On the heels of
a renaissance in recent years, Mexican cinema continues to ride a wave of global
popularity, from an unusually strong presence at this year's Cannes Film
Festival to an increased awareness even among its citizens at home. Now, a
Mexican production company called Canana, founded by prominent Latin American
actors Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna, hopes
to further that awareness by collaborating with the Morelia International Film
Festival to create a traveling documentary fest. The first of its kind in the
country, the initiative (dubbed "Ambulante") will bring a full week of
compelling and challenging documentaries to places where they are rarely seen -
towns like Metepec, Puebla, Villahermosa and Merida. The ambitious 16-city tour
kicks off in Mexico City (following an opening night party) from February 10-16
and concludes in Cuernavaca with a March 31 - April 6 run. The editions in
Guadalajara, Monterrey and Tijuana will be augmented with special cocktail
receptions and press events.
"Essentially our mission is to bring documentaries to the rest of the country," Project Director Elena Fortes told indieWIRE. "Documentaries are shown in select cities in Mexico for an extremely short period of time, and rarely reach main theaters. We want to defy this 'encapsulation' of documentary film and inspire further production. We envision a future where we may reach the most remote places in Mexico, and perhaps even extend south to Central and Latin America."
Not only is the mission of Ambulante to promote access to documentary film in the region, but also they endeavor to assist with production of documentaries in Mexico, promoting filmmaking as more than simply a means of expression - in fact presenting it as a social movement. In the words of the program's press materials, the organizers assert that "promoting a documentary culture is particularly necessary in Mexico, a country that has witnessed an increasing polarization in socioeconomic class, political affiliation, and demographic distribution... Within its mobility it hopes to breed the capacity to gaze and think beyond borders."
Despite the resurgence of serious filmmaking in Mexico, documentaries remain a dicey bet commercially, so Ambulante aims to fill that gap by programming films that would not otherwise get significant distribution. "The 'choked' state of the genre is not necessarily due to a lack of production," says Fortes. "There has been a growing interest in documentary filmmaking over the past few years. The main problem is that documentaries lack distribution - they are considered a risky business and we are willing to take the necessary risks. We believe that the audiences are there, but they have not been presented with the opportunity to watch them."
Ambulante will give moviegoers that opportunity, while taking the time to nurture new talent, develop important stories that beg to be told, and perhaps most importantly support the new generation of young Latin American filmmakers. "Overall, I believe documentary film has acquired new value in face of the rising controversy regarding the control of mass media over our perception of reality," says Fortes. "Documentaries serve as an important channel of expression, presenting visions of a reality that surrounds us but that we don't seem to grasp otherwise."