10 · 04 · 10 FICM celebrates Bicentennial Share with twitter Share with facebook Share with mail Copy to clipboard Araceli Calva translated by Cindy Hawes Prior to the showing, there will be a discussion about Gertrudis Bocanegra, the Michoacán heroine, played by actress Ofelia Medina (winner of the Silver Ariel on two occasions) and who will be present at the event. The actress shares the same social commitment that marked the life of Bocanegra. Her work to improve the living conditions of indigenous communities through the Fideicomiso para La Salud de los Niños Indígenas de México (FISANIM), founded by the actress, artist Francisco Toledo and Dr. Juán Pérez Amor, is an example of this concern. The film, directed by Ernesto Medina Torres and also starring Angélica Aragón and Eduardo Palomo, is about the life and work of Gertrudis Bocanegra, a young Michoacán creole who lived during the period of the Mexican War of Independence. The daughter of a prosperous Spanish merchant, Gertrudis was in contact with the top bourgeois and the military. But thanks to her P’urhépecha nanny, she learns the language and becomes conscious of the injustices against the indigenous people. Through a friend, she meets the priest Miguel Hidalgo and this encounter defines her destiny. She joins the independence struggle. In 1993, the film won three Ariel awards from the Mexican Academy of Film Arts and Sciences, in the categories of Best First Work, Best Score and Best Costume Design. In that same year, it was also selected to represent Mexico at the Oscars. Gertrudis Bocanegra participated in international festivals, including those in Moscow, Shangai, Berlin and Japan, where it was well received by critics.
