A BIGGER PLACE

Documentary | 115 min. | Mexico, France | 2025 | Director: Nicolas Défossé | Prod: Terra Nostra Films, Tita B Productions
Synopsis: 

Chiapas, southeastern Mexico. When the people of Tila and other villages run the town hall and police out of their territory, they face the challenge of exercising self-governance. "A Bigger Place" draws on the tradition of direct cinema to explore the day-to-day construction of autonomy, revealing a broad interweaving of people, generations, spirits and landscapes. It plunges us into the heart of a collective process, where self-governance becomes a responsibility towards oneself and others. A Zapatista-inspired adventure in Ch'ol Mayan territory.

Nicolas Défossé
Short Bio

Filmmaker, editor and producer. After the completion of a master's degree in Philosophy from the Paris1-Sorbonne University, followed by Film Studies, he worked as an editor in Paris. In the 2000s, he devoted himself to providing audiovisual training in Native communities in southeastern Mexico and made several short films, as well as the feature doc "¡Viva México!". In Chiapas, he subsequently co-founded the production house Terra Nostra Films (2009) and the Documentary Film School of San Cristóbal de Las Casas (2016), whose films have received more than 90 awards in the last 5 years.