"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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