Oaxaca – Celebration is a feature documentary directed by Dr. Louis Lam, a medical expeditionist and cultural anthropologist, who travels all over the world to tell inspirational stories about the local people and culture, their views about themselves versus the world, and current issues that reflect much wider influences. Oaxaca is about the meaning of celebration filmed in Mexico with a very festive culture, celebrating not only the happy moments of life but also unfortunate events and death with color and exorbitance. It explores the true meaning behind celebration as a way to remember and respect. It expresses their cultural definitions through the local people of Oaxaca and an indigenous village of Mixtec in the mountain of San Francisco Caballua Monteverde. It takes the audience to a rich journey of food celebration from the street foods of Oaxaca and the indigenous market of Ocotlan. It interviews an archeological enthusiast to discover the ancient Mayan & Aztec origin of celebration. It talks about the celebration of a funeral in Tule and a recount of the gun town celebration from a local teacher who also talks about her experience of the importance of celebrations in educating younger generations on preserving the meaning of remembering the good and the bad as well as respecting life. It follows a typical day of Rocio, a family cook living in Etla preparing and celebrating their local iconic Mole in the land of the Seven Moles. It introduces many of the local celebratory cuisines such as talyuda, memeles, dried grasshoppers, the BBQ meat markets, manudo soup, and a roadside goat place. It visits the typical Zapotec family of six sisters and their ancient cooking as well as the hot lava rock cooking of the Chinanteco river people.

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Filmed March 2023.