In traditional Mapuche dress, Ana Tijoux shows off her Amerindian roots once again in her latest music video for “Canelo Sagrado.” The song was created by Tijoux and Camilo Salinas for Genoveva, a documentary about the prejudices the Mapuche community face. Director Paola Castillo explained to Tijoux that the movie was dedicated to her daughter, so that she could learn the importance of being connected to her ancestral roots. So Tijoux begins by singing: “Pequeña, esta es tu memoria/Pequeña, junto con mi historia.”
Old, grainy black-and-white photos are featured and recreated by Tijoux throughout. The most heartbreaking parts of the video shows signs from the Mapuche community asking for justice, liberty and land, which is juxtaposed with footage of construction. The song and the movie are connected in more ways than one; Tijoux is also a part of the documentary. “The song was always an important part of the screenplay,” Castillo said. “We always knew that we wanted to do a song and that the lyrics for the song would recognize the spirit of the movie.”
The documentary will be released on Aug. 6 in Chile, but there was no news on whether or not it would be made available online. At the very least, some of you can at least check out Anita at Webster Hall in October.