08 · 09 · 10

FICM and the Cineteca Nacional to present Las Imprescindibles de Monsiváis

Clara Sánchez translated by Cindy Hawes

Las Imprescindibles de Monsiváis  was announced yesterday at a press conference that was attended by Daniela Michel, director of the Morelia International Film Festival, Paula Astorga, director of the Cineteca Nacional, María Cristina García Cepeda, director of the Auditorio Nacional and critic and curator Carlos Bonfil.

Michel said that the cycle will be shown during the 8th edition of  FICM, that will be held from October 16 to 24 at its main venues: Cinépolis Centro, the Casa Natal de Morelos,  the Centro Cultural Universitario and the Palacio Clavijero auditorium.  “The films will be free. We will also have a discussion moderated by Carlos Bonfil, the great expert on Carlos Monsiváis and a great friend of the Festival since its beginning. Fabrizio Mejía, Jorge Volpi and Sealtiel Alatriste will also participate.  We applaud the efforts of the Cineteca to present the favorite films of this great intellectual, Carlos Monsiváis,” the director sad.

The other films on the program are Las abandonadas by Emilio Fernández (1944), Campeón sin corona by Alejandro Galindo (1945), Enamorada by Emilio Fernández (1946) Nosotros los pobres by Ismael Rodríguez (1947), Pueblerina by Emilio Fernández (1948), Salón México by Emilio Fernández (1948),  ¡Esquina bajan! by Alejandro Galindo (1948), El rey del barrio by Gilberto Martínez Solares (1949), Aventurera by Alberto Gout (1949) and Víctimas del pecado by Emilio Fernández (1950).

Bonfil said the selection of films belonging to the so-called “Golden Age” comes from the overwhelming number of essays and articles the writer dedicated to this period and the importance he gave them in his list of favorite films.

The film critic explained that Monsiváis’ taste and preference for this period, according to the writer himself,  is attributed to the fact that “in those decisive years the myths and genres of the national cinema reached their apotheosis. All the films were in some way significant. They had an attentive audience who shared the enthusiasm and catharsis they saw on the screen. [The films] actually reached a point where the model of social and psychological reality offered on the screen came very close to reality itself. These films were informative and also contributed to establishing conditioned reflexes to basic issues like maternity, adultery, male actions, poverty endured with honor, and misfortune resulting from poverty. The display of gestures, body movements, linguistic peculiarities and a whole host of funny or sentimental phrases contributed to the newly acquired national identity at that time. This cinema also produced a vast gallery of First and Second actors and actresses  who were loved by the mass audience and never equaled since: Cantinflas, Tin Tán, Dolores del Río, María Félix, Pedro Armendáriz, Ninón Sevilla, Joaquín Pardavé, Consuelo Guerrero de Luna, Dolores Camarillo  and many more.

Paula Astorga expressed her appreciation to the Filmoteca of the UNAM for their importat restoration of the classic films El compadre Mendoza and ¡Vámonos con Pancho Villa! . “It was very important for us that after they restored these films, which are emblematic of the genre of the Revolution, the Filmoteca gave us two copies for the archive of the Cineteca,” she said.

The cycle will begin at the Auditorio Nacional, where a selection of six films  -- El compadre Mendoza, ¡Vámonos con Pancho Villa! , Las abandonadas, Enamorada, Pueblerina and Salón México -- will be presented on August 20, 21 and 22. Afterwards the complete cycle will be shown at the Cineteca Nacional on August 31 through September 12.

María Cristina García Cepeda added that the films will be projected on the large screen that measures 10 by 18 meters in the Auditorio Nacional and will cost 50 pesos. A promotion of 2 x 1 will also be available.