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Olivia Harrison and Héctor Orozco Presented the Restored Version of PEDRO PÁRAMO (1967) by Carlos Velo at the 23rd FICM

Berenice Andrade Medina

As part of the 23rd Morelia International Film Festival (FICM), the producer, writer, curator and philanthropist Olivia Harrison, alongside the curator of Fundación Televisa, Héctor Orozco, presented a restored version of Pedro Páramo, the first film adaptation of the short novel of the same name by Juan Rulfo.

Joined by Daniela Michel, founder and director of FICM, and the filmmaker Juan Carlos Rulfo, son of the writer, Olivia Harrison thanked FICM, Televisa, L’Immagine Ritrovata, and the UNAM Film Archive for their invaluable support. She explained that Pedro Páramo is the fourteenth film to be restored by The Film Foundation, which has also restored other notable films, including The Young and the Damned (1950), In Love (1946), and María Candelaria (1944). “It's been incredibly exciting to watch how these films have been revitalized for a worldwide audience.” 

For his part, Héctor Orozco commented that since the restoration of In Love by Emilio Fernández, Fundación Televisa has been collaborating with The Film Foundation to restore approximately ten films, including Pedro Páramo.

“It's from a period when the Golden Age of Mexican cinema had ended, and a group of important filmmakers, including Roberto Gavaldón and Gabriel Figueroa, joined forces to restore the industry's former glory. They focused on two authors: Traven and Juan Rulfo,” the curator added.

Daniela Michel spoke about the immense literary value of Juan Rulfo's work. “I’m certain it was a challenge for director Carlos Velo to adapt this significant novel, but he turned Rulfo's words into compelling film images.”