latest news
Creative Collaboration
Stills photographer Lisa Tomasetti has collaborated with cinematographer Seamus McGarvey for her latest project
A Film to Tweet About
Director makes a unique debut feature film inspired by social networking sites
Another Win For Carmilla Hyde
A revenge thriller takes out Best Feature at the 2010 South Australian Screen Awards
Calling All Screenwriters
A new social networking site claims to help aspiring screenwriters showcase their work to industry professionals
search the site
newsletter
Enter your email address below to receive the weekly Filmink newsletter
Free Mexican Classics in Sydney & Brisbane
As part of the Hola Mexico Film Festival that is currently touring Australia’s major cities, five films of highly acclaimed filmmaker, Julio Bracho, are offered as special free screenings.
While the name Julio Bracho may not be widely recognised in Australia, his contribution to Mexican cinema history is vital. Bracho played a significant role in shaping the nation's theatre scene in the 1930s, becoming founder of Teatro Orientacion, Teatro de los Trabajadores and Teatro de la Universidad, before turning to the cinema. He wrote and directed films during the golden age of Mexican cinema, which spanned from the 1940s to the late 1950s when national cinema was reaching new heights and sprouting a whole new generation of filmmakers.
The 4th Hola Mexico Film Festival is celebrating Bracho's career in filmmaking, which extended for over thirty years. They will be screening five of his films, made between 1941 and 1952.
The festival's tribute to Bracho will open with the critically acclaimed Distinto Amanecer (1943), which has the honour of being part of the collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. This crime melodrama, written by Bracho and acclaimed author Xavier Villaurrutia, follows the murder of a union leader committed under the orders of a corrupt governor. The union leader's companion (played by Latin film star Pedro Armendariz) seeks to find documents that will implement the murderer, only to find himself pursued by government officials.
Also screening is La Virgen Que Forjo Una Partia (1942), which is set in 1810, the year of Mexico's independence. It's set in the Mayor's house in Queretaro where a conspiracy to overthrow the government is being plotted under the guide of a social event.
The third film screening is Historia De Un Gran Amor (1942), which was one of the most successful productions to emerge during the period. Based on the novel El Nino De La Bola by Pedro de Alarcon, the film is a love story between a poor man (Jorge Negrete) and a wealthy woman (Gloria Marin), whose father is responsible for the man's impoverished state.
On a lighter note, and directly referencing Bracha's theatrical pedigree is Ay Que Tiempos Aquellos Senor Don Simon! (1941), a Mexican romantic comedy that features one of its most celebrated humorists, Joaquin Pardave. The plot follows a young widow and her friend going to the theatre to discover that the widow's boyfriend has been cheating on her.
The final film to be screened will be La Corbade (1952). This romantic tragedy begins with an art collector and his two nephews rescuing a girl from a ship wreck, and falling in love with her when they grow up.
Amongst the internationally acclaimed films and documentaries that are being showcased across Australia as part of the Hola Mexico Film Festival, the free screenings of Julio Bracho's films will not only entertain but also invite viewers to become familiar with Mexican cinematic history and serve as a tribute to the unique vision of Bracho.
Julio Brancha's films are screening at El Instituto Cerventes in Sydney (22-24 City Road, Chippendale) and The State Library of Queensland. For more details, including session times head to the Hola Mexico Film Festival website.