A taste of Mexican...at the Berlinale
The next edition of the Berlinale, which will be held from February 6th to the 16th, has reserved a leading role for the creations of Mexican cinema. Six Mexican projects will be shown in various sections, some of them competing for awards: Güeros by Alonso Ruizpalacios, We Are Mari Pepa by Samuel Kishi Leopo, César Chávez by Diego Luna, Los Ángeles by Damian John Harper, Bim, Bam, Boom, Las Luchas Morenas by Marie Losier and La última película by Mark Peranson and Raya Martín.
A large group of visiting Mexican producers, with IMCINE’s support, will be participating in the Berlinale Co-production Market. 15 projects under development in Mexico were selected for Berlinale Talents.
The project The Thin Yellow Line by Celso García, produced by Bertha Navarro, is included in the Official Selection of the Co-Production Market, while Operación Baby, by José Luis Valle, will be present at the Berlinale Co-Production Market, as part of his Berlinale Residency of last year.
IMCINE will also participate in Countries-in-focus and the Public-Funding Meetings.
For the first time, the World Cinema Fund and IMCINE will present the WCF-IMCINE Award on Wednesday the 12th, WCF Day.
Within the framework of the Berlinale, IMCINE will present the IMCINEFICG Awards, an initiative to support talent. The selection from Talents Guadalajara 2014 will receive, thanks to this new prize, economic support to attend the 2015 Berlinale Co-Production Market.
The exposition Film in Your Community, a graphic testimony to IMCINE’s project which, since 2009, has organised free screenings of Mexican movies in areas where exhibition of national cinema is difficult, may be seen at the Mexican Embassy starting on February 11.
PARTICIPATING MEXICAN FILMS
Mexican cinema will shine at the Berlin International Film Festival with the following films: Güeros, by Alonso Ruizpalacios, is programmed in Panorama, which screens the newest authorial films from around the world.
The Mexico-Germany co-production, with dialogue in Spanish and Zapotec, Los ángeles, by Damián John Harper, is included in the Forum section. Bim, Bam, Boom, Las Luchas Morenas, by Marie Losier, a Mexico-United States-Denmark co-production, will be shown in Forum Expanded, a section housing the artistic vanguard; as will the movie La última película, by Mark Peranson and Raya Martin, a Mexico-Canada-Denmark-Philippines co-production.
Actor, producer and director Diego Luna will present the world premiere of his film César Chávez, narrating the life of a Latino activist in the United States. Luna’s movie is part of the Berlinale Special section, participating in the official section out of competition. Somos Mari Pepa, by Samuel Kishi Leopo will compete for the Crystal Bear in the Generation section, which screens the work of debut directors and movies targeting young audiences.
Mexican actress Dolores Heredia, who performed alongside Forest Whitaker and Harvey Keitel in the French film La voie de l‘ennemi, by Rachid Bouchareb, selected for official competition at the 2014 Berlinale, will be a featured presence.
Güeros. Panorama
Mexico 2014 | 106 min.
Güeros is a road movie in which the travellers barely manage to leavetown. A coming of age comedy which pays homage to the French new wave, it was filmed in black-and-white and in 4:3 ratio. Being a somewhat unusual film, Güeros begins with a rather different kind of explosion: a water bomb bursts in a baby stroller. It is thrown by teenager Tomás from a block of flats. Since the lad is clearly too much of a handful for his mother, she packs him off to stay with his big brother who is studying in Mexico City. It’s 1999. Fede, also known to his friends as Sombra, lives with Santos in a concrete pre-fab. They are currently striking against the strike which their fellow-students are organising at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Tomás has brought a cassette along with him; the tape is part of his father’s legacy and contains the music of Epigmenio Cruz. They say his songs moved Bob Dylan to tears, and that he could have saved Mexico’s rock music scene from ruin. When the trio learns that their idol is in hospital fading fast and alone, they set off in their rusty heap of a car to pay their last respects to this one-time rock star.
