He studied art and science history at Stanford, where he was a member of the Greco-Roman wrestling team. He holds an MFA in art and design from the University of Michigan, where he also studied anthropology and history. His short films—including two on Mexico’s lucha libre—have been screened at Images, POV, CPH:DOX, Slamdance, Visions du Réel and more than one hundred festivals worldwide. Fairbanks worked as a programmer and translator in Belgium and has taught videoart and videography in Mexico. He is the founding professor of the media arts department at Antioch College in Ohio. He has received grants from the Guggenheim Foundation, MacDowell Colony and the Wexner Art Center’s cinema and video program.

(((((/*\))))) Ecos del volcán, 2019
Charles Fairbanks y Saúl Kak
18 min.

The eruption of the Chichonal volcano in 1982 caused the Zoque community, which had lived on the volcano’s slopes until then, to migrate. Filmed over six years, (((((/*\))))) Echoes of the Volcano studies the ambiance of the town in Chiapas where the Zoque community currently lives. The film is an observational tour and a delight for the eyes and ears. It takes us on a sound journey through musical rhythms and unique announcements played on speakers from the stores and vans of the many traveling vendors that swarm the town. Bit by bit, political discourses emerge. In this express exploration, Charles Fairbanks and Saúl Kak address the community’s cultural depth and the neoliberal pressures on indigenous peoples and their lands.