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Madrid fills with Mexican cinema, with more than 40 films in 12 venues
Madrid turns to Mexican cinema for eleven days with a programme combining premieres, documentaries, classics, workshops and meetings with filmmakers. Mexican Film Week returns to the city from 25 June to 5 July and will bring more than 40 films to 12 venues.
The event turns the capital into a small cinematic map. Screenings will reach spaces such as the Academia de Cine, Cine Doré, Sala Berlanga, Cine Estudio del Círculo de Bellas Artes, Sala Equis, Cine Yelmo Ideal, Cibeles de Cine and Fundación Casa de México en España, among others.
The programme combines contemporary cinema and memory. There will be fiction premieres, documentaries, special sessions and an extensive retrospective devoted to Silvia Pinal, one of the great figures of Spanish-language cinema and a key face of several decades of Mexican production.
The retrospective, curated by Roberto Fiesco, will make it possible to trace more than six decades of Pinal's career. Her presence in the programme does not function only as a tribute, but also as a way of looking at the history of Mexican cinema through an actress who worked with some of the big names of the screen.
Semana del Cine Mexicano also aims to reach different audiences. Some sessions will be free and others will have affordable prices, making it easier for the programme not to be limited to specialists or regular filmgoers. The idea is to open the door both to those who know Mexican cinema well and to those approaching it for the first time.
Families will also have their place. On Saturday 27 June, the workshop “¡Shhhh! Acción sonora: Taller de foley y efectos de sonido” will allow younger children to discover how the sounds that accompany a film are constructed, from footsteps and blows to complete soundscapes.
On Saturday 4 July, another children's proposal will arrive with “¡Vístete de película!: Vestuario para personajes únicos”. The activity will invite participants to explore how costumes help to create characters, tell stories and transform an idea into a cinematic image.
In addition to screenings, the programme will include meetings, masterclasses and special activities. This contact with creators and professionals makes it possible to understand cinema beyond the auditorium: how it is produced, written and filmed, and how stories travel between countries.
Fundación Casa de México en España once again has a central role as a cultural bridge between Madrid and Mexico. Its programme has helped consolidate this week as a recognisable fixture in Madrid's cultural calendar, especially for those looking for proposals outside the most commercial circuit.
Semana del Cine Mexicano arrives at a time when Madrid is multiplying its summer screens, festivals and special series. Amid so much diary noise, this event offers something different: an invitation to sit in a cinema, hear other accents and discover a cinema that looks at family, memory, humour, violence, desire and identity from very particular places.