Mexican film about ancient game to be screened Oct. 12

Each Sunday during the fall and winter months, while many Americans watch football on television, another sports tradition is taking place in some areas of Mexico. That game, ulama, involves five-man teams of athletes volleying rubber balls off their hips across dirt playing fields. It has been played throughout Mesoamerica for thousands of years. Excavations have found ceramic figurines and ball courts from the fourth century A.D.

Luckily for modern-day players, the stakes are no longer as high as they were in Aztec times. The winners then were rewarded with a prime spot on the sacrificial altar, on their way to an afterlife with the gods; the losers were banished.

The sport – one of the best links between the pre-Hispanic world and modern Mexico – gained worldwide attention when the documentary film “Ulama: el juego de la vida y la muerte” (Ulama: the Mayan ballgame of life and death) was first shown in 1984.

The film will be screened at California State University, Monterey Bay’s World Theater at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 12. Director Roberto Rochín will be on hand to discuss his film and answer questions from the audience. The program will be hosted by CSU Monterey Bay founding faculty member Luis Valdez.

The discussion will be held in English; the film’s dialogue is in Spanish with English subtitles.

Far more than a simple exposé on an ancient sport, Rochín’s documentary is a lyrical and beautifully shot work of art, balancing its study of ancient ritual with images of the game in modern play, celebrated by indigenous populations of Mexico and Central America.

It earned five Ariel Awards from the Mexican Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences: best film debut; best film; best music; best editing; and best cinematography. It’s now considered a classic of Mexican documentary films.

After the discussion, Rochín will sign copies of his book about ulama.

The event is free, but a parking permit must be purchased from a machine on the lot next to the theater.

The screening is sponsored by a variety of campus programs and academic departments, Fremont Gallery and El Teatro Campesino.

For more information or disability accommodations, call the World Theater box office at 582-4580. Driving directions and a campus map are available here.

Photo: Roberto Rochín