08 · 06 · 07

Fundación del Centro Histórico Prepares for “Festival of Festivals” 08.08.07

Clara Sánchez/Traslated by Paulina Suárez

Mexico City’s Fundación del Centro Histórico, the Pasagüero, CineKiubs, the 14th edition of the Summer Festival, organized by the Film Archive of the National University, will launch a “festival of festivals” next Thursday, august 9th at 8 pm at the Pasagüero (Motolinia 33, downtown).

The project’s main aim is to bring together filmmakers, distributors, sponsors, and the viewing public through screenings that show a collection of films from past editions. Also, Festivals will benefit by stretching their programs beyond their normal range.

Screenings will be held on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8 pm at the Pasagüero, and the idea is that the events will take on the importance of each festival, as if it was actually taking place. There will be no cover charge, as the screenings are non-profit. The festival’s involved are:

* Morelia International Film Festival
For the past five years, the FICM has promoted new Mexican films, made more art-house films available to the viewing public, has offered support to filmmakers, and stimulated the film and cultural industry in Mexico and abroad.

The Festival’s main event is the Mexican documentary and short competition, and, as of this year, it will open the Mexican feature-film competition which will feature the works of first or second-time directors.

* Summer Film Festival – National University’s Film Archive
The 14th Summer Film Festival, organized by the UNAM, will take place from the 10th of August to the 20th of September of this year, and will be held in six venues throughout México City.

The UNAM’s Summer Festival was founded in 1994. Since then, it has satisfied the expectations of demanding and sensitive film enthusiasts who want to see different films, directors, and themes than those available in commercial theaters.
Each summer, audiences get to see films from all over the world, from both emerging and established filmmakers.

* Festival Internacional de Cine Contemporáneo de la Ciudad de México, FICCO
The Mexico City Contemporary Film Festival has transformed independent film exhibition in Mexico. FICCO continues to offer a forum for avant-garde films from all over the world, and to offer the viewing public a unique cultural experience.

Its program has been made up by feature-films such as El regreso (Andrey Zvaginstev), Las Tortugas Pueden Volar (Bahman Gobadi), La Muerte del Sr. Lazarescu (Cristina Piu), Familia Tortuga (Rubén Imaz) and 12:08 al Este de Bucarest (Corneliu Porumboiu); and documentaries such as Al Oeste de las Vías (Wang Bing), La Pesadilla de Darwin (Hubert Sauper), La Muerte del Trabajador (Michel Glawogger) and Nuestro Pan de Cada Día (Nikolaus Geyrhalter.)

* Ambulante Gira de Documentales
Ambulante Gira de Documentales is a traveling documentary film festival carried out through Documental Ambulante, a nonprofit organization that works in collaboration with Canana, Cinépolis, and the Morelia International Film Festival. The festival travels to 15 cities in Mexico each year during February and March, 19 Cinépolis movie theaters, and includes several cultural events in 35 alternative venues, including museums, galleries, and other cultural and academic institutions in each city. Some of its main objectives are to:

* Decentralize the exhibition of documentary films in México;

* Raise awareness around the documentary genre;

* Promote the production of documentary films;

* Promote the interaction between audiences and documentary filmmakers;

* Promote the distribution of documentary films in Mexico;

* Ensure that documentary films work as advocates for social justice.

CineKiubs began in February of 200