A six-year period that has produced more films than ever – even more than in the Golden Age – but that, at the same time, leaves Mexican cinema on the brink of one of the biggest crises in its history. At the end of Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s mandate, the national film industry is going through a harsh crisis marked by the recurring themes of no exhibition and fierce budget cuts. The adjustments were supported by the economic crisis of the covid pandemic, but the Executive’s scissors even reached the extinction of Fidecine, a fundamental resource for film development, which was finally reinstated by the Supreme Court by decreeing the unconstitutionality of its elimination. At the end of this complex cycle for the industry, EL PAÍS asks 10 key personalities of Mexican cinema: What would you ask of the next president?
Nicolás Célis, producer (The white guard)
“It seems to me that something essential for the next six-year period will be the strengthening of EFICINE, (the Fiscal Stimulus for Investment Projects in National Film Production and Distribution). It is important to reinforce it with updated and increased resources. In 20 years there has not been an increase to this trust. EFICINE has been fundamental for the solid growth that the industry has had and its global positioning today.”
Marina de Tavira, actress (Beat)
“I would ask the next president to commit to all women’s causes – which are also men’s causes. If we listen to this painful call and claim, we will build a better world for them and for them too. It is very difficult. There are many things and she is going to take over a country with many scars, open wounds and with many problems to solve. But I ask that she be one with this movement. Instead of being kept in the National Palace, she should go out and march.”
Fernanda Valadez and Astrid Rondero, screenwriters and filmmakers (sujo)
“We are completely convinced that cinema is a counterweight to the power necessary for democracy because it allows for multiple and diverse opinions. It is a source of spiritual nourishment, of identity construction and we believe that it should be financed by the State and that it should be considered as part of an education and culture project in any scenario. Our wish for any of the candidates who become president is that they do not see cinema as an enemy. People who have different opinions, or oppose something, are not your adversaries. We are all part of the same country; a complex but very rich one. Mexican cinema continues to live a bit of previous public policies. We will really see the results of the Q4 strategies until later and it will be in the future where we will know with certainty if it was positive or negative; especially in the new generations. But we do need to sit down, analyze and realize that this industry has always brought good results to Mexico… no matter how badly we have been beaten in this six-year term. I hope everything changes for the better.”
Alejandra Márquez Abella, screenwriter and director (The north over the void)
“Cinema, in addition to entertaining and amusing, builds a national discourse. It tells us and, in doing so, serves as a kind of fabric where we can see our identity and strengthen it. What has happened with the decisions of recent years is that, without having a support network, you cannot exist with independence and freedom. This has led us to resort to private spaces that, although they have allowed us to be very free and have given some of us many opportunities, they do not allow us to create in complete freedom. And this, for the purposes of national discourse, is not nutritious. The discourse is permeated by other voices that have to do with capital, with ideologies of other countries and that does not allow us to see each other clearly. The most affected by this are those who have just arrived in this space and that is going to leave us with a generation of filmmakers, middle-aged, who are being left out of a screen that reflects them. I believe that Mexican cinema is in a spiral of repetitions and gestures that are similar and that do not allow us to fully evolve as the sophisticated and profound cultural society that we have always been. I hope our next president can hear what we feel. It is true that cinema is a space for very privileged people, but it is also an industry that generates a lot of income. I don’t know why in certain spaces it is allowed to be fifi and in others it is not. It is not possible here, but we will always find the necessary alternatives to move forward.”
Mónica Lozano, producer (Sign here)
“I would ask our next president to commit to governing in a fair, efficient and effective manner, ensuring the well-being of all citizens; without distinction of ethnic origin, gender, religion or socioeconomic situation. We demand – and deserve – security, social justice and respect for human rights. We hope that she will help us defend the sovereignty of our cultural industries. Cinema is art, it is identity, it is history and hope. And Mexican cinema must be part of our present to build a better future.”
Estrella Araiza, director of the Guadalajara International Film Festival
“I think it is essential to remind our next president, and all cultural authorities, that they do not believe they are owners of power. They are not. And that cinema is part of its obligations to society. Entertainment is a human right, it is an industry that generates jobs and transforms lives. They are obliged to continue promoting culture because it nourishes our soul, feeds our spirit and opens the door to the entire world. It is also an industry that creates jobs and feeds people who love what they do. Cinema is made in community; a global and very complex community, which has no borders, which does not recognize governments and is neither right nor left. And our next president must understand that her obligation is to support, not only the creation and production of cinema, but the entire chain, which includes exhibition spaces such as film festivals. Cinema is neither fifi, nor straw, nor sectarian, nor partisan nor racist. Cinema is us and we will always defend it. And we hope to have her on our side.”
