Visitors to Teuchitlan’s ever more popular Phil Weigand Museum eventually wander into its auditorium to take the weight off their feet and watch a 50-minute video called “An Unknown Civilization in Ancient Western Mexico.”
Many are so impressed by the high quality of the documentary that later they may purchase it on DVD to introduce their friends to the extraordinary society that flourished in this part of Jalisco 2,000 years ago.
This video was produced by Explora Mexico, the first documentary film company in Jalisco and a consistent winner of awards since it began production in 2004.
I was surprised to learn that Explora Mexico has only three permanent members: Pascual Aldana, who directs the films, producer Alberto Fuentes and special effects wizard Daniel Aldana. They work out of a humble studio in Guadalajara and dedicate themselves wholly to their craft.
I recently sat down with Fuentes to ask him how his company got started.
“Explora Mexico was born out of a strong desire to do something different,” said Fuentes, a longtime producer of entertainment television programs.
Eleven years ago, at the request of the Jalisco Secretariat of Culture, he teamed up with Pascual to make a documentary on the “Magic Town” of San Sebastian del Oeste. “It turned out well, so we began to make others.”
They included subjects such as the Puente de Calderon, the Lake Chapala island of Mezcala and the Paisaje Agavero (Agave Country).
“People liked them,” Fuentes said. “Then TV UNAM came to us and we got together with them and other partners like El Colegio de Michoacan and altogether we’ve now made 14 videos.”
Producing documentaries is no easy task, Fuentes explained. “You need to spend a lot of time on research and scouting, among other things. For example, there wasn’t much information on Mezcala Island and it took us seven months just to gather all the facts.”
Explora Mexico´s most recent project – and one of Fuentes’ favorites – is the 50-minute documentary “Los Mezcales del Occidente y la Destilación PreHispanica,” which investigates the origins of Mexican spirits such as mezcal and tequila, produced by distilling the fermented juice of agaves.
The film came about after Fuentes met ethnobotanist Patricia Colunga, who was carrying out an investigation into agave growing. “She described to me amazing things that she and her partner Daniel Zizumba had discovered at the foot of the famous Volcan de Fuego, which straddles the borde
rs of Colima and Jalisco. I knew immediately this was going to be our next documentary.”
In point of fact, the researchers discovered that local people had produced hybrids of some 20 varieties of agaves, from which they were distilling exquisite mezcals using techniques much older and more primitive than any ever seen in the Tequila-Amatitan-Arenal area.
According to Colunga and Zizumba, the farmers were using a Chinese-style alambique or still, which had first been employed on the Pacific Coast of Colima by Filipinos, for making coconut spirits, called tuba. When the Spaniards outlawed tuba in 1612 (to protect their own imported brandy) and chopped down all the coconut palms, clever entrepreneurs in Colima began – in secret – to distill fermented agave juice, a practice that slowly spread northwards, resulting eventually in a product known today as tequila, a mezcal made from just one variety of agave, Agave tequilana weber.
The equivalent of the Oscars for Mexican documentaries are awarded at the Festival Pantalla de Cristal (Crystal Screen Festival) held annually in Mexico City. “Mezcals of Western Mexico” took the 2013 festival by storm. “Our documentary received 12 nominations that year,” Fuentes said. Eventually, they walked away with the top awards for animation and color work.
The documentary was widely viewed on Mexic
an television and, Fuentes said, resulted in a big boom in mezcal sales, directly benefiting the agave farmers and distillers in Colima who are forbidden from labeling their liquor as “tequila,” even though their spirits may be superior in taste and quality.
“Una Civilización Desconocida en el Antiguo Occidente de Mexico,” Explora Mexico’s documentary on the ancient Guachimontones pyramids in Teuchitlan, has also had an influential impact.
“Before the documentary came out, there were only about 5,000 people visiting the ruins of Teuchitlán each year,” Fuentes said. “Afterward, the number shot up to 250,000. Just take a look at the crowds that now visit the pyramids during the equinox.”
The Magic Circle
I am happy to report that Explora Mexico’s next project aims at educating a wider public to the extraordinary biodiversity and geodiversity of what I like to call “The Magic Circle” around Guadalajara.
The documentary makers plan to visit 12 sites described in my book, “Outdoors in Western Mexico.”
“We want to create a series of programs to appeal to everyone from children to seniors,” Fuentes said. “These days there is a great interest in ecology and we would like to make people aware of the treasures we have here in Western Mexico. We’ll also aim at opening the eyes of people who throw garbage around or start fires that go out of control. And we want to answer questions such as, ‘How did that volcano form?’ or ‘Why is there a huge canyon here?’ We want people to discover these things and we want to do it in a fun way.”
Explora Mexico’s most recent documentaries on the Teuchitlan Civilization, archaeologist Phil Weigand and the Mezcals of Western Mexico, all have optional sound tracks in excellent English and can be purchased from Sandi Bookstore or from This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Their website is exploramexicodocumentales.com.