#SomosElMuro

#SomosElMuro is a satirical action created collaboratively in 2017 an Artivism & Humor Lab organized by the Hemispheric Institute in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, México, with a group of 30+ artists and activists from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the US—including Fulana.

Its aim was to make visible the (then invisibilized) xenophobia and discrimination faced daily by Central American migrants and refugees in Mexico. Launched in January 2018, #Somoselmuro presents a group of ultra-right, pro-Trump’s wall Mexicans who propose to turn Mexico into a giant human border. The video and the song ask, “What part of the wall are you?” and remind you that “By doing nothing, you’re also part of the wall.”

The video went viral in October 2018 (1.2 million views in the first 2 days, 2.6 million views within the first week), as the migrant Caravan was making its way from Honduras to Mexico, when Canal 6 Honduras ripped the video and reported it as real on their Facebook platform. Honduran website El Pulso, upon finding out the video was a satirical action, interviewed a group of us to report on the project’s intentions. WNYC’s On the Media also produced a segment on #SomosElMuro and the role of satire on the internet in this day and age.

Website: http://www.somoselmuro.com.mx [for English version, switch to "English" in the main menu]
Twitter & FB: @SomosElMuroMx

Meditación para abrir los chakras tras el Huracán María

MEDITACIÓN: ABRIR LOS CHAKRAS TRAS EL HURACÁN MARÍA
Para lxs boricuas que tanto necesitan abrir los chakras a casi dos meses del huracán.
2017 | 08:13 min. | DV | Color

Ali Nodoro nos presenta una calmante, relajante y quizás expurgante meditación guiada para abrir los chakras tras el Huracán María, que ha devastado la isla y dejado a la mayoría de su población sin agua ni luz por ya casi dos meses. Escúchenla hasta el final para descubrir el mantra divino— y compártanla con quien pueda necesitarla. NAMASTÉ.

Tercer Impacto: Hispanacea

TERCER IMPACTO: HISPANACEA (English subtitles)
Fabi and Barbi report on The Hispanic Paradox, Doña Cuca and Hispanacea
2009 | 05:25 min. | DV | Color

Immigrant Latina women—who have had little or no access to education or health care—are living longer than anyone else in the United States. The New York Times has called this phenomenon "The Hispanic Paradox." What if Latinas' longevity could be extracted from their bodies and marketed as a health supplement to the public at large? Find out on the hard-hitting news show, TERCER IMPACTO, as Barbi Bermúdez and Fabi Fernández report on the new craze in energy supplements, HISPANACEA: Your Fountain of Youth. Feel the force that is sweeping the nation!

See our photo album to see images from Univisión's "Primer Impacto", our inspiration for Barbi and Fabi.

Read an interview about Tercer Impacto featured on Sleeping Weazel's cyber art gallery, October 2012

CREDITS: Written, directed, produced by Fulana (Cristina Ibarra , Marlène Ramírez-Cancio, Lisandra Ramos Grullón and Andrea Thome); edited by Marlène Ramírez-Cancio & Fulanation; director of photography Eddie Martinez; sound by Adrian Martinez; original music by Sinuhé Padilla-Isunza. CAST: Andrea Thome, Marlène Ramírez-Cancio, Lisandra Ramos-Grullón, Jen Camp, Cameron Atwell, Daniela Thome, Daniel Norrian, Teresa Basilio, Desiree Gordian, Riyoji Kajiwara, Helen Tong, Teresa Basilio, Sebastián Calderón-Bentín. For more, see rolling credits at the end of video.

Made possible by NALAC Fund for the Arts and the Ford Foundation.

Tercer Impacto: Hispanacea [subtítulos en español]

TERCER IMPACTO: HISPANACEA (con subtítulos en español)
Fabi y Barbi informan sobre La Paradoja Hispana, Doña Cuca e Hispanacea
2009 | 05:25 min. | DV | Color

Las inmigrantes latinas—sin acceso a la educación o al cuidado de salud—tienen vidas más largas que el resto de los estadounidenses. El New York Times le ha llamado a este fenómeno “La Paradoja Hispana”. ¿Qué pasaría si la longevidad de las latinas pudiera extraerse de sus cuerpos y ser mercadeadas en pastillas “energéticas”? Entérese en el programa de noticias, TERCER IMPACTO: Barbi Bermúdez y Fabi Fernández les informan sobre la última moda en píldoras energéticas, HISPANACEA: Su Fuente de la Juventud. ¡Sienta la fuerza que está arrasando el país!

Operation Blue Blood

OPERATION BLUE BLOOD
You're In
2005 | 01:30 min. | DV | Color

During the first week of September 2005, as we watched the footage of Hurricane Katrina victims stranded on rooftops for days on end, crowded into the Convention Center and Superdome with no food or water, ignored by FEMA and the Bush Administration, we asked ourselves—as did many, many people—"What if the hurricane had hit a wealthy area instead? What if those affected hadn't been mostly poor (or "underprivileged anyway", as Barbara Bush said)?"...

Screened at the Corto Circuito Festival in NYC (2005); Muestra Nacional de Arte 2005-2006 Rewind... Rewind... Video arte puertorriqueño at the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña in San Juan, Puerto Rico (2006); VIII SALON INTERNACIONAL DE ARTE DIGITAL in La Habana, Cuba (2006); video-art series video-art series Miradas de Mujer: doce video artistas iberoamericanas, Montevideo, Uruguay (2007)

Created, produced, directed by Fulana (Lisandra Ramos Grullón and Marlène Ramírez-Cancio); editing and sound design by Cameron Atwell; sound recording and mixing by Milton Ruiz. CAST: Marlène Ramírez-Cancio and Cameron Atwell (voice-overs).

