The Civilizers – Germans in Guatemala poster
Film · 1998

The Civilizers – Germans in Guatemala

Los Civilizadores - Alemanes en Guatemala

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Synopsis

For more than a century, Guatemala has been home to a small yet highly influential German community. Its prosperity began with the coffee boom and has continued, almost uninterrupted, to the present day. Convinced of belonging to a superior culture, its members sought to impose their model of civilization on Guatemala. Elder coffee barons present faded photographs, and through their stories, the history of colonization unfolds. But the film shifts its gaze toward the other, toward the Indigenous people who labor on the plantations. The film portrays several generations of families and, without commentary, presents twentieth-century attitudes that time has relativized but not changed. A journey through questions of power, identity, and civilization. Based on years of extensive research, it offers a new analysis of colonialism and its destructive consequences in Guatemala and Latin America.

Details

Director
Uli Stelzner, Thomas Walther
Release
January 1, 1998
Status
Released
Country
Guatemala, Germany
Network
Iskacine

Where to watch

No known streaming options in United States.

Cast

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