Inna Payán, producer (A pack called Ernesto)
“I would ask you to support the generation of public policies that protect and promote artistic production and creation, as well as unrestricted access to cultural and cinematographic expressions by the population. In that sense, I would ask that a review and update of the current cinematographic law be carried out, since in recent years the paradigm of cinematographic and audiovisual work has been drastically transformed, and that in this review, the strategic nature of cinema be recognized. in the field of culture. I would ask that our public policies ensure the inclusion and diversity of all expressions, preserving and strengthening the enormous cultural wealth of Mexico and the diverse peoples and communities that inhabit it.
I would ask that, to guarantee the operation and effectiveness of the fiscal stimulus provided for in Article 189 of the LISR, the maximum allowable amounts (both per contributing taxpayer, and for each project and for the total annual stimulus) be updated to amounts that are equivalent, in real purchasing power. To the amounts anticipated when the stimulus was created, which have not increased for almost 20 years at the same rate as inflation, the depreciation of the peso, etc. We must ensure that the purchasing power of the Stimulus remains current going forward. I would ask that incentives be generated to attract foreign investment and generate jobs and economic benefits. I would ask that, to guarantee the exhibition of national cinematographic works, it be included in the law that exhibitors have the obligation to reserve 10% of the total exhibition time of their screens – at all times and every day of the year – for Mexican cinema, in all the complexes or movie theaters that exist in the national territory. And the obligation for all Mexican films to remain in theaters for a minimum of 14 days.”
Lucía Carreras, screenwriter and director (All the silence)
“It is essential to negotiate the cultural exception in the Free Trade Agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada. It is also urgent that we be allowed to be part of the modifications to the Cinematographic Law; highly necessary changes that have always been left in the background and have left us unprotected in the ways in which the industry develops today. There have been many years of struggle for the benefit of Mexican cinema, especially in this six-year period where trusts have disappeared and support has been modified. It is imperative that the law considers – and with the correct words – that there must be a financing fund for national cinema, which must be mandatory and not depend on the budget and which must be a financial figure that allows transannuality; in addition to increasing by law and by obligation. The presidency should also push for the enforcement of the laws that protect us as creators, especially before the platforms of streaming “They come to Mexico and do not respect our rights or pay fairly for our work.”
Ángeles Cruz, actress, screenwriter, director(Valentina or serenity)
“Mexican cinema is a powerful tool to reflect and change the reality of the country. Our cinema allows people to know the stories, fears and hopes that inhabit our land. We have an enormously rich cultural diversity, which has demonstrated its great power in the world, but which has not had the same fate here. We have surrendered to the market. What we see on the billboard or on the platforms is a caricature of who we are. Today’s simplistic and stereotypical narratives only talk about drug trafficking and violence. That makes me feel that we live in a Mexico that is poor in spirit. Public policies have forgotten that, just as the stomach is fed, the soul also needs to be nourished. And cinema is an invaluable tool to do so. I ask the next president of Mexico that she see culture as a basic need, that she promotes equity in access to opportunities and the adequate representation of all communities, views and souls.
Armando Casas, president of the Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences (AMACC)
“As part of the right to culture (a human right guaranteed by the Mexican Constitution), recognition of the strategic nature of cinema in the field of culture should be part of the next national project. To achieve this, in the context of the new audiovisual ecosystem, it is urgent to approve the new Cinema Law that replaces the current one, already obsolete several years ago (which does not mention, for example, the platforms of streaming). This new law has already been worked on for five years and is a concrete proposal that is in the executive branch and that must be reviewed in the legislative branch considering the issues of promotion of production, exhibition, fiscal stimuli, new incentives and investment quota in Mexican cinema. Any public policy focused on cinema must be considered transversally, considering culture, economy, tourism, communications and, of course, education. In this sense, audiovisual literacy is essential, and that cinematographic education is taught from basic education, as is the case in countries like France. Cinema has become the best ally to teach history, science, law, ethics, feminism and almost any subject. Its teaching, from the first levels, must be strategic, not only to train creators, but to have an educated audience aware of their identity and sovereignty.”
to the EL PAÍS Mexico newsletter and to whatsapp channel and receive all the key information on current events in this country.
_
