09 · 21 · 05

Carlos Taibo Seeks to Generate Critical Minds

Clara Sánchez

Carlos Taibo, pleased with the success of Morelia Lab’s first session, pointed out that it is important to strengthen the filmmakers’ guild: “It is crucial to modify the competition that exists among producers in order to have influence over cultural policies.¨

It shouldn’t be a discussion among IMCINES’ producers, but a debate between the whole cultural community and the government. We need to be perceived as a group that has the will, the strength, and the capacity to make interesting and transcendent projects.

In other countries, the film industry is a strategic industry. ¿Why should Mexico be left out? Especially if we remember that, for a long time, it was a very good business that made millions of dollars. We have to go beyond the point where producers feel pleased about finishing their projects and watching them in their living room, those films need to be seen by audiences; we need to stop closing production houses once the movie is finished, and this cannot be done by IMCINE alone.

Taibo added that it’s urgent to encourage film production, as “these are difficult times, but not more so than yesterday or tomorrow. Making movies shouldn’t have to be a huge sacrifice, where you don’t get to see your family and you don’t get a cent for it. This situation really isn’t the least bit encouraging, and the task is left for crazy quixotic dreamers, who must also have another job in order to make ends meet. I really hope this will change someday. That’s also why we are betting on digital film, but we desperately need for movie theatres to accommodate this this.”

The Director of Film Production Encouragement at IMCINE also explained that from this year on, the Institute’s 7 million peso grant will finance 80 percent of a film’s production, not 49 percent, which used to be the limit. “This is a way to encourage more productionswith lower budgets,” he added.