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The Black Gold of Oaxaca

The region of Oaxaca is one of the most important artisan production areas in Mexico, heirs of the Mixtec and Zapotec cultures.
The black gold of Oaxaca shows a small part of the history of San Bartolo Coyotepec, the Mexican cradle of black clay, and one of the most outstanding places of production of this type of clay worldwide.
And what is remarkable in Coyotepec is that in the mid-twentieth century its population went from agriculture to handicraft production, and did so in a very creative and artistic way.
From a simple clay found in a mine in the town, a mine that is supposed to be enchanted, and a sophisticated and secret burning technique, the artisans of this town, very marginalized until a few decades ago, have achieved worldwide fame for the beauty and sophistication of their fretworked and burnished pots.

  • Miguel Méndez Díaz
    Director
  • Miguel Méndez Díaz
    Writer
  • Miguel Méndez Díaz
    Producer
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    El Oro Negro de Oaxaca
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Feature
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 34 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    October 1, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    10,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Mexico
  • Country of Filming:
    Mexico
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital Full HD
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • Forth Smith International Film Festival
    Forth Smith
    United States
    August 7, 2025
    North America Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Beyond the Screen Festival
    Antwerp
    Belgium
    July 20, 2025
    Belgium Premiere
    Oficial Selection
  • Art Film Spirit Awards
    Toronto and Ontario
    Canada
    December 15, 2024
    North America Premiere
    Oficial Selection
  • Rome Prisma Film Awards
    Roma
    Italy
    November 5, 2024
    Finalist
  • San Bartolo Coyotepec, Oaxaca
    Mexico
    October 11, 2024
    presentation only for the artisans who participated in the documentary
    Oaxaca Premiere
Director Biography - Miguel Méndez Díaz

Miguel Méndez Díaz is a native of Mexico City.
His activity as a documentary maker began in 2002 with scripts for television documentaries about the painter Rodolfo Morales and the winning architect of the Pritzker Prize Luis Barragán (México, Canal Once TV).

Since then he has combined the production of documentaries with research on documentary film and teaching. He has made 13 documentaries about Architecture, Art and Design mainly, and on some sustainability issues, among which stand out Collecting Operation about the recycling of garbage in Mexico City (2014) and Living Walls (2017) on the problem of urban deforestation.

In 2016 he founded the documentary production company Filmandocs. His training as a documentary maker includes courses with Patricio Guzmán, and with the Universities Autonomous of Barcelona, Carlos III of Madrid and the University of Copenhagen. He graduated from the Writers School of SOGEM.

The spiritual needs (Mexico, 2017) is his first documentary feature film, and obtained the following distinctions:
Finalist Los Angeles Cinefest January 2018.
Official Selection Roma Prisma Film Festival 2019. Semifinalist Fest Pro Film Festival, Russia 2019.
Oficial Selection Budapest Film Festival 2023.

His most recent documentaries have obtained the following distinctions:

The Black Gold of Oaxaca (2024), it´s november finalist in Rome Prisma Film Festival, and candidate for annual prize.

Essay about Non-Future Cities (2024) have these recognitions:
· Kodaikanal International Film festival, Award winner in documentary in november 2024
· Stockholm City Film festival, finalist in 2024
· Istanbul International Architecture and urban Films Festival, Oficial selection in 2024

The Evolution of a Style (2023) official selection at 4 festivals and winner at 6 documentary film festivals.

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