Excuse me . . . Did I just hear someone thinking out loud? Are you wondering what exactly is a tamalada? A tamalada, in our house, is a winter gathering of family and friends that get together at our house to make tamales, and to enjoy the fruits of our labor. This video was created from found footage of a “real-time” home party. It was never captured to become an video art piece it just became one and is now part of my CULTURAL CROSSING Video Collection.
VIEWING INSTRUCTIONS: Click play and enlarge the screen for your viewing pleasure. I also recommend setting the audio at mid level, unless you don’t mind getting blasted by my brother Geno’s passion for singing his all time favorite tune “Family Tradition” by Hank Williams.
A little backstory: My video, Living in Nepantla: La Tamalada, seems like a typical family home video, but it is not typical at all. In fact, this six-minute video presents a glimpse into the lifestyle of a family who struggles to maintain its rich cultural heritage and humorously interjects visual narratives that are intended to deconstruct the stereotype that all Mexicans continue to live in impoverished neighborhoods. It is one of my favorite videos that focuses on addressing and documenting an assimilation/acculturation battle associated with living in the land of in-between, also known as the Nahuatl word nepantla.