समाचार

TelevisaUnivision’s fledgling streamer ViX Plus has ordered an untitled biographical series about the life of Mexican actor María Félix.

Produced by a mostly female team of creatives, the series is the first to tackle the story of Félix, also known as “La Doña,” who died in 2002. The icon will be played by three Mexican actresses — Sandra Echeverría (“La Usurpadora”), Ximena Romo (“Dime Cuándo Tú”) and Abril Vergara — who will each portray Félix at different ages.

“At ViX Plus, creating content that reflects our culture and illuminates our unique and diverse stories – all in Spanish, is our priority,” said Vincenzo Gratteri, senior vice president of development for ViX Plus. “We’re excited to tell the extraordinary story of María Félix. Her creative energy and indomitable spirit will be a source of inspiration for our audience.”

Written by Larissa Andrade, Alejandro Gerber, Tania Tinajero and Gabriela Rodríguez and directed by Mafer Suárez,...

Rafa Lara’s El Tamaño Sí Importa, which world premiered at the Guanajuato International Film Festival, is a romantic comedy that merely intends to sell its two protagonists as rising Mexican stars: The Amazing Catfish’s Ximena Ayala and Eugenio Derbez’s 25-year-old son Vadhir Derbez. From the shameless product placement (something that, I must clarify, is now fairly common in this type of film), supposedly innovative visual resources (i.e. displaying the male protagonist’s social media outlets whenever someone takes him a photo), gratuitous musical moments (having a scene with the singer of Moenia, a popular Mexican band from the nineties), to the foreseeable and cheesy cameo of a long-haired Eugenio Derbez that’s clearly only there for the “father and son together” moment; this is the kind of...

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The first Fenix Iberoamerican Film Awards, highlighting and celebrating cinema made in Latin America, Spain, and Portugal as well as applauding the professionals involved was inaugurated by Cinema23 this October 30 and held its closing night party in México City's Jumex Museum, named after the Lopez family’s fruit juice empire, and commissioned by Eugenio Lopez, the dynastic scion whose intention is to leave an edifice to Mexico City that dignifies his family name. This 21st-century prince is the sole patron of the new Museo Jumex, Latin America’s largest contemporary art museum, designed by the British architect David Chipperfield and just across the street from hourglass-shaped Museo Soumaya, opened in 2011 by the Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helú to display his own collection. Worth a trip to Mexico alone just to view the private Jumex collection of Mexican art, to attend the spectacular closing night party topping off the new annual, independent award ceremony which took place at the iconic 1918 Teatro de la Ciudad was an experience of a lifetime.

After an exclusive dinner for the nominees around 11 Pm, the great celebration began. Inspired by Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, one of the most important holidays in Mexico, the party was decorated with elements inspired by this tradition such as "papel picado," and walls decorated with skulls. The vibrant orange color of hundreds of cempasúchil flowers (Marigolds) adorned the hall where more than a thousand guests, among them many film professional, singers and other important figures from across Iberoamerica, attended the celebration organized by Grupo Modelo the brewery in Mexico now owned by the Belgian-Brazilian company Anheuser-Busch InBev, which holds 63% of the Mexican beer market and exports beer to most countries of the world, whose export brands include my own favorite beers, Corona and Pacífico. I was proud to be invited to attend and to be part of the advisory council of Cinema23, founder of this annual Fenix Awards celebration of the art of cinema along with the comcomitant commercial success of Iberoamerican cinema.

Attending the awards and the post-award party were actors such as Alice Braga, Ana de la Reguera, Ana Claudia Talancón, Alfonso Herrera, Bárbara Mori, Brandon López, Camila Selser, Cecilia Suárez, Elena Anaya, Ernesto Alterio, Erick Elías, Ilse Salas, Irene Azuela, Johanna Murillo, José María Yazpik, José María and Pedro de Tavira, Juan Manuel Bernal, Karen Martínez, Luis Gerardo Méndez, Maribel Verdú, Martha Higareda, Maya Zapata and Ximena Ayala; filmmakers Fernando Eimbcke, Gary Alazraki, Jonás Cuarón, Lorenzo Hagerman, Manolo Caro, Natalia Beristáin and Rigoberto Perezcano; musicians Leo Heiblum, Kevin Johansen, León Larregui and Sergio Acosta from rock band Zoé and Leonor Watling, Jesús Navarro, vocalist of pop band Reik; socialites as Rafael Micha, Jorge Gorozpe, Memo Martínez and Max Villegas; fashion designer Oscar Madrazo and jewelry designer Mariana Villarea. They and the other attendees enjoyed a night in which cinema was the most important guest.

In the venue's lower level, Sonido Apokalitzin's beats enhanced the experience with cumbias, salsas and iconic songs from several Iberoamerican countries. Monterrey DJ Toy Selectah also entertained the guests with his musical selection. Upstairs, Sergio and Andres from famous rock band Zoé delighted everyone with their music just before they enjoyed Julian Placencia's DJ set.

With this event the first edition of the Fenix Iberoamerican Film Awards came to an end. The event brought together hundreds of figures from the Iberoamerican film community who celebrated the well-deserved recognition to their work and dedication. At the same time the event served to strengthen relationships among the diverse industries and will continuously help forge the region's identity.

The Guanajuato International Film Festival 2014 came to an end last Sunday, August 3. Actors Ximena Ayala (The Amazing Catfish) and Gustavo Sánchez Parra (Amores Perros) conducted the closing ceremony the previous night (August 2) at the Auditorio del Estado, in which the festival awarded several films, both international and Mexican. During the gala, the director of the festival, Sarah Hoch, gave the first taste of the 2015 edition by announcing that Turkey is going to be the spotlight country. The top prize for a Mexican film went to Beatriz Sanchis' debut film Todos Están Muertos (They Are All Dead), while the festival circuit veteran Nicolás Pereda took home the Best Mexican Documentary award for El Palacio (The Palace). The Hamsters was cited for Best...

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The Amazing Catfish

Written and directed by Claudia Sainte-Luce

Mexico/France, 2013

It seems to this critic that the term “tearjerker” was once a perjorative, applied only to films that eschewed all honest attempts at drawing emotion from an audience. Today it seems that any film which is guaranteed to leave no dry eyes in the theater is labeled a tearjerker. Maybe too many dramas choose the manipulative route, or maybe today’s audiences are so cynical as to always feel that their tears are being jerked. Regardless, an occasional film is required as a reminder that there’s no shame in making a straightforward weeper. One such film, the Mexican drama The Amazing Catfish, has just arrived in American theaters.

Claudia (Ximena Ayala) has her lonely existence punctuated by a bout of appendicitis. During her stay in the hospital, she meets Martha (Lisa Owen), a single mother of four. When...

Claudia Sainte-Luce's semi-autobiographical indie has a knack for subverting stereotypes without making a big deal about it.

Like the one that depicts HIV as solely the affliction of gay men, various needle-type junkies, and hard-living urbanites, or the other that suggests there's no stable middle class in cartel-dominated, border-wild Mexico.

The diagnosed-positive individual here is Martha (Lisa Owen), a suburban single mother of four, and her progressing disease is very much a family affair. During one of her regular, intermittent hospital stays, she meets Claudia (Ximena Ayala, whose reserved performance is enchanting), a clever but directionless twentysomething of the combat-boot-wearing variety.

The bond between the women develops when Claudia moves in...