This is part of the two day event “Foundations of Mexican Independent Cinema.” Learn more.
“Foundations of Mexican Independent Cinema” is curated by film scholar Valerie Pires and features screenings and discussions with scholars and filmmakers focused on the convictions, creative world, and legacy of Grupo Nuevo Cine, a 1960s collective of Spanish exiles, Mexican, and Latin American filmmakers, artists, and intellectuals based in Mexico City. Influenced by Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel and Mexican poet Octavio Paz, the collective included Jomi García Ascot, María Luisa Elío, Emilio García Riera, Gabriel García Márquez, José de la Colina, Carlos Fuentes, Leonora Carrington, Alberto Isaac, Benito Alazraki, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Paul Leduc, Arturo Ripstein, and Felipe Cazals, among others.
Schedule
3–5 PM | Screening
The Blue Lobster (La langosta azul, Luis Vicens, Álvaro Cepeda Samudio, Enrique Grau Araújo, Gabriel García Márquez, 1954, Colombia). Dur: 29 min. Silent. Presented courtesy of Fundación Patrimonio Fílmico Colombiano.
Remedios Varo: 1913-1963 (Jomi García Ascot, 1967, Mexico). Dur: 20 mins. Spanish with English subtitles. US Premiere.
5–6:30 PM | Break
6:30 PM | Welcome and Introduction
Welcome by Ron Gregg, Senior Lecturer in Discipline, Film and Media Studies
Introduction by Valerie Pires, on the "Foundations of Independent Cinema in Mexico," focusing on Grupo Nuevo Cine and the film On the Empty Balcony.
7 PM | Screening
On the Empty Balcony (En el balcón vacío, Jomi García Ascot, 1962, Mexico). Dur: 56 min. Restored. In Spanish with English subtitles. Presented courtesy of Elias Querejeta Zine Eskola (EQZE).
8:05 PM | Discussion Panel and Q&A
Professor Breixo Viejo and film scholar Valerie Pires (co-moderators) with discussants Professor Richard Peña, founder and editor of El Equilibrista Diego García Elío, filmmaker Rodrigo García, film restorer Luis Juárez, and filmmaker and essayist José Manuel Mouriño, and Professor Ron Gregg.
9 PM | Closing Remarks
Ron Gregg, Senior Lecturer in Discipline, Film and Media Studies
Sponsors:
Columbia University School of the Arts | IG: @columbiaschoolofthearts
Instituto Cervantes New York | IG: @institutocervantesnewyork
Co-sponsors:
Elias Querejeta Zine Eskola | IG: @eqze.zine.eskola
Fundación Patrimonio Fílmico Colombiano | IG: @patfilmcolombia
Cineteca Nacional Mexico | IG: @cinetecanacionalmx
El Equilibrista Editorial | IG: @editorial_el_equilibrista
Film Program, School of the Arts | IG: @columbiafilm
Hispanic Institute for Latin American and Iberian Cultures | IG: @casahispanicany
Institute for Latin American Studies | IG: @ilas_columbia_edu
Center for Mexico and Central America | IG: @cemeca_columbia
Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race (CSER) | IG: @csercolumbia
Hunter IMA | IG: @hunterimamfa
Hunter Film and Media | IG: @film_media_hunter
NYU Espacio de Culturas | IG: @espaciodeculturas_nyu