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The UNAM Film Archive Presented RADIOGRAPHÍA DE LA INDUSTRIA DE CINE MÉXICO 2021-2022, by Arturo Aguilar, at the 21st FICM

As part of the 21st Morelia International Film Festival (FICM), the UNAM Film Archive presented its latest publication: Radiografía de la industria del cine en México 2021-2022 (Radiography of the film industry in Mexico 2021-2022), by journalist and film critic Arturo Aguilar. 

Present at the presentation were Abril Alzaga, Executive Director of the UNAM International Film Festival (FICUNAM); Miguel Rivera, Vice President of Global Programming and Content at Cinépolis; and Hugo Villa Smythe, General Director of the UNAM Film Archive.

Radiografía de la industria del cine en México 2021-2022 is an investigation that examines the conditions in which producers, distributors and other members of the national film community faced challenges and opportunities during 2022, in a film ecosystem with even more altered dynamics since the pandemic, and from which a large part of the film industry has yet to recover. 

In the book, Arturo Aguilar complemented the opinions of some members of the Mexican film industry with journalistic and academic research. The publication addresses the issues of Mexican film production and distribution, the state of film festivals, streaming, and piracy. 

Aguilar explained that before the pandemic, new film consumption habits were already being considered, but the pandemic forced everyone to accelerate the review and adapt.

Given this, Abril Alzaga affirmed that although many things changed during the pandemic in terms of cinema production, it was not the only trigger for these changes. Many phenomena came together in response to the country's cultural needs.

Regarding the irruption of series productions for platforms, Arturo Aguilar pointed out that it has meant more difficulties for independent films to get a crew to film because series last longer and have better salaries: "A crew is much more difficult to get now, but it also means that these people have more secure jobs. The question is who gets those technicians, those staffs, and what is left for independent Mexican cinema".

Regarding streaming, Hugo Villa said: "One of the differentiators of this ability to gobble up, to consume everything on the new platforms, is the ability to finance themselves with debt in a way that has not been seen before. They practically print money. 

For his part, Miguel Rivera pointed out that for the distribution sector, the pandemic was a kind of cataclysm. "We never imagined that there would be a worldwide phenomenon that would force us to close movie theaters. There were countries where we were closed for a year and a half. How can you continue paying salaries, rents, services?"