Director and producer Bruno Carcamo said the soap opera, which is broadcast with Spanish subtitles, gives Mayan-speaking Mexicans a show in which they can see and hear themselves. He hopes it will encourage people in Mayan communities to speak in their mother tongue.
Baktun is the first telenovela entirely in the Mayan language to air in Mexico.
Telenovelas are limited-run serial dramatic programming popular in Latin American, Portuguese, Filipino, Spanish, and North American (Spanish language network) television programming. The word combines tele, short for televisión or televisão (the Spanish and Portuguese words for television) and novela, a Spanish and Portuguese word for “novel”.
The term “baktun” is derived from the Mayan for 20 “katun” cycles of the ancient Maya Long Count Calendar – which contains 144,000 days. So a “baktun” is equal to approximately 394 years.
“We can’t go into a ritual and not take part of the ritual,” Chi Canul said. “It would be an offence to the community.”
Carcamo stated thar the telenovela has been well-received by Mexico’s Spanish-speaking population and viewers were already asking if there were plans to release more.
“We have something to show the world, too, and this is the first time I see something like that,” said David Vzul, a Maya who lives in Chetumal and has been watching the show religiously with his family.