91ÑÇÉ«

The Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean presents:

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Expelling evil: Visuality and ritualized drama in Mayan law in Quiché, Guatemala

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Movie screening and discussion

by visual anthropologist

Carlos Y. Flores

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October 21, 2026

2:30pm - 4:00pm

Kaneff Tower 626

91ÑÇÉ« – Keele Campus

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The documentary Suk’ B’anik examines how some Maya-K’iche’ communities in Guatemala address crime and conflict through community-based justice practices rooted in ancestral traditions. In Santa Cruz del Quiché, local authorities organize public proceedings in which offenders are held accountable, encouraged to repent, and ultimately reintegrated into the community. Anthropologist Carlos Y. Flores explores the collective values, emotions, and rituals that shape these trials. Far more than legal processes, these community gatherings serve as powerful expressions of social cohesion, moral restoration, and Maya-K’iche’ cultural identity.

Carlos Y. Flores is an anthropologist whose research focuses on political violence, processes of community reconstruction and visual anthropology, particularly in the Mayan region of México and Guatemala.He has produced several ethnographic documentaries, including Suk’ B’anik (2022), in collaboration with Maya K’iche’ authorities in Guatemala. Currently, he teaches at the Autonomous University of the State of Morelos in Mexico.

Discussant: Carlota McAllister | Associate Professor

Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change

This event is being co-sponsored by the Centre for Indigenous Knowledges and Languages (CIKL)