The Festival We are The Morelia International Film Festival (FICM) is a non profit civil association, dedicated to support Mexican filmmakers, cultivate new audiences, Disseminate the Cinematographic Culture of Mexico, and to spread the cinematographic culture of Mexico, through an inclusive and hospitable platform for national filmmakers, the public and the international film community. We believe In the power of transformation of a national cinema and in the importance of identifying new Mexican talents whose works can cross cultural and aesthetic boundaries, inspire international artistic dialogue, and thus have a strong impact on society. We believe in the transcendence of human ties; so we encourage meetings, in an enriching context, among others of the regions of the Mexican territory with some of the most outstanding figures of the film community of the world. The Morelia International Film Festival (FICM) is a unique meeting point in Mexico for the cinematographic community, the people of Michoacán and international filmmakers. FICM’s mission is to promote new talents in Mexican cinema, to increase the offering of quality cinema and to contribute to the cultural and tourist activities in the state of Michoacán. Sections in Competition FICM has four official sections in competition, all of which involve exclusively Mexican films: Michoacán Section (for filmmakers who reside in Michoacán) | Mexican Short Film | Mexican Documentary | Mexican Feature Film The festival also organizes a Michoacán Short Film Screenplay Contest that is open to scriptwriters born or residing in the state. Since 2014, FICM includes an Online Mexican Short Film Selection, composed by some of the short films from the Official Selection. These films are available free online for the whole world during the festival week and they compete for the Online Mexican Short Film Award, granted by the audience. Academy Awards Oscar ® Since 2008, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) of the United States officially recognized FICM by offering the winning fiction, documentary and animation short films, as well as the winning documentaries of the Ojo for Mexican Feature-Length Documentary at Morelia the opportunity to be considered for an Oscar® nomination. Critics’ Week Since it's beginning in 2003, FICM established a solid partnership with the Critics’ Week of the Cannes Film Festival, which has promoted Mexican filmmakers such as Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu, Guillermo del Toro and Fernando Eimbcke. A selection of films from the Critics’ Week is presented each year at FICM with the presence of some of their participants. Likewise, the Critics’ Week shows some of FICM’s winning films. Our Founders Alejandro Ramírez Founder and President of FICM. Chief Executive Officer of Cinépolis, one of the largest film exhibition companies in the world with operations in Mexico, Brazil, Spain, India, the United States, Colombia, Chile, Peru and Central America. He served as Mexico’s Representative to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and as Technical Secretary of the Social Cabinet in the Executive Office of the President of Mexico. He has worked for the World Bank and the United Nations Development Program in the areas of poverty and human development. He is Chairman of the Mexican Business Council, the most influential business organization in Mexico. He serves on the Boards of BBVA Bancomer, the Mexican Competitiveness Institute, the Sundance Institute and the Harvard Board of Overseers. He was appointed a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2005 and co-chaired the WEF’s Annual Meeting in 2012. Also in 2012, President Calderon appointed him as Chair of the B20, the G20’s Business Summit. He holds a BA in Economics from Harvard University, an MSc in Development Economics from the University of Oxford and an MBA from Harvard Business School Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Batel Founder and Vice-President of FICM. He was born in La Orilla, municipality of Melchor Ocampo del Balsas (today Lázaro Cárdenas), Michoacán. He studied architecture at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and at the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM). He was Executive Vice-President of the Foundation for Democracy – alternative and debate – a.c. for two decades and is currently Vice-President of the Lázaro Cárdenas and Amalia Solórzano Center a.c., and adviser to the Head of State of Mexico City in matters of culture. He has been a consultant in the planning of various cinematographic and cultural festivals in Mexico and Latin America, as well as in the design and implementation of public policies related to development through culture. He works independently in the fields of architecture, fine arts and jewelry. He is part of the Honorary Council of the Festival Ambulante and the Advisory Council of the Ibero-American association Cinema 23. Daniela Michel Daniela Michel is the Founding Director of the Morelia International Film Festival, an annual event launched in 2003 to support and promote a new generation of Mexican filmmakers. The festival has an ongoing partnership with the Critics’ Week section of the Cannes Film Festival. She holds a degree in English Literature from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and studied film-making at Mexico’s Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica. Michel has also served on the Jury for the Rockefeller Foundation’s Media Arts Fellowships, the Fulbright García-Robles Film Fellowships, the J. William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding, and the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, as well as for film festivals, including the Un Certain Regard and La Semaine de la Critique sections of the Cannes Film Festival, the Venice Film Festival, the Sundance Film Festival, the Locarno International Film Festival, the San Sebastian International Film Festival, the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), the Sarajevo Film Festival, the Transylvania International Film Festival, the Fribourg International Film Festival, the San Francisco Film Festival, the Cartagena International Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival. Special Guest Every year we invite artists, producers, directors and screenwriters to share their experience within the medium of cinema. 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Alejandro Ramírez Founder and President of FICM. Chief Executive Officer of Cinépolis, one of the largest film exhibition companies in the world with operations in Mexico, Brazil, Spain, India, the United States, Colombia, Chile, Peru and Central America. He served as Mexico’s Representative to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and as Technical Secretary of the Social Cabinet in the Executive Office of the President of Mexico. He has worked for the World Bank and the United Nations Development Program in the areas of poverty and human development. He is Chairman of the Mexican Business Council, the most influential business organization in Mexico. He serves on the Boards of BBVA Bancomer, the Mexican Competitiveness Institute, the Sundance Institute and the Harvard Board of Overseers. He was appointed a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2005 and co-chaired the WEF’s Annual Meeting in 2012. Also in 2012, President Calderon appointed him as Chair of the B20, the G20’s Business Summit. He holds a BA in Economics from Harvard University, an MSc in Development Economics from the University of Oxford and an MBA from Harvard Business School
Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Batel Founder and Vice-President of FICM. He was born in La Orilla, municipality of Melchor Ocampo del Balsas (today Lázaro Cárdenas), Michoacán. He studied architecture at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and at the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM). He was Executive Vice-President of the Foundation for Democracy – alternative and debate – a.c. for two decades and is currently Vice-President of the Lázaro Cárdenas and Amalia Solórzano Center a.c., and adviser to the Head of State of Mexico City in matters of culture. He has been a consultant in the planning of various cinematographic and cultural festivals in Mexico and Latin America, as well as in the design and implementation of public policies related to development through culture. He works independently in the fields of architecture, fine arts and jewelry. He is part of the Honorary Council of the Festival Ambulante and the Advisory Council of the Ibero-American association Cinema 23.
Daniela Michel Daniela Michel is the Founding Director of the Morelia International Film Festival, an annual event launched in 2003 to support and promote a new generation of Mexican filmmakers. The festival has an ongoing partnership with the Critics’ Week section of the Cannes Film Festival. She holds a degree in English Literature from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and studied film-making at Mexico’s Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica. Michel has also served on the Jury for the Rockefeller Foundation’s Media Arts Fellowships, the Fulbright García-Robles Film Fellowships, the J. William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding, and the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, as well as for film festivals, including the Un Certain Regard and La Semaine de la Critique sections of the Cannes Film Festival, the Venice Film Festival, the Sundance Film Festival, the Locarno International Film Festival, the San Sebastian International Film Festival, the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), the Sarajevo Film Festival, the Transylvania International Film Festival, the Fribourg International Film Festival, the San Francisco Film Festival, the Cartagena International Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival.
