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*We live in a strange era. We have all the world's information at our fingertips, yet access to what truly matters has never been harder. Today I want to talk about something that has been on my mind: the case of La Filmoteca Maldita, and how that fight for cinema connects to what I'm trying to build here in Oaxaca — from the code behind this website to screenings in the streets of Atzompa.*
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## "El Feo's" Case: When Rescuing the Past Is a Crime
*For those unfamiliar with the story, the digital culture world recently took a hard blow. A Spanish educator known as "El Feo," who ran the channel La Filmoteca Maldita and the site Zoowoman, was taken to court. His crime? Maintaining a repository of films the industry no longer sells — films not on Netflix, Amazon, or anywhere else. Films that were destined to die in oblivion.*
*Police raided his home with a battering ram, as if they were chasing a drug trafficker, taking hard drives full of cult cinema. The prosecution is demanding nearly one million euros in fines and years in prison.*
*What strikes me most is the "indirect profit" argument. Since he charged nothing — no ads, no subscriptions — the law invented that his "gain" was prestige or followers. Under that logic, anyone who shares a book, a song, or a film out of pure love for art could be treated as a criminal.*
> We are prioritizing the business of a few over humanity's right to know its own cinematic history.
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## Fear, Naivety, and the Birth of Cine Yëk Uk
*When I started, I wasn't the "organizer" you see now. I was a mechatronic engineer returning to his home state and sensing something was off. I began promoting events and films with a lot of naivety and real fear. I didn't know who to reach out to, I had no contacts in Oaxaca's "cultural world," and honestly, I felt like no one was listening.*
*That's when I created [@cineyekuk](https://www.instagram.com/cineyekuk). The logic was simple: if I want people to watch a film that changed my life, I have to explain why it matters. I started reviewing every film hoping that at least one person would show up.*
*In time, reality set in: the center of Oaxaca already has incredible spaces doing great work — museums, cultural centers, and collectives with strong outreach. I understood that space was already full. The vacant space was on the periphery, in the local, where the "digital noise" of tourism doesn't reach.*
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## Cine Poo: The Opossum in Atzompa
*I now live in Atzompa, and that is where I decided to plant my flag. If I was going to keep doing this, I needed a real impact on my immediate community. That's how [Cine Poo](https://www.instagram.com/cine.poo) was born.*
*In my mother tongue, Ayuuk (Mixe), Poo means Opossum — and it's no coincidence. In our ancient stories, the opossum is the humblest hero: it was he who stole fire from the gods to give it to humanity. He didn't ask for permission. He scorched his tail in the process — but he brought the light.*
*That is exactly what Cine Poo tries to do with cinema. Access to culture should not be a privilege reserved for those who can afford a streaming subscription or a commercial cinema ticket that costs as much as a family meal. Sharing films — even when the law doesn't understand the context — is our way of "stealing fire."*
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## Baby Steps in an Overwhelming World
*Today, the project has grown. [QueOndaOaxaca.com](https://www.queondaoaxaca.com) is no longer just an idea — it's a platform built so people can find things to do without algorithms selling them things. Thanks to that growth, quality films and new releases are starting to come through.*
*But here's where reality hits. The problem now isn't fear — it's time and resources.*
- **Flying solo:** No marketing team, no designer, no external funding.
- **Time is everything:** Splitting time between engineering work, maintaining the website, organizing [LudiTalk](https://www.instagram.com/luditalk) language exchanges, and screening films is a titanic task.
- **Lack of spaces:** There isn't always a safe, dignified venue for screenings, and the technical gear — projectors, sound — comes out of pocket.
*Progress happens in baby steps. Every technical or financial problem solved means one more centimeter forward. Because this is not a sprint — it's a long-distance race.*
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## Why Keep Going?
*The case of El Feo and La Filmoteca Maldita reminds us: if we let culture become purely a business, we will lose our identity. If an engineer in Oaxaca doesn't use their knowledge to build bridges of access, then what is technology for?*
*Two rules guide this project:*
- **If you can pay, support:** Buy local artists' work. Pay for tickets at independent cinemas. That's how creators survive.
- **If there's no access, share:** Don't let "orphan works" or blocked content die. Culture that isn't shared, rots.
*[Qué Onda Oaxaca](https://www.queondaoaxaca.com) and its film clubs are a way of saying we don't need permission to learn, to connect, or to watch a good film. We are in Atzompa, we are in the Central Valleys, and even if it's one baby step at a time — we will keep sharing the fire.*
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> What do you think? Is it a crime to share what others want to forget? We read every comment.
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## Follow the Project and Join Us
- **Cultural Agenda:** [queondaoaxaca.com](https://www.queondaoaxaca.com)
- **Languages & community:** [@luditalk](https://www.instagram.com/luditalk)
- **Cinema & rescue:** [@cineyekuk](https://www.instagram.com/cineyekuk) y [@cine.poo](https://www.instagram.com/cine.poo)
- **Independent support:** [☕ Buy Me a Coffee](https://www.buymeacoffee.com/queondaoaxaca) — Every coffee keeps the servers running and the cinema in the streets.Reading Guide: This article is bilingual. English translation is provided below each paragraph in italics.