Mullu is the traditional name for the Spondylus shell which was harvested on the equatorial coasts of the Pacific Ocean in the territories of the Manteño-Wankavilka people. Its arrival signified the coming of the rains that would ensure the reproduction of life. For this reason, the mullu shell became a sacred object that was exchanged on land and at sea as a symbol of alliance between different peoples.
Across Abya Yala, from Mesoamerica to Patagonia, ceremonial pieces, vessels and necklaces were made with the shell, which was even used in the construction of ancestral temples, and this deep historical significance is a reminder of the origin of life in the ocean, our cultures’ deep connections to water, and the fundamental importance of alliance and exchange for the strength of our communities.
Somos un colectivo diverso e intercultural de cineastas, comunicadorxs, periodistas y defensorxs que amplifica las voces de las culturas profundas que habitan los ríos, las selvas, los páramos, las llanuras y el mar, así como las nuevas geografías urbanas indígenas y afrodescendientes. Nos alineamos con las disputas anticoloniales y defend the right to imagine and build culturally diverse and socially just futures for everyone.
At the beginning of 2022, in the face of the dispossession and threats experienced by Indigenous and other frontline communities, we were inspired to action; building on the practices and teachings of our ancestors who exchanged the mullu to deepen alliances and strengthen collective resilience.
Inspired by the art and worldviews of the Manteño-Wankavilka people, and recognizing that film and communication are powerful vehicles to strengthen, connect and unify the peoples of the world, we began to create an ambitious, multidisciplinary project.
Thus Mullu was born; an alternative, artistic, diverse and engaged audiovisual community.
Mullu is a regional film and audiovisual communication platform promoting the audiovisual sovereignty of Indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples. We work in the production and distribution of films and news stories that explore the multiple threats and challenges facing frontline communities, while strengthening the cultural assertion of their own visions, aspirations and aesthetic languages.
We hope to foster the formation of critical and engaged audiences that interact with content based on the visions and worldviews of Indigenous and Afro-descendant communicators and filmmakers in order to showcase their rich aesthetic and semiotic languages and the universal value of maintaining our cultural diversity.
We envision a future in which Indigenous, Afro-descendant and Black peoples’ voices and biocultural diversity are recognized, valued and understood by regional and global audiences, and a future in which unequal and discriminatory access to communication is overcome through the creative impetus of peoples, communities and collectives.
We’re committed to empowering the audiovisual sovereignty of Indigenous, Black and Afro-descendant peoples, to amplifying the social, political and environmental struggles faced by frontline communities, and to showcasing these unique visions, languages and aesthetic ideas to global audiences.
We develop actions, initiatives and alliances aimed at the production and distribution of films and news that is either produced by Indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples, or in cooperation with creators invested in Indigenous and Afro-centered narratives.
We provide training to frontline communicators and filmmakers, and support the development of creative audiovisual narratives that enable, through appropriate cultural transmission frameworks, the amplification of these peoples' voices and the strengthening of their communications fabric.
We believe that the power of film and communications can be used to further audiovisual self-determination by:
1) increasing awareness of the struggles against the expropriation of land and common goods;
2) combating racial discrimination and all forms of violence, and;
3) upholding indigenous peoples' own knowledge, values, and worldviews, which are instrumental for the imagination of alternative futures that center people's relationships with nature and with their own essential communal and social essence.