Amnezac

AMNEZAC
The Most Powerful Anti-Historiamine on the Market
2005 | 01:00 min. | DV | Color

Do you feel anxiety about world events you cannot change? Are your political concerns interfering with your patriotic activities, like shopping and paying taxes? Does the Iraq war remind you of US invasions of Latin American countries, including your own? You may be suffering from Historical Memoritis. Ask your doctor about Amnezac: The Most Powerful Anti-Historiamine on the Market.

CREDITS: Written, directed, produced by Fulana (Cristina Ibarra, Marlène Ramírez-Cancio, Lisandra Ramos-Grullón & Andrea Thome); edited by Cristina Ibarra; sound recording and mixing by Milton Ruiz; graphic design by Marlène Ramírez-Cancio. CAST: Rachelle Mendez; Marlène Ramírez-Cancio (voice-over).

Amnezac [subtítulos en español]

AMNEZAC (con subtítulos en español)
El Anti-Historiamínico Más Poderoso del Mercado
2005 | 01:00 min. | DV | Color

¿Siente ansiedad por eventos mundiales que usted no puede cambiar? ¿Sus inquietudes políticas interfieren en sus actividades patrióticas, como ir de compras y pagar impuestos? ¿La guerra en Irak le recuerda a las invasiones estadounidenses de países latinoamericanos, incluyendo el suyo? Tal vez padezca de Memoritis Histórica." Luego de establecer el diagnóstico, el comercial le urge a los televidentes que bloqueen su memoria histórica a largo plazo, con Amnezac: "el más poderoso Anti-Historiamínico en el mercado.

Lupe & JuanDi from the Block

LUPE & JUANDI FROM THE BLOCK
La Virgen de Guadalupe and El Indio Juan Diego on Race and Capitalism
2003 | 05:06 min. | DV | Color

Inspired by La Virgen de Guadalupe, San Juan Diego, and Nuestra Señora de J-Lo, this music video was created to answer burning questions, such as: How come El Indio Juan Diego became a white man for his saintly Vatican image?, Is the Pope concerned about losing the Latino market?, What's up with $600 designer Virgen de Guadalupe jeans?, and Are we fooled by the props G-Loop's got? Is she, is she, Lupe from the Block?

WINNER, Best Short Fiction, CineFestival 2004. Also selected as part of the Smokin Mirrors Film Festival in LA (2003); the L-Factor exhibit at Exit Art Gallery in NYC (2004), the Women of Color Film Festival in NYC (2004); the 'SpanicAttack festival in Lima Perú (2004) and NYC (2005); the LART's Arte con Filo in NYC (2004), the Havana Film Festival in New York (2005); Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in SF (2005); Galería de la Raza in SF (2005); Muestra Nacional de Arte 2005-2006 Rewind... Rewind... Video arte puertorriqueño at the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña in San Juan, Puerto Rico (2006);VIII SALON INTERNACIONAL DE ARTE DIGITAL in La Habana, Cuba (2006); Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Oaxaca (MACO) (2006); Fundación de Arte Contemporáneo de Montevideo, Uruguay (2006); Instituto Cervantes in Brasília, Brasil (2007)

CREDITS: Written, directed, produced by Fulana (Cristina Ibarra, Marlène Ramírez-Cancio, Lisandra Ramos Grullón and Andrea Thome); edited by Cristina Ibarra; CAST: Andrea Thome, Marlène Ramírez-Cancio, Luis Grullón, Lisandra Ramos-Grullón, Aroosha Rana, Herminia Collado, Miguel Luciano, Adriana Vázquez. For more, see rolling credits at the end of video.

Latino Plastic Cover

LATINO PLASTIC COVER
Because Plastic Is Forever
2000 | 01:15 min. | DV | Color

When our abuelitas cover their couches, their lamps, their TV sets—todo!—in clear plastic, what are they trying so desperately to protect? Our first project together, Latino Plastic Cover is a mock cable access commercial for the ultimate all-purpose product, guaranteed not only to keep dust off your muebles, but to solve all kinds of social ills affecting the Latino community & beyond. Discover the luxury of freedom!

CREDITS: Written, directed, produced by Fulana (Cristina Ibarra, Marlène Ramírez-Cancio, Lisandra Ramos-Grullón & Andrea Thome), edited by Cristina Ibarra. CAST: Lisandra Ramos-Grullón; Alex Rivera; Andrea Thome; Joe Thome; Cristina Ibarra; Marlène Ramírez-Cancio (voice-over).

Latino Plastic Cover [español]

LATINO PLASTIC COVER
Porque el plástico es para siempre
2000 | 01:15 min. | DV | Color

Cuando nuestras abuelitas cubren con plástico el sofá, la lámpara, el televisor—¡todo!—¿qué es lo que intentan proteger? "Latino Plastic Cover" fue el primer corto de Fulana—un anuncio paródico de la panacea perfecta, que no sólo te garantiza mantener tus muebles limpios, sino que también soluciona todo tipo de problema social en la comunidad latina y el país entero. ¡Descubre la libertad de Latino Plastic Cover!