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Opening Ceremony of the 12th FICM

The Morelia International Film Festival (FICM) held its opening ceremony tonight, which marks the official beginning of the activities of its 12^th edition. The event, which took place at the Cinépolis Escala Morelia (formerly Plaza Morelia), was preceded by a red carpet and closed with the screening of the latest film by the extraordinary Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman o (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014).

The inauguration ceremony was conducted by film director and producer Roberto Fiesco, a great friend of the festival, who thanked the directors, actors, special guests, the government of Michoacán, people of Michoacán and the FICM staff for their presence. He invited Salvador Jara Guerrero, governor of Michoacán, to the podium.

The governor said he was honored to be at the event, and greeted Alejandro Ramírez Magaña, president of FICM, Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Batel, vice president of FICM, Daniela Michel, general director of FICM, and the public in the theater. He stressed the importance of the festival as part of the identity of Mexico as well as of cinematography, which allows one  “to reflect on our problems and …  imagine other possible worlds.” He thanked those in attendence and everyone who makes the festival possible for their presence.

Alejandro Ramírez Magaña, Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Batel and Daniela Michel went to the podium.  Ramírez Magaña, who spoke on behalf of FICM, greeted local and state authorities, film and cultural institutions in Mexico, major sponsors of the festival and participating producers and film distributors. He thanked the FICM staff for their talent and enthusiasm throughout the past 12 years. He mentioned some of the activities, events and sections that will take place during the 12^th FICM, such as the Official Selection (consisting of 12 Mexican features, 24 documentaries, 41 short films and 10 films from Michoacán); the Online Mexican Short Film Selection (composed of 19 short films that can be viewed worldwide free of charge on the Internet) and the tribute to famous Michoacán composer Chucho Monge, author of the iconic song, “Mexico lindo y querido,” which is incorporated in the spot of the 12^th edition of FICM.

The FICM president also spoke of the tremendous work of Daniela Michel, who 20 years ago began the extraordinary task of promoting Mexican film in the Mexican Short Film Festival, which preceded FICM. The project will be honored at this edition of the festival with a selection of Mexican short films of the last two decades. Then Ramírez Magaña announced that Thierry Frémaux, general delegate of the Cannes Film Festival, would soon arrive. He also mentioned the names of each member of the jury of the 12^th FICM, the Special Guests and the four Guests of Honor: Juliette Binoche, Amos Gitai, Paweł Pawlikowski and Pierre Rissient, who was present at the ceremony.

Finally, the festival president welcomed the Special Guest of the 12^th FICM, Alejandro González Iñárritu, who took the podium to present Birdman. It is the second time this Mexican director, who won the Best Director award at the 59^th Cannes Film Festival for Babel (2006), opens an edition of FICM. Biutiful(2010) was the opening film at the 8th FICM. Before the screening of Birdman, González Iñárritu spoke about his work in the film, which he considers his best experience to date and in which he tried to “explore the nature of human identity,” through humor toward oneself.

Nota por Alejandro M. Azpiri (@nosoyalexalejo)