A new book by HOME’s Creative Director for Film and Culture, Jason Wood, will provide a rare insight into the creative minds of some of Mexico’s biggest directors, including Alfonso Cuarón, Alejandro Iñárritu and Guillermo del Toro.
Available from today (3 June), The Faber Book Of Mexican Cinema has been updated, 15 years after it was first published, to include the original and updated interviews with the biggest names in Mexican cinema, and interviews with the new voices that have emerged in their wake.
The film-makers profiled in the first edition have since come of age and made a decisive impact on the international cinema scene, with Mexican film-makers winning the Best Director Oscar five times, and Best Picture four times: Alfonso Cuarón with Gravity and Roma, Alejandro Iñàrritu with Birdman and The Revenant and Guillermo del Toro with The Shape Of Water.
This revised edition of The Faber Book Of Mexican Cinema brings this astounding story up to date, as well as profiling the next generation, waiting in the wings.
Jason said: “As we entered the early 2000s, Mexican cinema was on a creative, critical and commercial roll, spearheaded by the emergence of Alfonso Cuarón, Alejandro Gonzalez Iñàrritu, Carlos Reygadas, Guillermo del Toro and a new generation of writers, producers and cinematographers including Emmanuel Lubezki, Rodrigo Prieto and Guillermo Navarro. Fast forward 20 years and Mexican filmmaking has continued to flourish and survive, despite often existing in an environment hostile to the arts.
“Reygadas, del Toro, Iñàrritu and Cuarón have provided inspiration, sustenance and support to an entirely new generation of filmmakers from Mexico, along the way enjoying unprecedented success, including a dominance of the Academy Awards and work on large-scale international productions.
“New voices and talents have continued to emerge, quickly establishing themselves as chroniclers of social and political issues in their country whilst forging their own aesthetic identity: Michel Franco, Amat Escalante, David Zonana and most recently Lila Avilés amongst them. This book chronicles the continued excellence in filmmaking from Mexico, threading the links between past, present and future.”
The Faber Book of Mexican Cinema is available to preorder from all good bookshops, including bookshop.org, which supports independent bookstores with online sales.
An event centred around the book will also take place at this year’s ¡Viva! Spanish and Latin American Festival, which returns to HOME from Fri 6 Aug to Sun 22 Aug 2021. The annual celebration of Spanish and Latin American cinema is now in its 27th year, and has featured a host of Mexican filmmakers.
HOME is Manchester’s centre for international contemporary culture. June’s lineup across their five cinemas includes a season celebrating the art of filmmaking, The Reverse Gaze: Filmmaking on Screen, and critically-acclaimed new releases such as After Love and Supernova.
For all HOME press requests, please contact Kat Harrison-Dibbits, Head of Communications, on kat.harrison-dibbits@homemcr.org.