Red carpet and opening ceremony of the 15th FICM

Gabriela Martínez @GabbMartivel

The Morelia International Film Festival (FICM) inaugurated its fifteenth edition with the world premiere of the new Disney • Pixar film, COCO, directed by Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina. This was the first time that the FICM opened with an animated film.

During the gala, which took place at Cinépolis Plaza Morelia, actress and producer Johanna Murillo, in charge of directing the opening ceremony, gave a welcoming speech before handing over the microphone to Alfonso Martínez Alcázar, Morelia's mayor, who thanked everyone involved for their participation in the realization of the festival, the Disney talent, filmmakers and actors present during the ceremony.

For his part, the governor of Michoacán, Silvano Aureoles Conejo, stressed that the festival is already part of the Michoacan culture and emphasized the beauty that envelops the tradition of the Day of the Dead, which is honored by COCO. He also acknowledged that FICM "has established itself as a world-class cultural showcase".

The president of FICM, Alejandro Ramírez Magaña, accompanied by Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Batel, Vice-President, and Daniela Michel, general director of the festival, gave a speech where he referred to this edition as the "symbolic age of transition and evolution" of the festival. He emphasized that FICM has been an indispensable forum for the artistic proposals that have managed to gather the film community of Mexico and the world. He also highlighted the work of the team led by Daniela Michel over the years.

Gael García Bernal, Marco Antonio Solís, Cuahutémoc Cárdenas Batel, Lee Unkrich, Adrian Molina, Darla Anderson, Daniela Michel and Alejandro Ramírez.

In addition to the Disney talent, the red carpet saw the presence of the German director Fred Kelemen, who will present his latest film as director, Sarajevo Songs of Woe (2016); the Swiss-French director Barbet Schroeder; Béla Tarr, president of the jury of the Mexican Film Section of FICM; Gregory Nava, American director and screenwriter; the Mexican actresses Ximena Ayala, Sofía Espinosa and Ximena Romo; Bertha Navarro, producer and collaborator of MORELIA SUNDANCE Screenplay Lab; the director Carlos Cuaron; John Bailey, president of the United States Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; and Édouard Waintrop, director of the Fortnight of Directors of the Festival of Cannes; among others.

This year, the Official Selection of the festival is made up of 56 short films, 15 documentaries, 15 Michoacan works, and seven full-length feature films from different states of the Mexican Republic. In total there will be more than 100 Mexican filmmakers presenting their work.

For the fourth consecutive year, the festival will present the Online Mexican Short Film Selection, which is composed of 28 short films of the Official Selection of the 15th FICM. These titles will be available online for your vote October 20-26. The most voted short film will receive the Online Mexican Short Film Selection Award, which consists of a diploma and $ 50,000 pesos in cash.