The 11th edition of Mexico’s Morelia International Film Festival / Festival Internacional de Cine de Morelia begins tomorrow, Friday, October 18. The event is notable in its exclusive focus on Mexican film, including an annual section devoted to local Michoacán work. Nearly two dozen features and 66 shorts will screen before the event comes to a close on Sunday, October 27, of which ten are documentary features, noted below.
Several docs reveal fascinating lives, including: Santiago Esteinou’s THE YEARS OF FIERRO (LOS AÑOS DE FIERRO), on a Mexican man who’s been on death row in the US for over three decades; Edson Jair Caballero Trujillo’s ATEMPA, DREAMS ALONG THE RIVER (ATEMPA, SUEÑOS A ORILLAS DEL RÍO) (pictured), a portrait of a young queer Zapotec, or muxe; Gabriela Obregón’s THE MAN BEHIND THE MASK (EL HOMBRE DETRÁS DE LA MÁSCARA), a look at the legendary El Santo as his son takes to the wrestling ring for the first time; Pablo Tamez Sierra’s REMOTENESS (LEJANÍA), about family secrets in the wake of a tragedy; Roberto Fiesco’s QUEBRANTO, a profile of a trans former child performer and her relationship with her actor mother; Shula Erenberg’s ROSARY (ROSARIO), about a human rights activist whose son was disappeared nearly forty years ago; and Misael Alva Alva’s TOCHI/CONEJO, on a small family from the Sierra Negra and their fears for the future.
Finally, a number of the films are concerned with places as much as people, including: Nuria Ibáñez’s THE BARE ROOM (EL CUARTO DESNUDO), an intimate exploration of a pediatrician’s office in a Mexico City hospital; Adrián Ortiz Maciel’s ELEVATOR (ELEVADOR) (pictured), life as reflected in the microcosm of a residential building; and Alejandro Cárdenas’ OASIS, a portrait of a sanctuary for HIV+ indigenous people in the Yucatán.
what (not) to doc 