FICUNAM spotlights and offers bold programming, with a particular interest in experimentation with the cinematic language, new trends in contemporary cinema around the world, and the revival of cinema that is difficult to access and its dialogue with the other arts. The festival articulates critical, provocative discourses committed to the need to provide a broad, constructive view in a world that needs this. This film festival has become one of the essential events in the Mexican cultural sector as a window into new film trends around the world through its different sections: the competitive sections, both domestic (as the place where domestic independent films are premiered) and international (with a dozen films by renowned auteurs on the international scene chosen from around the world) – and the non-competitive sections, such as the international film school gathering (Aciertos) and the new section called Catapulta, which was created with the goal of providing tutorials on how to complete a film. Furthermore, parallel activities are also held, such as book launches and master classes, special outdoor functions and retrospectives.
This year’s edition is headquartered at the UNAM’s Centro Cultural Universitario in Mexico City, along with other venues such as the Museo Universitario del Chopo, Casa del Lago, Cineteca Nacional, etc.
The three Catalan productions which appear in the festival programming are:
- With the support of the IRL, the short film Els sis graus de llibertat (Six Degrees of Freedom) by Sergio H. Martín (2018, Colibri Studios) is being shown in the category called Aciertos: International Film Schools Gathering. This film thus begins its route around the international festival circuit after having been funded by the Institut Ramon Llull last year in its line of subsidies to subtitle feature films, short films and documentaries produced in Catalonia.
- In the International Competition section, Love Me Not by Lluís Miñarro (Lluís Miñarro, Piano Producciones Cinematográficas) was chosen.
- In the Atlas section, the Catalan production chosen is the documentary Carelia: Internacional amb monument by Andrés Duque (Andrés Duque).
FICUNAM also wants to present a retrospective of Pere Portabella, a creator from the Barcelona School, at the Centro Cultural and the Cineteca Nacional, in a partnership with the Institut Ramon Llull. The retrospective is made up of twelve short films, a medium-length film and seven feature films. Plus, the director is expected to attend in order to teach a master class, and he will meet with students from film schools to share impressions. Portabella will also offer a talk on the film Viridiana at the Casa Luis Buñuel in conjunction with the Mexican Academy of Film Arts and Sciences. The retrospective includes the following titles: Acció Santos (1973), Aidez l’Espagne (1969), Die Stille vor Bach (2007), Informe general sobre algunas cuestiones de interés para una proyección pública (1976), Informe general II. El nuevo rapto de Europa (2015), Miró l’Altre (1969), Miró Forja (1973), Miró Tapís (1973), Mudanza (2008), No compteu amb els dits (1967), Nocturn 29 (1968), Play Back (1970), Poetes catalans (1970), Pont de Varsòvia (1989), Premios nacionales (1969), El sopar (1974-2018), La tempesta (2003), Umbracle (1972), Vampir – Cuadecuc (1970), Viridiana (1961) and Visca el piano (2006).
