September 16 - 22, 2011
Anthology Film Archives
Mexican cinema has reinvented itself. It’s been over ten years now since Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Amores Perros stormed the Critics’ Week at Cannes, winning its top prize and opening the door to an exciting new era for Mexican cinema. Since then Mexico has witnessed the birth of a vigorous and dynamic generation of young filmmakers who have been challenging many of the traditional and archetypical representations of the country. Taking advantage of hybrid modes of production, and hand-in-hand with the convoluted political and social changes that the country has experienced in the past decade, the members of this generation have been able to establish solid careers in a very short time span.
Carlos Reygadas, Pedro González-Rubio, Fernando Eimbcke, Natalia Almada, Julián Hernández, and Nicolás Pereda, among many others, are members of this diverse and influential group of filmmakers who have been making waves in the international film circuit. “GenMex: Recent Films from Mexico” presents works made by some of the most outstanding filmmakers of this generation, including the debut feature film of Gerardo Naranjo (director of the acclaimed MISS BALA), as well as lesser-known yet exciting films that have had very limited exposure in the U.S.
Programmed by Carlos A. Gutiérrez, Cinema Tropical
Curated by Carlos Gutiérrez (Cinema Tropical). Special thanks to María Elena Cabezut & Aldo Sánchez (Mexican Cultural Institute NY), Jonás Cuarón, Matías Meyer, Sandro Fiorin, Cristina Garza & Alex Garcia (FiGa Films), Paola Herrera, Jonathan Hertzberg (IFC Films), Stephen Kent Jusick (MIX NYC), Demetri Makoulis (Elephant Eye Films), Javier Nuñez (The Mexican Film Institute – IMCINE), and Claudia Prado (Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica).
The screenings of Julián Hernández’s RAGING SUN, RAGING SKY are co-presented by MIX NYC, presenter of the NY Queer Experimental Film Festival (www.mixnyc.org).
Presented as part of Celebrate México Now, a citywide festival of contemporary Mexican art and culture produced by CN Management. For more info, visit www.mexiconowfestival.org.
All films at: Anthology Film Archives
32 Second Avenue at 2nd Street, New York City
(212) 505-5181 / www.anthologyfilmarchives.org
THE INHERITORS / LOS HEREDEROS
(Eugenio Polgovsky, 2008, 90 min., 35mm.) Distributed by Icarus Films.
“The harsh, relentlessly arduous conditions experienced by children toiling in the Mexican countryside are observed with striking vision and cinematic poetry.” –Robert Koehler, Variety
The most highly praised and awarded Mexican documentary in many years, The Inheritors immerses us in the daily lives of children who, with their families, survive only by their unrelenting labor. Polgovsky, director of the similarly acclaimed documentary Trópico de Cáncer (2004), spent two years filming in many of the poorest rural areas of Mexico, where children barely bigger than the buckets they carry work long hours, in often hazardous conditions, picking tomatoes, peppers, or beans, for which they are paid by weight. Infants in baskets are left alone in the hot sun, or are breast-fed by mothers while they pick crops. The children Polgovsky films have inherited tools and techniques from their ancestors, but they have also inherited their day-to-day hardships and toil.
Friday, September 9 through Thursday, September 15 at 7:15 & 9:15 each night. Additional screenings on Saturday and Sunday at 5:15.
AFTER LUCÍA / DESPUÉS DE LUCÍA
(Michel Franco, Mexico, 2012, 102 min. In Spanish with English subtitles. New York Premiere)
Winner of the top prize at the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival, the sophomore feature film by Franco, “one of the finest and most imaginative young directors on the scene” (Howard Feinstein, Screen Daily), is an intense and shocking exploration of the violent effects of bullying. The film tells the story of Alejandra, who has just moved with her depressed father to Mexico City after her mother has passed away. As she starts classes in a new school, she becomes the target of escalating torment by bullies. Their torments grow in intensity and cruelty, wearing down the weary Alejandra’s resistance.
Friday, September 6 at 9:15pm; and Tuesday, September 10 at 7pm
MITOTE / MEXICAN RITUAL
(Eugenio Polgovsky, Mexico, 2012, 53 min., digital video. New York Premiere)
A shaman’s mystical invocations, a protest of furious electricians on hunger strike, and a euphoric soccer crowd collide in the Zócalo of Mexico City, the country’s central square and ancient ceremonial heart of the Aztec empire. Mitote (Nahuatl for chaos or celebration) transforms the plaza into a wrestling ring, where national commemorations, postmodern rituals, and the remains of pre-Hispanic culture clash. Polgovsky’s follow up to his acclaimed documentary film The Inheritors is an intricate portrait of the different layers that coexist – sometimes in conflict – in Mexican culture.
Saturday, September 7 at 4:45pm; and Wednesday, September 11 at 9pm
FOGO
(Yulene Olaizola, Mexico/Canada, 2012, 61 min., digital video. In English. New York Premiere)
The deterioration of a small community in Fogo Island, off the coast of Canada, is forcing its inhabitants to leave and resettle. Places once occupied by humans are now becoming part of the tundra landscape. In spite of a condemned future, there are some residents who decide to remain, holding on to their memories and grieving for the past, when life in Fogo was different. Olaizola’s third feature film, a minimalist Mexican-Canadian drama, follows in the footsteps of her previous film Artificial Paradises, pushing the boundaries between fiction and documentary film.
