Pobo Tzu

In 1982, the Chichonal volcano erupted, burying numerous villages, including the Zoque community of Esquipulas Guayabal. Years later, the inhabitants of Nuevo Guayabal rebuild their lives as the volcano and the buried village lurk in the undergrowth. Trinidad, a poet born on the day of the eruption, has dreamlike visions that quickly spread through his community, sparking a collective effort to unearth the ancient village, while the presence of the Piowachue (the spirit of the volcano in the Zoque cosmovision) grows stronger among the community. 

This poetic feature film opens Volcano Cinema: Of Eruptions and Other Stories, a season showcasing the diverse ways volcanoes have been documented and reimagined through film. Displacing the central role of the disaster movie, the programme approaches volcanoes and their metaphoric power, from different landscapes, cultural mythologies, and with political potency and provocation. 

Volcano Cinema: Of Eruptions and Other Stores takes place in Dundee, Glasgow and Edinburgh, between the 25 November and 7 December 2024. The season is a collaboration between CinemaAttic and the “Ixchel” project, sponsored by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and hosted at University of Edinburgh.