violence in the battle between the drug cartels and Mexican authorities. As a result of the violence, hundreds of civillians have armed themselves with machetes, rifles, and shotguns, put masks on, and decided to police their own communities, effectively taking justice into their own hands.

Cracking the Maya Code

Documentary.net staff — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 15:09:29 +0000

The ancient Maya civilization of Central America left behind a riddle: an intricate and mysterious hieroglyphic script carved on stone monuments and painted on pottery and bark books. Because the invading Spanish suppressed nearly all knowledge of how the script worked, unlocking its meaning posed one of archaeology's fiercest challenges. Until now.

The Mexican Mormon War (Drug Cartels vs. Mormons)

Documentary.net staff — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 08:29:21 +0000

The cartels of Juarez, Mexico, are at war with a group of Mormons, some of whom are related to Mitt Romney. Shane Smith went there to document the conflict, meet Romney's Mormon family, and find out more about how US policy is impacting the war on drugs.

Insane Asylum in Mexico

Documentary.net staff — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 13:48:01 +0000

José Galvan runs one of Mexico's only insane asylums. In dreadful conditions, it houses patients who have been forgotten by both society and, often, their own families.