TRAVEL

2nd Morelia International Film Festival - October 1-9, 2004

By Catherine Krantz

This year we went back to Morelia for the 2nd Annual Morelia International Film Festival. And for the second year what was most striking about this wonderful event was the tremendous support it received from all levels of the community; from broad endorsements from Morelia's city and Michoacan's state government and tourism boards, to its impressive legion of national and international sponsors, patrons and affiliates, and from the diverse film community itself (Mexican and international) who came out to witness this celebration of cinema.

A hugely ambitious festival is taking root in Morelia and we couldn't be happier its just a few short hours away. We were delighted by the diversity and quality of the presentations, both in competition with short films and documentaries, which was the heart of the festival, highlighting emerging talents in Mexican film making, and in feature length exhibitions: historical films honoring the long history of Mexican cinema, selections from the Cannes Film Festival's International Critic's Week, and international feature length films both independent and commercial.

This year's honored guests were directors Gus Van Sant and Manoel de Oliveira, who presented several of their films. The festival's inauguration event was the screening of The Motorcycle Diaries, based on the diaries of Che Guevara, now a major motion picture directed by Walter Salles and starring Gael Garcia Bernal and Rodrigo de la Serna, with both actors being in attendance at its red carpet screening, the opening night of the festival. (The dynamic young actor, Gael Garcia Bernal, who Gus Van Sant called one of the best actors in existence, creating quite a stir and drawing a very large crowd of admirers to fill the sidewalks outside the theater.) A series of presentations in homage to Mexican cinema icons included photographer/cinematographer Ezequiel Carrasco (1891-1978), the legendary beauty Dolores del Rio, the filmmaker Emilio Indio Fernandez who was so influential in establishing the tone of Mexican cinema in the early 20th century and cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa (1907-1997) whose rich film images were so powerful that choice individual stills were restored and exhibited as photographs in their own right during the festival, celebrating some of the most memorable moments in early Mexican cinema. Special programs included presentations of the works of influential filmmaker Luis Buñuel, by his son Juan Luis Buñuel, also a filmmaker. And presentations of the documentary works of Gianni Miná whose diverse topics span sports, entertainment, and politics. His film, Traveling with Che Guevara, documents the making of the film, The Motorcycle Diaries, through the eyes of Alberto Granado who was Che Guevara's friend and traveling companion in the 1952 motorcycle journey across Latin America that, The Motorcycle Diaries, depicts. The 83-yr old Dr. Alberto Granado was an honored guest during the inauguration festivities and the screenings of both films.

Aside from all the fanfare that accompanied this years festival, the films in competition, the shorts and documentaries, were a diverse and high quality selection of some of Mexico's best emerging independent filmmakers. At a time when Latin American filmmakers are among the most dynamic artists working in the medium today, the Morelia International Film Festival is sure to prove itself as an important international event in the world of cinema. One of the greatest joys of this festival is despite its prestigiousness and rapid growth, it still maintains an open, warm hearted and welcome environment with little of the pretensions found in comparable international film festivals. The ticket prices are very reasonable, the screenings well organized and intimate and the honored guests available and amenable to the public, with the vast majority of the audience being young filmmakers and cinema enthusiasts. Let's hope it will always maintain such a pleasant and inclusive spirit that truly brings the wonder of cinema to all, no matter how large it will inevitably become.

Getting there from here: The film festival in October is a wonderful time to visit Morelia, but as it's a Cultural center and thriving city of art, museums and colonial architecture anytime is good. Morelia (by virtue of the new fabulous toll road #37) is now only 4 hours away from Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo. The road itself is half the fun with beautiful mountains vistas and lush greenery, and three lakes to pass by. Drive north on Highway #200, 45 minutes, to the toll road entrance, follow the signs #37 to Uruapan. A new section of the toll road has recently been opened, bringing the previous 30-45 minute detour down to 15 minutes. There is an exit from the detour connecting you to the new part of the road, it isn't extremely well marked so about 10-15 minutes into the detour be looking for it, you will veer right, off the detour onto the new section. From there its an easy 3 hours to Morelia, just follow the signs. The road gets better all the time and the official word is it will be completely finished by the end of the year, making it even easier to visit our Michoacan neighbors to the north.

Buen Viaje

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