Sunday Dec 7

The Chapala Independent Film Festival: Cine Sin Fronteras

Presenters: Carmen Carolina and Carlos Canseco

 The Chapala Indie Film Festival (CIFF) returns for its 2025 edition in December, celebrating cinema as a limitless language. In its third edition, the Festival reaffirms its commitment to independent cinema as a force for encounter, reflection and cultural transformation. Open Circle will project one of the festival's film categories, highlighting films that break barriers, explore physical, emotional, and creative territories without fear.

Sunday Dec 14

Uncovering your Purpose in Life

Presenter: Dr. Daniel Acuff

Dr. Acuff uses storytelling and fictional characters to deliver a lecture sue to take the Open Circle audience “beyond” The Celestine Prophecy to explore more fully life’s meaning.
Dr. Acuff is the primary author of What Kids Buy and Why, - The Psychology of Marketing to Kids published by Simon & Schuster’s Free Press and the nonfiction self-help relationships book Relationships Rx. He has led seminars and workshops in front of thousands for more than fifteen years. 

Sunday Dec 21

Special Event: LIVE PERFORMANCE Mariachi Juvenil Axixic

Boy, does Ajijic have talent! Come to this annual holiday celebration with a Mariachi twist. Ajijic is honored to have one of Jalisco’s leading youth Mariachi organizations, led by Maestro Daniel Medeles and a team of professional musician facilitators. Come hear these talented young musicians perform traditional music and even a holiday favorite or two!

Sunday Dec 28

Lake Chapala: One of the Best Places to Grow Younger

Presenter: Michael Nuschke

Come learn how a retirement futurist sees lifestyle, community, and new technologies stacking the odds for your next 10 years. In this talk, he’ll explore why places like Lake Chapala may be among the best spots in the world to grow older well—how sun, community, lifestyle, and emerging technologies may work together to improve our odds of a good next decade. The focus will be on practical lifestyle expansion choices for the next 10 years.
Michael Nuschke spent over 40 years as a retirement planner in Canada, helping clients navigate the financial and emotional side of life after work. He now writes and speaks as a “Retirement Futurist” at RetirementSingularity.com and recently gave a TEDx Ajijic talk on how AI may change the future of retirement.

Sunday Jan 4

Vote! Vote! Vote!

Presenters: Dan Clark and Larry Pihl

This talk, moderated by LCS president Hunter Johnson, will present laws that give U.S. citizens living and working abroad the right to participate in the electoral process.  
Many believe voting from abroad for U.S. citizens is under threat due to legislative efforts and administrative obstacles. One bill being considered (The PROVE Act) would require overseas voters to prove a current U.S. residential address or that of an immediate family member to receive a ballot, which deviates from the long-standing protections. Presenters will explain your voting rights as a US citizen living abroad.
Dan Clark is an attorney, licensed in TX for 49 years doing both civil and criminal trials.  He worked as an assistant district attorney and an FBI agent.  Larry Pihl was educated in engineering and business management. He has assisting voters in Mexico for 15 years. 

Sunday Jan 11

LIVE PRESENTATION: Ben Franklin Reflections

Presenter: Steven Nousen

Dr. Benjamin Franklin (Steven Nousen) returns to Open Circle with a special presentation set in the Pennsylvania State House on July 4, 1776.  Aware that he may not live to see another Independence Day, the 83-year-old Franklin will reflect on the extraordinary progress the young nation has made over the past 13 years. Please join Dr. Franklin as the United States starts the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.  Let the celebration begin at Open Circle!  
Steven Nousen, award-winning teacher and lobbyist, has called Ajijic home for the past seven years.  For most of the 21st century, he has been stepping into the shoes of Benjamin Franklin delighting audiences from age 9 to 90.  From the Library of Congress to the National Geographic Society, Steven has shared Franklin's wit, wisdom, and larger-than-life personality with audiences across the U.S. and here Lakeside.

Sunday Jan 18

Ajijic: An Innovation Hub for our Golden Years

Presenter: Morris Schwarzblat

What if the same vibrant energy that brought us all to Ajijic could be channeled into something bigger? What if our community became a global hub for innovation? In this talk, Morris will present the opportunities and challenges of the so-called “Silver Economy”, and why our lakeside setting can play an important role in the development of applications and solutions that will contribute to successful aging.
Morris Schwarzblat holds his Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering. He has been a university professor at several institutions in Mexico and abroad. We served as General Director of the Chapala Technology Institutes, General Director of Innovation, science and technology. He is currently retired.

Sunday Jan 25

Music Titans: 250 Greatest Recording Artists of the last 100 Years

Presenter: Steve Williams

Drawing on the book of the same name published in 2024, author and Lakeside resident Steve Williams will reveal the three criteria for how the artists were chosen and ranked, then discuss artists representing a wide range of genres (blues, jazz, traditional pop, folk, classical, country, rock & roll, R&B, rock, rap, modern pop). We can expect a lively exchange during the question/answer period.

Steve Williams has been playing guitar and singing since the 1960s, making his living as an award-winning classroom school teacher across seven different U.S. states. His book has continued to sell steadily and has received positive notice from several music industry insiders, as well as from readers. He recently completed a second book, Lifelong Companion: My Journey through 100 Dylan Songs, which is a hybrid memoir (music criticism/memoir/recent American history. He moved to Ajijic in 2025, though he has been coming to Mexico for nearly 50 years.