In a fortunate coincidence, three Mexican films will have their U.S. theatrical release starting Friday, March 3 in New York City: the documentary films Gods of Mexico by Helmut Dosantos and Sansón and Me by Rodrigo Reyes, and the drama La Civil by Teodora Ana Mihai.
With visually stunning landscapes and immersive sound, Gods of Mexico is a poetic survey of the vast landscapes and rich diversity of several communities of rural Mexico. Using richly saturated color and hypnotic black-and-white interludes, filmmaker Dosantos takes viewers through salt pans, deserts, highlands, jungle, and underground mines—paying tribute to those who fight to preserve their cultural identity amidst the shadows of modernization. The film will have a limited run at the at Firehouse: DCTV’s Cinema for Documentary Film in New York City, with filmmaker Dosantos in attendance for Q&As on opening weekend., and screenings in select locations nationwide in the following weeks.
During his day job as a Spanish criminal interpreter in a small town in California, filmmaker Reyes (499) met a young man named Sansón, an undocumented Mexican immigrant who was sentenced to life in prison without parole. With no permission to interview him, Sansón and Reyes worked together over a decade, using hundreds of letters as inspiration for recreations of Sansón’s childhood—featuring members of Sansón's own family.
The result, Sansón and Me, is a vibrant portrait of a friendship navigating immigration and the depths of the criminal justice system and pushing the boundaries of cinematic imagination to rescue a young migrant's story from oblivion. Winner of the Best Film Award at the Sheffield Doc Fest, the documentary will have a theatrical run at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), with filmmaker Reyes in attendance at select screenings for a Q&A.
Starring Arcelia Ramírez in a wonderful performance and produced by filmmaker Michel Franco (New Order), La Civil, the debut fiction film by Belgian-Rumanian director Mihai was the winner of the Prize of Courage in the Un Certain Regard competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Inspired by true events, the film tells the story of Cielo, whose teenage daughter, Laura, is kidnapped in Northern Mexico. Despite paying several ransoms, Laura is not returned.
When the authorities offer no support in the search, Cielo takes matters into her own hands. She finds help from Lamarque, a military man with unconventional modus operandi, who agrees to assist her in her search—off the record—in exchange for information which she can provide as a local. Cielo’s collaboration with Lamarque will pull her into the spiral of violence that made her a victim in the first place. La Civil opens for an exclusive two-week engagement at Film Forum, before opening in other U.S. cities.
