The Book: Ulama , the game of Life and death ( with DVD)
Home Page

The Game

Symbolism

Photos

Ulama's Children

Fieldwork/ study

Contact

Members of the AGPHCM

Ulama Book By Roberto Rochin

THE GAME: POKTAPOKGAMES.COM


The Ullamaliztli Ball Game is one of the oldest recreational activities in history where the greater speed of a bouncing rubber ball is ever used. The encounter with the New World, and the rubber balls from the Americas, would revolutionize European sports forever, making them gain the faster pace and dynamism that is so well-known to other ball games today. The current edition is a much more detailed voyage into the historic, cosmic, architectural, and artistic facets of this game from ancient Mexico and its survival to today. The first six chapters are dedicated to the origins of the game, the first news of it coming through myths and legends, the symbolisms attributed by various ancient Mexican civilizations, how was it presented in codex, or Pre-Hispanic books, the game courts found by archeologists, and the Pre-Colombian art that was related to it. The next two chapters explain the results of the introduction of rubber in European sports and the way the game is still played today in the State of Sinaloa, complete with its rulebook and positions in the field. This research's goal was to document and seriously expand on each subject matter and, in an affable and accessible manner, go deep in the extraordinary Pre-Colombian world through one of its most original creations. ULAMA, THE GAME OF LIFE AND DEATH takes us back to a time when games were tied to the fate of the cosmos, of their cities and its inhabitants.
KINDLY VISIT: WWW.ULAMAGAMES.COM



The Mesoamerican Ball Game, one of the best links between the Pre-Hispanic world and modern Mexico, gained worldwide attention when 'Ulama: The Game Of Life And Death' was first shown in 1984, and then commercially released two years later. A five-time Ariel Award Winner from the Mexican Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences for Best Film Debut, Best Film, Best Music, Best Editing, and Best Cinematography, plus a Silver Goddess and a National Press Award Winner, 'Ulama: The Game Of Life And Death' is considered a true classic of Mexican documentary films and one of the first docudramas of its kind in the world. This DVD edition includes an updated study complimenting our modern perception of the ball game, wholly illustrated for a clearer vision of this complex set of ideas that bridges Mexico's past with its present through this ritualistic sport that was originally envisioned to commemorate the order of the universe. Género / Genre · Documental / Documentary film • Idioma versión original / Original language · Español / Spanish with English subtitles • Duración / Running Time · 110 min. • Formato/ Format · 35 mm, color • Sonido Estéreo / Stereo Sound system • Producción / Production · MEJIKA. 1986 • Productor y dirección/ Producer and Director · Roberto Rochín • Guión / Script · Roberto Rochín, Tomás Perez Turrent & José Manuel Pintado • Fotografía / Cinematography · Antonio Reynoso & Arturo de la Rosa • Edición / Film Editors · Ramón Aupart and Manuel Rodríguez • Música original / Original Score · Antonio Zepeda • Narración / Narrators · Martínez de Hoyos and Alberto Pedret



ROBERTO ROCHIN

Director, producer, screenwriter.

Roberto studied architecture at UNAM and UAG universities in Mexico, and film and photography at USC, University of Southern California, earning a Liberal Arts Degree with a Master in Film at Loyola Marymount University, in Los Angeles.