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XV years, 15 editions: FICM 2009, 7th edition

Quentin Tarantino kicked off the seventh edition of the Morelia International Film Festival (FICM), which was held in the capital of Michoacan from the 3rd to the 11th of October in 2009, to the cry of "Are you ready for some bastardos?!".

The festival began with the screening of Inglorious Basterds after the enthusiastic welcome of its director and a few words from Eli Roth, who took advantage to talk about his film Hostel (2005).

In addition to Tarantino, other Special Guests of this edition included the French director Bruno Dumont, who presented his film Hadewijch, winner of the International Critics' Prize at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2009.

For the first time in its history, FICM had a guest country. Romania was the star of a program of feature films, short films and documentaries curated by the Romanian critic Mihai Chirilov. The section happened, in great part, to director Cristian Mungiu, who had the idea of presenting this program during his visit to FICM in 2008.

The retrospective was dedicated to French director Alain Resnais. Through a selection of seven feature films and five short films, FICM showed the director's genius beyond the New French Wave. "Alain Resnais has made a definite mark in modern cinema, both in his commitment to the history of his time, and in the invention of a new film form—a filmmaking characterized by its deceptive continuities and a marked ambivalence between reality and artifice," essayist Vincent Amiel wrote in the catalogue for that year’s edition of the festival. Among the films that were screened were Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959), Last Year at Marienbad (1961) and Coeurs (2006).

That year, the Homenaje Michoacano was dedicated to the actress Fanny Cano, starring in films like Despedida de soltera (dir. Juan Soler, 1965) and Zona Roja (dir Emilio Fernández, 1975). Additionally, FICM celebrated directors Julio Bracho, as well as Roberto Gavaldón on the centenary of his birth.

Alejandro Ramírez, Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Batel and Daniela Michel acknowledged that after six years of history, FICM had reached a maturity that had earned it the recognition of filmmakers, institutions, and festivals. "But undoubtedly, the most valuable recognition for the festival is in the presence of the filmmakers and the public's preference. The fact that the festival has served as a platform to launch the career of many young filmmakers is one of the greatest satisfactions for those of us contributing as organizers."

Find out more about what was experienced in the seventh edition of FICM.