He did a BA in Communication at UIA in Mexico. Next, he finished an MA in screenwriting at the London Film School, as well as a course in documentary filmmaking at the National Film and Television School. In 2011 he was selected for the Berlinale’s Talent Campus.
His work has been selected in various festivals throughout America, Europe and Africa, amongst them: Morelia’s FICM, the ECU in Paris and Cinema Latino in Sao Paulo. His fiction screenplay Late Penitential was awarded the development grant by the national film board. Currently, he’s working on a new project sponsored by the National System of Art Creators.

San Juan de la Vega, a humble community in the lowlands of north-central Mexico, witnesses every year an explosive tradition. The Carnival of San Juan has been celebrated since before Mexico declared its independence from Spain and, in recent decades, has changed into an outright fiesta charged with massive amounts of gunpowder and religious celebrations.
Although the Catholic Church does not formally recognise San Juanito, the patron saint of the locals, this doesn’t stop the townsfolk from praying, holding vigil and commending themselves to his miracles. The thunder offerings are detonations that each believer produces with zeal by smashing on the ground hammers heavy with explosives.
The amount of gunpowder is sufficient so that is legally considered a terrorist threat by the federal government. This builds tension between the locals. The older generations do not approve the afflictions the people cause onto themselves and the tradition. Opposed, the youth challenges the establishment with their ongoing blasts.
The Thunder Feast portrays three singular viewpoints of the same tradition. Through the experiences and stories of José, a passionate thunder-maker; Saul, a local leader devoted to San Juan, and Beto, the conflicted local authority, the documentary shows how San Juanito makes his yearly pilgrimage on the brim of a fatal outcome.

Teaser #1 ‘Truenos de San Juan’ from Santiago Maza on Vimeo.