As a film programmer, I long dreamed of being able to bring along with me the films from the region where I was making my own work: Chiapas, in Mexico. Today, I’m thrilled to present on Tënk four major works produced by Terra Nostra Films, a production company that is essential for understanding contemporary documentary cinema in Latin America.

I met French producer Nicolas Défossé in 2018, in Chiapas. Alongside Daniela Contreras, he co-founded Terra Nostra Films in 2009 — a creative hub whose mission is to foster and elevate an exceptional filmmaking community in this region. Chiapas is a territory deeply shaped by social, peasant, and Indigenous struggles, particularly those led by the Zapatista movement. Terra Nostra supports the creation of films grounded in these realities, with great artistic and political integrity.

Sylvie Lapointe
Filmmaker and programmer

Terra Nostra Films (TNF) was founded in 2009 by Daniela Contreras (Mexico) and Nicolas Défossé (France) and focuses on documentary film production. Based in Chiapas, in southeastern Mexico, TNF is strongly committed to the Documentary Film School of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, a local initiative that it has supported from its inception. In recent years, TNF has mainly produced the first or second films of filmmakers living in Chiapas, thus participating in building a film community in this historically marginalized region and trusting in the talent of young local filmmakers. These films have been screened both nationally and internationally and received awards in film festivals, highlighting the way in which they appropriate the universal language of cinema.