Un Viaje de Ámbar was filmed in Chiapas in 2024. The documentary is made in collaboration with amber artisan Antonio Ramírez Jardines (left) and myself (middle). 

The documentary follows a piece of amber from the mines in Simojovel, the biggest amber mining town in Mexico, to Antonio’s workshop in San Cristóbal de las Casas and finally to an art exhibition in Oaxaca de Juárez. 

The idea for the documentary arose during an ethnographic fieldwork I conducted as part of my MA thesis a year earlier. At that time, amber artisans in Chiapas found themselves in a difficult economic situation as the amber fever had declined and tourist numbers had dropped significantly due to a rise in regional violence. 

It was during this period that Antonio and I began discussing the possibility of shedding light on the lived realities of amber artisans and the immense labour each piece undergoes before it is sold. 

Grounded in visual anthropology and collaborative ethnographic methods, the project was conceived not just as a documentation, but as a shared endeavor. By working closely with Antonio throughout the process, the film seeks to share authority in knowledge production and create a collaborative narrative that explores the lived reali-ties of the artisans. 

Un Viaje de Ámbar is currently in the final stages of editing. The full documentary and trailer will be made available here upon completion later in 2026