Director: Alonso Ruizpalacios
Producer: Ramiro Ruiz
Production Companies: Catatonia Cine, IMCINE (Foprocine)
Screenplay: Alonso Ruizpalacios, Gibrán Portela
Cast: Tenoch Huerta, Sebastián Aguirre, Leonardo Ortizgris
Cinematography: Damián García
Dates:
Fri. Feb. 7th I 20:00 h. I CinemaxX 7 (Premiere)
Sat. Feb. 8th I 22:45 h. I CineStar 3
Sun. Feb. 9th I 20:15 h. I Cubix 7 & 8
Mon. Feb. 10th I 22:30 h. I Colosseum 1
Fri. Feb. 14th I 17:00 h. I International
Sun. Feb. 16th I 20:00 h. I CineStar 7
We Are Mari Pepa. Generation 14plus
Mexico 2013 | 95 min.
Their first punk song is obscene and powerful. But now, if the four lads from Mari Pepa are to take part in a battle of the bands, they have a pressing need for a new song. Their second is just like the first – but sadly not as inspired. They’re only half way on the road to fame when reality catches up with them: a dull holiday job, their first girlfriend, problems with parents – everything suddenly seems to conspire against them. Alex is the band’s quiet brooder. When his guitar is stolen this puts an end to his dream of following in the footsteps of Iggy Pop and the Ramones. At a party he gets it on with a girl for the first time. But the next morning he has to shuffle home with his feet in plastic bags: he lost his trainers while he was high. Will Mari Pepa lose its devil-may-care attitude for good this summer? With a talent for careful observation, young Mexican filmmaker Samuel Kishi Leopo succeeds in creating an impressively realistic and atmospheric portrait. The plot is as open-ended as life itself when you’re sixteen, and the photography is as natural as though the protagonists were used to having a camera around all the time.
Director: Samuel Kishi Leopo
Producer: Antonio Toiz Rodríguez
Production Companies: Teonanacatl Audiovisual, Cebolla Films
Screenplay: Samuel Kishi Leopo, Sofía Gómez Córdova
Cast: Alejandro Gallardo, Arnold Ramírez, Moisés Galindo, Rafael Andrade
y Petra Iñiguez
Cinematography: Octavio Arauz
Dates:
Tue. Feb. 11th I 15:30 h. I Zoo Palast 1 (Premiere)
Wed. Feb. 12th I 16:30 h. I CinemaxX 3
Thu. Feb. 13th I 15:30 h. I Cubix 8
Sun. Feb. 16th I 20:00 h. I HKW 1
Cesar Chavez. Berlinale Special Gala
Mexico |USA 2013 | 101 min.
Alongside the eponymous hero, the camera goes into battle and accompanies César Chávez at close range in his struggle for better wages and living conditions for farm workers in California. Most of them are socalled ‘braceros’, seasonal labourers from Mexico who are permitted to stay and work in the US only if they carry out farm labour. They’re by and large without rights, exploited by the landowners and subjected to racism and violence. In the 1960s, together with his fellow campaigner Dolores Huerto, the Latino-American Chávez co-founds the union of United Farm Workers. ‘Si, se puede – Yes, it can be done’ is the motto under which more and more workers organise themselves, go on strike or form long marches. Chávez’ peaceful protest movement soon receives support from all over the country, even from political quarters. The script for Diego Luna’s second feature film was developed in close collaboration with the family of Chávez, who died in 1993. This is the moving portrait of the father of a family and a charismatic labour leader who was able to persuade countless people finally to demand their rights.
