A-Infos (en) France, UCL AL #372 - Culture - Watch Nicolas Defossé, A Bigger Place (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

"A bigger place": this is what Nicolas Defossé wanted to show. Having 
lived in Mexico for over fifteen years, the filmmaker spent five years 
filming in the ejido of Tila in Chiapas. An ejido is a collective land, 
a status inherited from the Mexican Revolution of 1910, and whose 
defense is central to the Zapatista revolution. --- Here, the 
inhabitants are not part of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation 
(EZLN), but their desire for self-governance is the same. In 2015, they 
expelled the police, notoriously violent in Mexico, as well as the city 
hall, from this town of twenty-five thousand inhabitants. The 
documentary immerses us in this community facing the challenges of 
self-management. The opening scenes are exhilarating, showing residents 
in a state of heightened self-reliance, determined to expel activists 
from a political partywho have been banned in the ejidoand busy 
deliberating on what to do with their belongings, including umbrellas 
(spoiler alert: burn them).

After these exhilarating first minutes, we discover the harsher reality 
of daily self-governance. The ejido must act as both police and justice 
system, dealing in particular with domestic violence and alcohol-related 
problems, which are very prevalent in the community. What to do, for 
example, when a man has assaulted his partner and a young child? 
Replicating the practices of the old police is out of the question, so 
the ejido innovates... We would have liked to learn more about these 
justice practices and their long-term effects.

Throughout the film, we understand the constant pressure faced by the 
residents, from attempted incursions by political parties or state 
representatives to the looming threat of paramilitaries (the Tila ejido 
was one of the worst massacres in Chiapas in the 1990s), a threat that 
ultimately materializesafter the film's end. But the difficulties are 
also internal: young people are leaving, some neighborhoods are more 
involved than others in collective tasks (the perennial problem of 
self-management), as are certain social classesthe "teachers" seem 
strangely unconcerned about garbage collection. The film allows us to 
take the time for deliberations to understand how the residents make 
decisions.

While the colonial aspect is addressed, notably through the presence of 
a large festival and a traditional community game, the limited presence 
of women in the documentary is regrettable. Their political role seems 
minor... is this really the case? What do they think about it? We will 
never know.

Benefiting from beautiful cinematography and excellent sound editing 
(despite slightly cluttered visuals, given the film's focus on extended 
time), this documentary remains a rare glimpseat least from a French 
perspectiveof this experiment... or revolution?

For us, so far away, hearing this echo from across the ocean allows us, 
at least, to continue believing that another world is possible.

Agrippine (UCL Nantes)

Nicolas Defossé, Un lugar mas grande, in theaters April 22, 2026, 115 min.

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Voir-Nicolas-Defosse-Un-lugar-mas-grande
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