Synopsis: Mexican director Gabriela Dominguez Ruvalcaba grew up in San Cristóbal de las Casas, in the heart of mountainous Chiapas, where Indigenous peoples have long maintained a strong tradition of resistance. Ways to Traverse a Territory is inspired by Indigenous ways of being and her concern over the destruction of the land they co-inhabit. Through an empathetic and poetic lens, Ruvalcaba offers a rare glimpse into the lives of Tsotsil women as they honor their cultural memory of the land. The film follows shepherd women as they tend their sheep, weave wool, and engage in daily rituals. A gentle act of reflexive documentary and community partnership, Ways to Traverse a Territory meditates on cultural identity and environment through intimate conversations, staged tableaux scenes, and naturalistic vérité. The film makes its Canadian premiere at PIF following screenings at Locarno, IDFA, and FICUNAM. *This film will be preceded by short films Archipelago of Earthen Bones — To Bunya (Canada, 20 min) and Diario de Verano (Canada, 4 min). Synopsis of Archipelago of Earthen Bones: The luminous flora, volcanic geographies, and plunging horizons of the Gondwana Rainforest in the eastern ranges of Australia metamorphose into an imaginary landscape in Malena Szlam’s Archipelago of Earthen Bones — To Bunya, in which 16mm in-camera editing and superimpositions suggest a lithic temporal scale, deconstructing and reforming desert, mountain, and sky in a dazzling palette of orange, black, and viridescence. The film’s environmental evocations are further deepened by field recordings and sonified atmospheres from artist Lawrence English. Synopsis of Diario de Verano: Plants foraged in Tkaronto’s Kensington Market and Parkdale are brought to life in this experimental film by Anivides (Cristal Buemi and Francisca Duran).