Director: Diego Luna
Producer: Pablo Cruz
Production Company: Canana Films
Screenplay: Keir Pearson, Timothy J. Sexton
Cast: Michael Peña, America Ferrera, Rosario Dawson, John Malkovich,
Jacob Vargas, Wes Bentley
Cinematography: Enrique Chediak
Dates:
Wed. Feb. 12th I 21:00 h. I Friedrichstadt-Palast (Premiere)
Thu. Feb. 13th I 18:00 h. I Cubix 8
Thu. Feb. 13th I 22:00 h. I Cinema at Martin Gropius Bau
Sun. Feb. 16th I 09:30 h. I Friedrichstadt-Palast
Bim, Bam, Boom, Las Luchas Morenas. Forum Expanded
Mexico |USA |Denmark 2013, 12 min
Bim bam boom, meet the Moreno sisters! Three women, three sisters, three professional luchadoras. Under the name Las Luchas Morenas they practice the Mexican national sport: wrestling! All three are part of the Dynasty Moreno: Rossy, Esther, and Cynthia are competitive wrestlers on the ring. But they also bring Lucha Libre into life, wrestling with knives, pig heads, flowers and feathers! Marie Losier‘s characteristic whirring camera swirls curiously around them and captures it all in a cheerful and musical tribute to fantasy, to the child in all adults, and to Mexican culture. But it is ultimately a tribute to the three women, who in spite of all their differences have chosen to lead their lives according to their own ideas.
Director: Marie Losier
Dates:
Sat. Feb. 8th I 12:30 h. I Berlinische Galerie
Mon. Feb. 10th I 12:30 h. I Berlinische Galerie
Wed. Feb. 12th I 12:30 h. I Berlinische Galerie
Fri. Feb. 14th I 12:30 h. I Berlinische Galerie
Sun. Feb. 16th I 12:30 h. I Berlinische Galerie
Los Angeles. Forum
Mexico | Germany 2014, 97 min
Mateo lives in a small, tightly knit rural community in southern Mexico. He lives alone with his mother and younger brother, as his father has moved to Los Angeles to provide the family with a better income, although he hasn’t been in touch for a while. Having turned 16, Mateo is expected to prepare his own migration to the city and joins a gang so that he can draw on their support in Los Angeles. To be accepted into their circles, he has to commit wicked crimes. One gang member in particular spreads malevolent feeling around the village, affecting even the highest-ranking men, while rumours of violent pressure being exerted on a young gang member in Los Angeles are put about. As Mateo begins to regret his decision and senses the danger waiting for him there, he starts seeing the village with new eyes, developing a sweet sense of melancholy for his surroundings and appreciation for its way of life. The older villagers still hold on to their ancient values, maintaining a healthy connection to their
roots, each supporting the other in their own way. Director Damian John Harper shows a sure hand in avoiding clichés when depicting this angelic struggle against demons.
Director: Damian John Harper
Producer: Andreas Eicher
Production Companies: Weydemann Bros, Cine Plus Filmproduktion,
ZDF - Das kleine Fernsehspiel
Screenplay: Damian John Harper
Cast: Mateo Bautista Matías, Marcos Rodríguez Ruiz, Lidia García García,
Daniel Bautista Gutiérrez
Cinematography: Friede Clausz
Dates:
Sat. Feb. 8th I 19:15 h. I CineStar 8
Sun. Feb. 9th I 22:30 h. I Cubix 9
Tue. Feb. 11th I 20:00 h. I Colosseum 1
Fri. Feb. 14th I 22:30 h. I CineStar 8
La última película. Forum Expanded
Mexico | Canada | Denmark | Filipinas 2013, 88 min
The filmmaker and critic Mark Peranson (La última película, Mark Peranson/Raya Martin, Canada/Denmark/Mexico/ Philippines 2013) and the artist and filmmaker Morgan Fisher (Standard Gauge, USA 1985) speak about what kind of meaning 35mm film is being charged with, now that it’s currently in the process of disappearing, and what the connection might be between this and the idea of world cinema or structural cinema.
Director: Mark Peranson, Raya Martin
Producer: Mark Peranson
Screenplay: Mark Peranson, Raya Martin
Cast: Alex Ross Perry, Gabino Rodriguez, Iazua Larios
Dates:
Fri. Feb. 8th I 19:30 h. I Kino Arsenal 2
SUPPORT FOR CO-PRODUCTIONS
As part of IMCINE’s policy of supporting co-productions between Mexico and other countries, 14 Mexican producers and two sales agents of diverse backgrounds, and with feasible projects for co-production, will participate in the Berlinale Co-production Market, where they will have the opportunity to play a more active role on the international co-production scene, establish professional relations and participate in the professional activities of the Market. This program is supported by ProMéxico and the Mexican Embassy in Berlin, through the Department of Foreign Relations.
