Quebranto (Disrupted) - directed by Roberto Fiesco
Roberto Fiesco’s Quebranto and Alejandro Solar’s El Paciente Interno are, hands down, the best Mexican productions of the year. Both are, in many ways, heartbreaking documentaries that leave you with a strong feeling of uncertainty when the closing credits begin rolling.
Quebranto is the brutal story of a former child actor who now has movies only as memories. And every memory displayed here is sweeter than a present where sexual orientation discrimination and diabetes has condemned the protagonist.
Wait for the Blu-ray/DVD!
El Paciente Interno (The Convict Patient) - directed by Alejandro Solar
Roberto Fiesco’s Quebranto and Alejandro Solar’s El Paciente Interno are, hands down, the best Mexican productions of the year. Both are, in many ways, heartbreaking documentaries that leave you with a strong feeling of uncertainty when the closing credits begin rolling.
This one tells the little-known story of the man (Carlos Castañeda) who tried to kill former Mexico president Gustavo Díaz Ordaz in 1970, two years after the Tlatelolco student massacre. While certainly political, Solar's film is extremely human as well and it sure will impress you.
I interviewed the director some months ago and you can read that here.
Miradas Múltiples (La Máquina Loca) [Multiple Perspectives (The Crazy Machine)] - directed by Emilio Maillé
The definitive documentary about Mexican cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa is also an incredibly moving tribute to the art of cinematography itself and its soldiers, often shadowed by the directors. You might not know who was the cinematographer for such masterpieces as City of God, Dogville, 1900 and Schindler’s List, but this documentary pays tribute to them and their craft while they homage Figueroa and his influential work.
Wait for the DVD because this was already part of Cineteca Nacional’s billboard.
Workers - directed by José Luis Valle
Working your whole life for a certain institution should get you, at the very least, a fine pension but this terrific film says the opposite. It’s a reflection on working laws for immigrants and also a sort-of satire of the upper class, where a dog is king and a bunch of humans its workers. It’s really unique and definitely my favorite Mexican fiction of the year.
Workers should get a release sometime in 2014 (I watched it at the Morelia Film Festival).
El Cuarto Desnudo (The Naked Room) - directed by Nuria Ibañez
I reviewed this documentary after watching it at the Morelia Film Festival; this is an extract from my review:
“It can be easily described as a depressing film, after all it's a natural view to the life of several persons, and some of their closest relatives, whose hopelessness has lead (some of them) to go as far as attempting to take their own lives. In a way, The Naked Room is here to explain the "why" behind suicide or self-harming, specifically when the problem happens to a kid or a teenager. What's great about Ibáñez's film is the fact that she is not trying to explain anything by interviewing doctors and relatives or using information from other sources. The doc is simply crafted: it's entirely based on footage obtained from a series of meetings between psychiatrics and patients.”
Elevador (Elevator) - directed by Adrián Ortiz
“The Mexican 70-minute documentary Elevator shows right from the beginning a powerful way to contrast and distinguish a dream from reality. This is a film about losing hope, joy and youth, about broken dreams in modern Mexico City. At the same time, director Adrián Ortiz has created a little piece that yet explains much about the enormous impact institutions have on individuals.”
Read my complete review here.
Heli - directed by Amat Escalante
Some of the most powerful images of the year belong to Escalante’s awarded third feature. Read my review here.
In Mexico, Heli is already available on Blu-ray/DVD.
Somos Mari Pepa (We Are Mari Pepa) - directed by Samuel Kishi
Somos Mari Pepa is not really a comedy but it is much more fun and, most importantly, honest than all the proper Mexican ones. It perfectly captures the essence of being a high school punk rocker and it doesn’t do formula. Really enjoyable and unpretentious stuff!
It was part of the Guanajuato and Morelia Film Festival and it should get a proper release next year, at least in Mexico City. Read my review here.
