10 · 05 · 06

Short Films from Michoacan will be screened in competition as part in the FICM´s 4th Edition (October 4, 2006)

Clara Sánchez

Announcing the final details of the festival, Alejandro Ramírez, Daniela Michel, and Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Batel stated that, for the first time, short films from Michoacan will be screened in competition. The films will compete in the following categories: Mexican short (48 titles); shorts from Michoacan (8 titles) and documentary films from Michoacan (13 titles).

The winner of each category will receive 50 thousand pesos. The winning films will also be screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007. During the press conference, which was attended by Crisanto Cacho Vega, Director of the Department for the State of Michoacan; Genovevo Zamudio Figueroa, Director of Tourism; Enrique Rivera Ruiz, Director of Tourism for the Municipality; and Alma Espinosa Menéndez, General Coordinator of Communications for the State of Michoacán, Michel stated that, as in previous years, several films from the Critic´s Week at Cannes would be screened at the FICM.

Cárdenas stated that Patzcuaro´s Teatro Emperador Caltzontzin, which was used as a venue for the first time last year, will host a retrospective titled `Imágenes históricas de Pátzcuaro y la región lacustre en el cine documental 1951- 1960` (Historic Images of Pátzcuaro and the Lake Region in Documentary Films: 1951-1960). The films were produced and restored by the Centro de Cooperación Regional para la Educación de Adultos en América (CREFAL).

The CREFAL´s objective is to guide rural teachers and promote the use of audio-visual materials in education. This initiative encouraged the making of documentary films in the Patzcuaro and lake region. The Teatro Emperador Caltzontzin will also host a photography exhibition by Sam Sanders. This year, the FICM will pay tribute to Fernando Mendez, one of Morelia´s major film personalities.

To honor his career, several films will be screened and Eduardo de la Vega Alfaro will give a talk on this subject. Actor Gustavo Sánchez Parra, who has stimulated young Mexican filmmakers and was awarded an Ariel in 2001 for his work in Amores Perros, will receive a distinction at the FICM. The program will also include Juguemos grabar (Record and Play) a showcase of short films made by kids between the ages of 8 and 14 who where enrolled in a course on filmmaking. The kids succeeded at portraying their fantasies in film: they wrote, produced, recorded and edited their own story.