As children approach the camera, they make gang signs and mimic the act of slitting someone’s throat.
This is not fiction, but a scene in a documentary called “ Mexicanos de bronce ” ( Bronze Mexicans ), which originally aimed to show what happened to inmates once they were released from prison.
The scene features infants living in an area where a lack of motherly love and precarious financial conditions have led them to act a certain way.
“A child’s perspective is revealing of the degradation of the social context they live in. The documentary does not seek to advocate crime or minimize its effects, but show that if nothing is done to prevent it, things will only continue getting worse ,” stated Julio Fernández Talamantes , director of the film.
The documentary took five years of hard work from the production team. One of its main challenges was convincing Rocky, Hones, and Bullet to participate. The three friends met in prison and decided to form a music band to express their haunting past.
One of them is set free, but is eventually drawn back to his previous criminal lifestyle.
“I had to create a relationship based on trust so that they would let me go into their homes and so I told them personal things about my own life. We try to keep in touch,” stated the movie director.
“They met all the needed criteria because, apart from being very eloquent, these people tell their stories through songs, which helped our project in a great way,” he added.
Bronze Mexicans will be projected first in Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey . Next week, we will send it to the State of Mexico, Zacatecas , and other states.
“We are also looking to project it in alternative spaces and make workshops so that children don’t fall into a life of crime,” he commented.
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