The Tiger and the Deer

Maya Celtic - Comunidad Salvadoreña en Irlanda in collaboration with Instituto Cervantes Dublin present this documentary directed by Salvadoran Sergio Sibrían, screened for the first time in 2013, tells Marcelino Galicia’s story, a descendant of the indigenous population in the village, in the municipality of Ahuachapán, El Salvador, and location of the 1932 massacre, which he witnessed and survived. Marcelino, now 105 years old, is a Nahuátl speaker and the last traditional flute or reed whistle player. The reed whistle is used to play the ancestral dance The Tiger and the Deer, a metaphor in which the tiger represents the army, responsible of the brutal episode in 1932. The flute player, affectionately known as Don Chelino, is determined to teach his art to the new generations, so he selects a group of young candidates to keep this tradition alive after his passing.