Cine povera
By Jesse Lerner
Still "Desclowntrolados", 2007. Rocío Aranda de la Figuera and Uriel López España. 16mm
This programme takes a brief overview of the new expressions of low budget, homemade and handy craft experimental cinema in Mexico. All the works were made in 16 mm from 2000 through 2010. The purpose is not to create a type of cinema inviting the viewer to get lost in the illusion of the real and the narrative, but to explore the medium and its specific qualities. Over the last decade, Mexican experimental filmmaking has grown and diversified, rejuvenating with the arrival of new filmmakers and the exploration of new techniques and ways of doing. This programme takes a brief overview of the new expressions. After a long period of decline, Mexican commercial cinema (meaning, the filmmaking industry) of the last decade has been quite successful, both in economic and artistic terms, thanks to better production budgets, among other factors. The filmmakers represented here choose a different path; instead of increasingly higher production costs, they prefer a homemade, handcrafted cinema, created with minimal resources, individually or by a small group of friends. The purpose is not to create a type of cinema inviting the viewer to get lost in the illusion of the real and the narrative, but to explore the medium and its specific qualities. This might sound as a late-modernist fetishism, but the filmmakers participating in this show also share their interest in a variety of social and political issues. Like in Brechtian theatre, the viewer never forgets that what he is watching is the result of work, engineering and devices, and not window to reality, transparent and neutral. Through these handycraft products we can review a variety of topics and contemplate different issues.
- Programme 1. From 15 of April to 12 of July
Rocío Aranda de la Figuera y Uriel López España. Desclowntrolados, 2007
16 mm, 4’10’’
Txema Novelo. Sexabrate, 2007
16 mm, 1’32’’
Fernando Llanos. Viva Videoman!, 2009
Super 8, 2’50’’
Mayra Isabel Céspedes Vaca. Mariposas en el estómago, 2007
16 mm, 1’00’’
Rosario Sotelo. Recámera, 2007
16 mm, 5’00’’
- Programme 2. From 15 of July to 25 of October
Andrés García Franco. Cines Abandonados, 2008-2009
16 mm, 10’17’’,
Erika Loic. Parícutin, 2007
16 mm, 14’07’’
Naomi Uman. Hand Eye Coordination, 2002
16 mm, 10’20’’
Elena Pardo. Mi barrio, 2009
Super 16 mm, 5’00’’