The project The Thin Yellow Line by Celso García, produced by Bertha Navarro, is included in the Official Selection of the Co-Production Market.
As part of his Berlinale Residency last year, the Salvadoran director, now a naturalised Mexican citizen, José Luis Valle, will present his project Operación: Baby at the Berlinale Co-Production Market.
Sunday the 9th is the day the Berlinale Co-Production Market will devote to Mexico, which will give a luncheon for the producers invited to the event. That same day, IMCINE will participate in one of the Countries-in-focus sessions, a program of roundtables with the directors of funds offering support to productions with Mexico.
In addition, 15 Mexican producers with projects under development will participate in the Berlinale Talents program, to be held from February 8th to the 13th.
Some of the Mexican visiting producers will be present at the program for less experienced professionals organised by the festival under the name of Visitors Warm Up Meeting, scheduled for Sunday the 9th.
IMCINE will participate in the Public-Funding Meetings on Tuesday the 11th, at a pre-scheduled meeting for producers with 15 selected funds at tables, one is reserved for IMCINE.
WORLD CINEMA FUND-IMCINE AWARD
The WCF invites all friends of the WCF, as well as international representatives of the trade and press to WCF Day on February 12, 2014. After welcoming words from Festival Director Dieter Kosslick, and WCF project managers Sonja Heinen and Vincenzo Bugno, Jorge Sanchez, director of the Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografía (Mexican Film Institute) will present the IMCINE Award. This new prize will be awarded by IMCINE to all Mexican films that receive funding from the World Cinema Fund in the next three years. The IMCINE-Award is endowed with 15,000 Euro.
IMCINE-FICG + BERLINALE CO-PRODUCTION
AWARDS
The Guadalajara International Film Festival and the Mexican Film Institute (IMCINE) will jointly, for the first time and in conjunction with the 29th edition of the Festival, bestow the IMCINE-FICG Awards. This collaborative initiative brings together the efforts of the Institution and the Festival to support talent and encourage plurality and the exchange of ideas favouring a changing and open society, and promotes the development of the two projects selected. The two awards and incentives will help the young filmmakers who participated in the two professionalization programs of the FICG (TG and DocuLab) to produce their respective projects. The project selected at the Talents Guadalajara 2014 will receive a grant to attend the 2015 Berlinale Co-Production Market.
EXPOSITION: FILM IN YOUR COMMUNITY
From 2009 to date, the Film in Your Community project has travelled to towns and cities in almost all regions of the country, organizing free showings of Mexican films in marginalised zones, where paying admission to see a movie can prove challenging, or downright impossible. Mexican movies now have a chance to go outside conventional theatres through itinerant programs that favour the creation of new audiences.
The photographs making up this exposition are a graphic testimony to the content of this project during its four editions. Captured through the lenses of its organizers, these images show some of the most vivid experiences of their workday. The joyful faces of children and adults reflect and confirm the goal of these efforts, when, at the end of the day, there is a full house for the showing.
The exhibition, which will be inaugurated on February 10th at 20 hours at the Mexican Embassy in Berlin (Klingelhöferstraße 3, 10785 Berlin), closely traces the steps involved in the program’s mission to travel from one state to another, from one community to the next, traversing whatever kilometres are necessary to keep the appointment, where the screen is set up according to the requirements of the public spaces, in order to project all kinds of stories. Sometimes the distance between towns is considerable, and it may be necessary to start very early in the morning along the roads, which often lead through mountains, or along coastlines, in order to arrive on time to prepare the event. The people are reunited with our cinema and enjoy these films with characters who are familiar, as they share the same cultural identity.
Film in Your Community is a project of the National Council for Culture and the Arts, through the Mexican Film Institute, with the support of the National Film Archive (Cineteca Nacional), which, in its four editions, has brought together over 165 thousand people in 493 communities around the country.