Saturday, September 7 at 4:45pm; and Wednesday, September 11 at 9pm
![INORI (Pedro González-Rubio, Japan, 2012, 72 min., digital video. In Japanese with English subtitles)“Epic. […] González-Rubio’s long, contemplative takes feel like an osmotic experience.” –G. Allen Johnson, San Francisco ChronicleWinner o…](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56a2e12069492eb24c37ab6a/1467480654265-RGM9P5K3EHHK3JMV43L9/inori.jpg)
INORI
(Pedro González-Rubio, Japan, 2012, 72 min., digital video. In Japanese with English subtitles)
“Epic. […] González-Rubio’s long, contemplative takes feel like an osmotic experience.” –G. Allen Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle
Winner of the Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival, the third feature film by acclaimed director González-Rubio (Alamar) is a stunning and poetic documentary shot in a tiny mountain community in Japan, made at the invitation of Japanese director Naomi Kawase and the Nara Film Festival. Blending documentary and narrative, Inori (Japanese for ‘prayer’) depicts the lives of the aging population of the isolated village. As the younger generations have left to look for work elsewhere, the remaining elderly inhabitants perform their everyday routine with stoicism and dignity.
Saturday, September 7 at 7:15pm; and Thursday, September 12 at 9pm
![MALAVENTURA (Michel Lipkes, Mexico, 2011, 67 min., 35mm.)“Beautiful. […] Lipkes proves in this opera prima that he is a talent to watch.” –Howard Feinstein, Screen Daily Lipkes’s slow-burning film follows a nameless elderly man (played by non-…](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56a2e12069492eb24c37ab6a/1467473816710-HF827KM78LC22JR40V8R/Malaventura.jpg)
MALAVENTURA
(Michel Lipkes, Mexico, 2011, 67 min., 35mm.)
“Beautiful. […] Lipkes proves in this opera prima that he is a talent to watch.” –Howard Feinstein, Screen Daily
Lipkes’s slow-burning film follows a nameless elderly man (played by non-actor Issac López) on his last day of life in the seedy streets of downtown Mexico City. Beset by memories, he roams through his past while everyday life slips by him. “Rendered with intensity and rigor” (Robert Koehler, Variety), Malaventura marks the auspicious and dignified filmmaking debut of film critic and programmer Lipkes.
Saturday, September 7 at 9pm; and Monday, September 9 at 7pm
MACHETE LANGUAGE / EL LENGUAJE DE LOS MACHETES
(Kyzza Terrazas, (Mexico, 2011, 84 min., digital video. In Spanish with English subtitles)
Ray (Andrés Almeida), a revolutionary activist, and Ramona (real-life singer Jessy Bulbo), a rebellious punk rock girl, are a young couple who hate inequality and social injustice in their country, and together try to advocate for a better world. Pushed over the edge by the violent repression in Salvador Atenco, they feel increasingly drawn to commit a terrorist act in the name of their political beliefs and their love. Terrazas’s poignant directorial debut is a frenetic love story in a self-destructive political activist context, set to the rhythm of punk rock.
Sunday, September 8 at 5pm; and Thursday, September 12 at 7pm
New York Premiere!
HALLEY
(Sebastián Hofmann (Mexico, 2012, 84 min., digital video)
Co-presented by Latin Horror
"Beto, a security guard in a Mexico City gym, quietly observes the healthy bodies of the muscle-bound patrons, which contrast sharply with his own physical deterioration. Afflicted with a strange illness, Beto surrenders to his condition and holes up in his apartment, injecting himself with embalming fluid to stem his increasing decay. Beto’s melancholy grows as he realizes – in the words of an affable morgue attendant – that ‘the diseased become the disease.’ Through the friendly advances of the gym’s female owner, Beto dances with the illusory promise of feeling alive again. Hofmann’s increasingly surrealistic feature debut subverts genre conventions and audience expectations, treating its living-dead protagonist with sensitivity and compassion." –Sundance Film Festival
Sunday, September 8 at 7pm; and Tuesday, September 10 at 9:15pm
SHE DOESN’T WANT TO SLEEP ALONE / NO QUIERO DORMIR SOLA
(Natalia Beristain, Mexico, 2012, 82 min., digital video. In Spanish with English subtitles)
Amanda is 33 years old and suffers from a condition: she cannot sleep alone. Her dull life is suddenly altered when she is forced to take care of her old alcoholic grandmother, Dolores (played by veteran actress Adriana Roel), a retired actress who lives on her past glories. Largely based on the filmmaker’s relationship to her grandmother, Beristain’s promising feature film, which had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, was the winner of the prize for Best Film at the 2012 Morelia Film Festival.
Wednesday, September 11 at 7pm
THE LAST CHRISTEROS / LOS ÚLTIMOS CRISTEROS
(Matías Meyer, Mexico/Netherlands, 2011, 90 min., 35mm. New York Theatrical Premiere Run)
Matías Meyer’s The Last Christeros is a highly unusual historical film that takes a meditative, nearly non-narrative approach to portraying the experiences of those who continued to resist the Mexican government’s anti-Christian (especially anti-Roman Catholic) persecution, even following the official end of the Cristero War in 1929. Devoted to the cause, despite their increasing desperation and fatigue, and their yearning to rejoin their families, this band of rebels—whose genuine religious faith and spiritual innocence is apparent despite their paradoxical embrace of armed struggle—trudges exhaustedly through the hills and mountains of rural Mexico, experiencing moments of grace and beauty amid the violence and suffering. This third feature by Meyer (following Wadley and The Cramp) decisively establishes him as one of the most gifted of young Mexican filmmakers, and represents a striking combination of minimalist cinema and historical depiction. Eschewing a narrative chronicle of the War’s events, Meyer instead puts us in his weary fighters’ shoes, and emphasizes the quiet, strangely tranquil moments between battles.
Friday, August 30 through Thursday, September 5, nightly at 7pm and 9pm, additional screenings on 8/31 and 9/1 at 5pm
