10 · 27 · 22

Building Inclusion and Equality Through Cinema: A Dialogue at the 20th FICM

Laura García

“We feel that cinema doesn’t speak to us because we don’t connect with the stories we see on the screen”, reflected Jessica Oliva, Editor-in-Chief of Cinepremiere, in the Building Inclusion and Equality Through Cinema: A Dialogue during the 20th edition of the Morelia International Film Festival (FICM).

The conference included Jessica Olivar, journalist and editor of Cine Premier; Xun Sero, cinematographer and director of Mamá (2022), a feature film participating in the Mexican Documentary competition; Garibay A. young filmmaker who is part of the Mexican Short Film competition with Tiempo en blanco (2022); and Edgar Esquinca, coordinator of the training project for social inclusion and anti-discrimination in the United Nations Development Programme.

During the dialogue, they talked about how to transform the film industry by parting from new perspectives and ways that expand narratives and cinema as a culture, where we as viewers question what we like in a conscious and involved way. In addition to finding aspirational models, given that we all have different stories that we have integrated into our way of life and representations that we have learned from movies since we were little.

“What I am trying to do is make the movies that I would have liked to see as a child because I think that if I had seen movies like the ones they are making right now as a child, my life would have been very different, and my identity less complicated for my to figure out,” shared Garibay A.

Other important themes during the conference were the value of recognizing our privileges, the sensitivity of the medium, and creating more spaces for new voices and perspectives that transform the film industry into a place of empathy, safety, and recognition.

“For a long time, we of the original peoples were only used as stereotypes [in films], we were only themes, we weren’t subjects, we weren’t people who could speak and tell their own stories [...] the biggest mistake we make as a society is continue naming what is indigenous when we can name the reality and cultural diversity to which people belong. I am a Tzotzil Mayan, which is very different from one of my Yaqui brothers [...] our struggle has made it possible for us to have these tools,” concluded Xun Sero.