09 · 11 · 17

XV aniversario, 15 preguntas a Juan Carlos Rulfo

The filmmaker Juan Carlos Rulfo has attended so many editions of the Morelia International Film Festival (FICM) that he no longer accurately remembers the number or its activities. What remains with him is that FICM has been as important to his career as he has been to the history of the festival. From En el hoyo (2006), which won in the 4th FICM Audience Award for Best Documentary in Competition, he has presented all his films in Morelia. But his participation has not been limited to that, since he has attended the festival as director, as a member of the jury and as a mentor.

To commemorate FICM's fifteenth anniversary, Juan Carlos Rulfo answers these 15 questions:

1. When was the first time you went to FICM?

The first time ... it was the first edition, I was a jury. I was there from the beginning, when the festival was very small. In 2006, I went with En el hoyo and from there I went consecutively with the other films. I went once to go to Morelia LAB. I've gone quite a lot.

2. How many editions of FICM have you attended?

I think I've gone to 10, because, in addition, I lived in Morelia.

3. What is your favorite FICM image?

The Moreliana with the arches of the Morelia Aqueduct behind.

4. What kind of movies do you like to see at FICM?

The movies that I would not see anywhere, especially, which are the films in competition, by the new filmmakers. For me, this is the ideal image of the FICM: A festival where there is room for everything from the Michoacan Section to the new productions coming out of the film schools. I'm not so interested in going to see the premieres of sacred cows, that's a secondary thing. It is always nice to see these strange films, not only Mexican but also foreign, which are usually raw operas.

5. Name a movie you have seen at FICM that marked you as a viewer.

Silvestre Pantaleón (2011, dirs. Jonathan Amith, Roberto Olivares Ruiz). It is a very anthropological film. I liked it because the director made a much more aggressive or risky film to say very interesting things.

Also, The violin (2005, dir. Francisco Vargas Quevedo).

6. What is your favorite place of the theatre? ie how close to the screen do you like to be?

In the middle.

7. What invites you to watch a movie? (the director, the poster, the theme, the synopsis, a recommendation, a prize, etc.)

Sometimes the theme, sometimes the director, sometimes the synopsis.

8. What is your favorite place in Morelia?

The Jardín de Las Rosas.

9. Why do you like to attend FICM?

Because it is a festival developed mainly in a very manageable area; a space where you will see everyone. It is very efficient of any festival to have the possibility of getting everywhere, that makes it very appealing, very friendly: you can walk with friends, meet people. It is very friendly and easy.

10. What personalities have you met at FICM?

I do not remember so much of the sacred cows, but of the kids, especially the makers of Michoacan.

11. Name a classic Mexican movie that you like a lot.

Los olvidados (1950, dir. Luis Buñuel) and La ilusión viaja en tranvía (1953, dir. Luis Buñuel).

12. Name a contemporary Mexican movie that you like a lot.

Güeros (2014, dir. Alonso Ruizpalacios) and Tempestad (2016, dir. Tatiana Huezo). A fiction and a documentary. It has a very expressive tendency.

13. What have you presented at FICM?

I presented En el hoyo (2006), Los que se quedan (2008, codir. Carlos Hagerman), Carrière, 250 metros (2011, codir. Natalia Gil Torner), and ¡De panzazo! (2011, codir. Carlos Loret de Mola). It has been a must to pass by.

14. Share a special memory of FICM.

I remember very well when the September 15 attacks happened, the same year I stopped living in Morelia, that the people were very grateful to the festival because it had returned the life to the city. The festival was contributing to give strength to society.

15. What do you wish for FICM on its 15th anniversary?

FICM is a great testimony of solidity, creativity and wisdom, I wish you more of that; for it to open many more windows to the world for all new filmmakers and to continue to promote such things.