Around this time last year I got sick. Ok, I admit, I wasn't really that sick. It was more that I hadn't taken enough time off from work during the past few months, my body was tired, and I was completely lost at my job.
The timing for those days at home couldn't have been better. Not long after I became "ill", I saw a post from Remezcla on Facebook about streaming movies from the Morelia International Film festival for free. I followed the link and as soon as I began watching the first film, I knew I had found something really good. In the company of a distinguished film critic (Mr. Roco), I consumed many bowls of Chicken soup and cups of tea, and I watched nearly all of the 2016 offerings.
Last year's films remain vivid in my memory. There was El Charro del Toluquilla, which was about a Mariachi singer in Jalisco living with AIDS; another film was set in a village in Chiapas whose residents must cope with the annual flooding of their community. One movie's main character was a night watchman, who worked in a dimly lit, half-built apartment tower in the exurbs of Mexico City, a setting made even creepier by the constant dripping of water from rainy season downpours. And finally, I watched a really intense movie called Tempestad, which depicts the journeys of two women along Mexico's Gulf Coast. One woman is returning home after having been locked up unjustly in a cartel-run prison and another is searching for her disappeared daughter.
Given the impression that last year's films had on me, I was really looking forward to this year's Morelia International Film Festival. I wish I'd been able to travel to Mexico for the event, but I am slowly working my way through this year's offerings in my cozy home in Olympia, with Roco of course. Here are my impressions of some of the films I've watched so far. I've never written movie reviews so here goes.
I started with Siempre Andamos Caminando, a documentary about the journey of a group of women from an indigenous community in the mountains of Oaxaca to the coastal town of Santa Rosa Lima. Each of the women narrate their experience while the camera shows clips from their daily routines: working in a lime orchard, tending a cooking fire, preparing food, and walking of course. This film succeeds by doing something simple yet profound: showing us the lives and allowing us to hear the voices of people who we might otherwise overlook because they are female, migrant, indigenous, Oaxacan, Mexican.
The second film I watched was Artemio. Like Siempre Andamos Caminando, this film proceeds at the pace of village life in Mexico, but the subject is much different. The main character, Artemio, is a child who grew up in the United States, but now lives in a village in Guerrero with his mother. This film captures Artemio's struggle trying to fit into a culture he is not entirely at home in. The movie poignantly conveys the bond between mother and son, as well as the love that exists across borders as Artemio calls his older sister who lives in California. Artemio and his family reminded me of some of the students I knew when I was teaching in Hayward, California, many of whom often spoke of loved ones living across the border. This film covers an extremely important subject matter and tackles it well, with great humanity.
Set in a lush mountain forest, Regreso al Origen is about Lalo, a recluse who seeks to remain isolated from society. The film examines the life of this modern day Mexican Thoreau as he attempts to create his own Walden Pond in the age of subwoofers and disposable water bottles. As someone who values unspoiled nature and the peace of mind it's tranquility offers, I could relate to Lalo's frustrations with other people and his desire to find truth beyond the reaches of a corrupt society,
If you'd like to watch, here's the link:
https://www.festivalscope.com/all/festival/morelia-international-film-festival/2017
Come back and leave a comment about what you think of this year's films.
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| Zocalo, Cuidad de Mexico, January 2016 |
The timing for those days at home couldn't have been better. Not long after I became "ill", I saw a post from Remezcla on Facebook about streaming movies from the Morelia International Film festival for free. I followed the link and as soon as I began watching the first film, I knew I had found something really good. In the company of a distinguished film critic (Mr. Roco), I consumed many bowls of Chicken soup and cups of tea, and I watched nearly all of the 2016 offerings.
 |
| Caldo de Pollo, Estilo Peru |
Last year's films remain vivid in my memory. There was El Charro del Toluquilla, which was about a Mariachi singer in Jalisco living with AIDS; another film was set in a village in Chiapas whose residents must cope with the annual flooding of their community. One movie's main character was a night watchman, who worked in a dimly lit, half-built apartment tower in the exurbs of Mexico City, a setting made even creepier by the constant dripping of water from rainy season downpours. And finally, I watched a really intense movie called Tempestad, which depicts the journeys of two women along Mexico's Gulf Coast. One woman is returning home after having been locked up unjustly in a cartel-run prison and another is searching for her disappeared daughter.
Given the impression that last year's films had on me, I was really looking forward to this year's Morelia International Film Festival. I wish I'd been able to travel to Mexico for the event, but I am slowly working my way through this year's offerings in my cozy home in Olympia, with Roco of course. Here are my impressions of some of the films I've watched so far. I've never written movie reviews so here goes.
I started with Siempre Andamos Caminando, a documentary about the journey of a group of women from an indigenous community in the mountains of Oaxaca to the coastal town of Santa Rosa Lima. Each of the women narrate their experience while the camera shows clips from their daily routines: working in a lime orchard, tending a cooking fire, preparing food, and walking of course. This film succeeds by doing something simple yet profound: showing us the lives and allowing us to hear the voices of people who we might otherwise overlook because they are female, migrant, indigenous, Oaxacan, Mexican.
The second film I watched was Artemio. Like Siempre Andamos Caminando, this film proceeds at the pace of village life in Mexico, but the subject is much different. The main character, Artemio, is a child who grew up in the United States, but now lives in a village in Guerrero with his mother. This film captures Artemio's struggle trying to fit into a culture he is not entirely at home in. The movie poignantly conveys the bond between mother and son, as well as the love that exists across borders as Artemio calls his older sister who lives in California. Artemio and his family reminded me of some of the students I knew when I was teaching in Hayward, California, many of whom often spoke of loved ones living across the border. This film covers an extremely important subject matter and tackles it well, with great humanity.
Set in a lush mountain forest, Regreso al Origen is about Lalo, a recluse who seeks to remain isolated from society. The film examines the life of this modern day Mexican Thoreau as he attempts to create his own Walden Pond in the age of subwoofers and disposable water bottles. As someone who values unspoiled nature and the peace of mind it's tranquility offers, I could relate to Lalo's frustrations with other people and his desire to find truth beyond the reaches of a corrupt society,
If you'd like to watch, here's the link:
https://www.festivalscope.com/all/festival/morelia-international-film-festival/2017
Come back and leave a comment about what you think of this year's films.
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