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GUEST: Salvador Carrasco, Filmmaker

Archaeologists from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History removed a massive, 12 ton monolith dedicated to the earth goddess Tlaltecuhtli on Tuesday in what is present-day Mexico City. The archaeologists say that they are now exploring the area for the tomb of an Aztec king, who reigned more than 500 years ago in the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan. Since Spanish conquistadores built historically-recognized colonial buildings over the site, archeologists have not been able to reach the older Aztec structures. It could be said that much of Aztec history has literally been covered up by Spanish colonialism, beginning with Hernan Cortez in 1519 – yet the original customs of the Mexica people continue to thrive in present-day Mexico. About 10 years ago, filmmaker Salvador Carrasco set out to make a film to highlight the period between the fall of Tenochtitlan in 1521 and the apparitions of the Virgen de Guadalupe in 1531. The film, called La Otra Conquista (The Other Conquest) faced serious obstacles from Mexico’s government-sponsored film institute, which tried to stop it from being made. Yet when it was released in 1999, it broke box-office records in Mexico. The film was briefly screened in the United States – and just recently released on DVD.

For more information, visit www.theotherconquest.com/