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Restored Version of LA MUJER DE BENJAMÍN Screened at the 24th FICM With Carlos Carrera in Attendance

Gustavo R. Gallardo

A restored version of the film La mujer de Benjamín (1991) premiered at the 24th edition of the Morelia International Film Festival (FICM), attended by producer Ignacio Ortiz, director Carlos Carrera, and Juan Carlos Rulfo, who created the "making-of" documentary.

During a discussion moderated by Dinorath Ramírez, they revealed that this was the Film Training Centre's (CCC) first feature debut—an initiative that lets students, alumni, and industry professionals collaborate on film projects and gain professional experience.

The screening of this film at the FICM is part of the 50th-anniversary celebrations for the CCC as the movie stands as one of the foundational works in the institution's history.

"Watching it 34 years later, we realize what we actually accomplished: a great film," said Ignacio Ortiz. He noted that La mujer de Benjamín was not only part of a new wave of Mexican cinema, but also involved people who have since become individually renowned, such as Rodrigo Plá, Serguei Saldívar Tanaka, and Germán Méndez, among others.

The story follows Benjamín, a lonely former boxer who falls in love with Natividad, a young woman desperate to escape her mother’s control. Egged on by his friends, he attempts to kidnap her, but she seizes the opportunity to steal some money and flee the town.

Carlos Carrera, who was 29 at the time, remembers that long before it was filmed, the project existed as his thesis script, titled Benjamín y Micaela. He originally envisioned it as an animated film: "I had always dreamed of working in animation; that was my entry point into filmmaking. I had already created animated shorts, projects that required full-scale production, so I simply drew out what I imagined the film could look like." 

Regarding the casting process, especially during a period when perhaps the greatest challenge was the interference of the film production union, which was "capable of sabotaging films”, Carrera noted that, despite his youth, there were no major conflicts. This was true even with his "unconventional method" for selecting actors: drawing the character first and then looking for someone who resembled the drawing.

"There were several actors who turned me down—some were very good, and they have since passed away," he remarked. When asked to reveal their names, he laughed and declined.

When asked whether the moral hypocrisy displayed by his characters, particularly within religious settings, originated with this film or was a theme he had already intended to explore, Carlos Carrera replied that it is an approach he has applied ever since: "Thematically, I find this moral hypocrisy, prevalent among people throughout the Mexican Republic, both deeply intriguing and even amusing."

La mujer de Benjamín was a film that traveled from city to city in a suitcase; it "grew little by little," along with its promotional campaign, Carlos explains. He adds: "There was a genuine curiosity to see this new kind of cinema. One that told stories differently and showed a greater level of care than what was being produced by the mainstream film industry."