The Sister Cities: Jackson and Tlaxcala
The Sister Cities: Jackson and Tlaxcala
The Sister Cities: Jackson, Wyoming, USA and Tlaxcala, Tlaxcala, Mexico. While Wyoming is often the butt of the same joke nationwide, “Wyoming exists?”, the same is also true of Mexico’s smallest state, Tlaxcala. Tlaxcala and Wyoming share a lot of similarities: a cowboy or “vaquero” culture, high and dry terrain, snow covered peaks, and a small state population. While little may be known about these places by the nations at large, generations of people know both forgotten states well. Since the 1990's, people from Tlaxcala have emigrated to Jackson Hole. Through a series of short documentaries, The Sister Cities Docuseries passes the mic and the camera to amateur filmmakers with roots from Tlaxcala. These stories share insight into the culture of interconnected towns 2,000 miles apart. Evoking nostalgia or curiosity for the old Spanish colonial churches, the houses of adobe, and the flavors of “esquites” and “elotes” made from Mexican corn, these films also share the perspectives of life in the United States, speaking Spanglish, eating Thanksgiving turkey with tortillas, finding time to enjoy soccer, skiing, and being outside despite busy work lives.
This series was made possible by generous community partnerships spearheaded by DIY Docs, a local nonprofit that offers courses in documentary filmmaking to first-time filmmakers. The project began in Jackson in 2019 and relocated to Tlaxcala to extend the opportunity to people from the rural towns of Hueyotlipan and San Lucas in 2021. Adults and teens learned the skills to direct their own short documentaries and reclaim the narrative of Mexican immigration to the US. Now a collection of over twenty short films is curriated to showcase the stories from these sister cities.
A reception with Tlaxcalteca food and drink to follow the film screening.