Monday, March 09, 1998

Mexican Non-Fiction From Pancho Villa To the Present Day

Nine non-fiction films from the collections of the Cineteca Nacional of Mexico, presented by its director, Alejandro Pelayo Rangel. Only some scattered documentaries remain from the silent era, but in them we meet the legendary revolutionary generals. Each general had a film unit, and Pancho Villa is said to have waited for the ideal lighting conditions before commanding his troops to attack. The print quality of all titles was poor. The b&w films had weak definition, and the colour of the colour films had faded. The prints were in Spanish, shown without subtitles or translation. The prints had the labels of the Filmoteca de la UNAM. Viewed in Helsinki, SEA, Cinema Orion, Monday 9 March 1998.
Entrevista Diaz - Taft (Porfirio Diaz Meets Taft, Hermanos Alva, 1909) 6’. 35mm b&w silent. One of the eldest surviving Mexican films.
Villa en Zacatecas (Pancho Villa Takes Zacatecas, 1914) 5’. 35mm b&w silent. Villa conquers the city of Zacatecas.
Banquete de Villa, Zapata y Vasconcelos (The Banquet of Pancho Villa, Emilio Zapata and Vasconcelos, 1914) 5’ 35mm b&w silent. The unique historical meeting of Villa and Zapata
Petroleo National, El (F. Gregorio Castillo, 1940) 8’. 35mm b&w. The history of oil in Mexico.
También ellos tienen illusiones (They Have Their Illusions, Too, Adolfo Garnica, 1954-1956) 15’. 16mm b&w. Two poor boys on a railway station.
Pulqueria ”La Rosita” (The Bar La Rosita, Esther Morales Gálvez, 1964) 17’. 16mm b&w. Boy & alcoholic dad.
Mural efimero (The Moment of the Mural, Raúl Kamffer, 1968) 9’. 16mm colour. Political mural in 1968.
Estrellas sobre Acapulco (Stars Over Acapulco, 1968) 2’. 16mm colour. The massacre in Mexico City in 1968.
Quinto jinete, El (The Fifth Horseman, Alfredo Gurrola, 1980) 21’. 35mm colour. A collage on pollution.

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