Tulipanes Latino Art & Film Festival

The Dancing Chickens of Ventura Fabian is the National City 2007 Tulipanes Film Award winner for "Best Short Film."

The Dancing Chickens of Ventura Fabian is a lively, bilingual musical video visit with master woodcarver Ventura Fabian and his family in their small rural village of San Martin Tilcajete, nestled in the hills outside the colonial city of Oaxaca in southern Mexico. Every member of this campesino/artesano family works together to create some of the country’s most colorful and creative folk art — the hand-carved, hand-painted wooden figures that have become one of Mexico’s most popular contemporary crafts.

Combining documentary footage of home and village life, interviews, and animated musical segments of Don Ventura’s whimsical creations, the video opens a window onto the daily life and unique world of this artisan family.