"The Buried Mirror"
 
by Sarah Bowen
 
in "Encounters" (Autumn 1990, pp. 15-16)
 
     What is past is prologue.  For early American peoples, mirrors
symbolized the sun, earth and its four corners and peoples. 
Mirrors were treated as sacred objects and hundreds of years ago
buried in caches throughout the Americas.  It is these mirrors
which symbolize the way Latin Americans have perceived themselves
in the past and continue to do so today.
     "The Buried Mirror", a series of five one-hour documentaries
produced by Malone-Gill Productions, will give a historical
overview of the origins, development, and destiny of Latin American
civilization in a cultural context.  The series will be developed
at as cost of five million dollars for television as the
centerpiece of the Smithsonian's Columbus Quincentenary
celebration.  The documentaries, with accompanying educational
materials, will be distributed to universities, colleges, and high
schools and possibly to the Public Broadcasting System (PBS).  The
Sociedad Estatal para la Ejecucion de Programas del Quinto
Centenario has assisted in the production of the series, which will
be aired in both Spanish and English in the fall of 1992.
     "The Buried Mirror" will begin in Pre-Columbian days and will
contain smatterings of voices from Latin Americans interwoven
through stories, poems, music, and conversations set in Spain,
Portugal, and the Americas.
     Renowned Latin American writer Carlos Fuentes wrote and will
narrate the series.  Fuentes has acquired an impressive reputation
as one of the premier voices of Latin America.  In addition to
authoring 12 novels including "Where the Air is Clear" (1958), "The
Old Gringo" (1985), and "Christopher Unborn" (1986), he has
produced an entourage of short stories, plays, and literary and
political essays.  "It seems to me that when we search in the
mirror of memory for the meaning of being Latin American, our
forebears reappear, bringing sharply contrasting images.  They tell
stories in Spanish of infinite variety, yet with strangely constant
themes.  Memory hears the voices of ancient peoples.  Our identity
is multiple," said Fuentes in a Smithsonian press release. 
Director Christopher Ralling and Executive Producer Michael Gill,
Project director of Historical Research Peggy Liss, and Fuentes
have established two principle goal for the series: first, to show
the change and continuity throughout the history of Latin America
and second, to present history in terms of how it is perceived by
Latin Americans themselves and how they subsequently identify
themselves.  The project was conceived by Liss, past president of
the Conference on Latin American History.  She will serve as
associate producer of the series.  The documentaries will center
on 1492, the year of Columbus' landing but will also include
information concerning the Pre-Columbian years.  "The Virgin and
the Bull", the first in the series, will examine the history of the
Inca and Aztec civilizations in Latin America.  Next, the second
episode will focus on the problem of seeing Spain's history as
simply one dominated by the Christian reconquista against the Moors
or as a mixture of Christian, Jewish, and Moslem influences.  The
third episode will bring together Spain and Latin America in a
discussion for the varying theories of the encounter between the
indigenous peoples and the Spanish.  In this documentary,
particular attention will be paid to whether the encounter
represents a mixture of cultures or a replacement of the conquered
indigenous elements.  Special attention will be paid to the
muralists of the twentieth century and their vision of Mexican
civilization in the fourth film.  It is in this crucial film that
the cultural identity of Ibero-Americans and their perceptions of
their history will be revealed.  The films will culminate in
Fuentes' fifth film discussions of the perceptions of Hispanic
peoples in United States history.  It is then that he will define
what it means to be a Latin American living in the United States. 
Another goal of the series is the advancement of United States
understanding of Latin America's past and present.  Present day
problems of debt and unemployment, rapidly growing populations,
inflation, great disparities in income distribution, and
obsolescent social structures are some modern Latin American
problems discussed in the series.  The answers which Fuentes
searches for, lie hidden deeply within the history and culture of
Latin America.
     "The southern border of the United States, together with a
vast and ill-defined transition zone to the north of it, fashion
not so much a frontier between different countries as between
different worlds," explained Smithsonian Secretary Robert McC.
Adams in a press release.  "It is our hope that through 'The Buried
Mirror' we can help to turn what has been a barrier largely
maintained by ignorance and indifference into a symbol of active,
sympathetic contact."
 
Some Facts
  *  series of five one-hour television programs.
  *  written and narrated by Mexican author Carlos Fuentes.
  *  produced by Malone-Gill Productions Ltd. of London.
  *  Co-producers: Smithsonian Institution, Sociedad Estatal Quinto
     Centenario Spain '92 Foundation, with the collaboration of
     the Sociedad General de Television-Spain (SOGETEL), Banco
     Bilbao Vizcaya and a private group of Spanish corporations.
  *  Budget for the series $4,600,000.
  *  Sociedad Estatal Quinto Centenario Spain '92 Foundation total
     sponsorship $1,000,000.
  *  total contribution of Spanish entities $3,000,000.
  *  scheduled to be released in both Spanish and English in the
     Fall on 1992.
  *  all scripts have been completed.
  *  filming is near completion.
 
Reprint permission granted by publisher.