GRAND CLOSING FOR AMBULANTE
The third edition of Ambulante drew to a close on April 24th after traveling through the following sixteen cities for a period of three months: Mexico City, Morelia, León, Guadalajara, San Luís Potosí, Tijuana, Ciudad Juárez, Cuernavaca, Metepec, Monterrey, Puebla, San Cristóbal de las Casas, Xalapa, Mérida, Cancún and Oaxaca.
Throughout the tour, AMBULANTE brought over 50 documentaries from more than 24 countries to 19 Cinepolis theater complexes and more than 60 parallel venues, including museums, universities, schools, cultural centers and art house theaters, to over 36 000 spectators. Moreover, AMBULANTE led a series of public screenings in open plazas, including Kiosko Morisco at Santa Maria La Ribera, Deportivo Maracaná in Tepito, Monumento a Lázaro Cárdenas, Monumento a la Revolución, Centro Cultural del Carmen, Zinacantán, and Plazuela Carmen Alto. Some of these screenings were followed by debates held in collaboration with the Electoral Institute of Mexico City, focused on democracy and human rights.
For the first time, AMBULANTE was able to bring films to several correctional facilities, including Centro de Readaptación Social (CERESO) de Atlacocholoaya in Morelos and Centro de Readaptación Social (CERESO) de Tehuacán, Puebla.
AMBULANTE also organized several concerts in order to accompany some of the screenings belonging to the SONIDERO section. The concerts included: Los Margaritos and Jessy Bulbo in Mexico City, La Ballena de Jonás in Tijuana, Telefunka in Guadalajara, and Nine Rain in Oaxaca.
GUESTS
This year, AMBULANTE was proud to host a wide array of special guests, including directors, producers, and members of the industry including:
Lionel Soukaz, Lucía Gajá, Barbet Schroeder, Tony Kaye, Everardo González, Nailea Norvind, Décio Matos Jr., Eva Orner, Isabel Vega, Saskia Olde Wolbers, Julien Selleron, Gian Claudio Guiducci, Anne Lewis, Stanley Nelson, Luís Felipe Ortega, Rudy Joffroy, Jerome Laperrousaz, Radostina Patulova, Hito Steyerl, Florian Opitz, José Flores, Sarah Beddington, Jake Clennell, Marine Hugonnier, Alejandro Landes, Stephen Kijak and Mia Bays.
ROUND TABLES AND CONFERENCES
AMBULANTE held over 50 round tables and conferences seeking to favor the exchange of experiences and points of view, as well as co production and collaboration among filmmakers, in order to maintain an ongoing dialogue, and to create a tight cinematographic community. Some of the issues discussed included: "Abortion Legislation," "Representation and Governance in Latin America," " ' Reality ' in Film and Video," "Art in the Age of Fear," " Privatization of Public Services."
WORKSHOPS
This edition of AMBULANTE offered four workshops on "Documentary Project Development," which took place in Mexico City, Morelia, Guadalajara, and Oaxaca. The workshops were led by Carlos Taibo and included 250 participants.
SPECIAL SCREENINGS
The festival also held a special screening of "La Corona" (Amanda Micheli, Isabel Vega) shortly before the Academy Awards Ceremony in Los Angeles. Isabel Vega managed to make a quick stop in Mexico City to present her film at Ambulante on her way to California.
AWARDS
During the tour, some of the documentaries included in the program received important recognitions and awards in Mexico and elsewhere:
Taxi to the Darkside (Alex Gibney, EUA, 2007) received an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature, My Life Inside (Lucía Gajá, México, 2007) received the Grand Prize at the Human RIghts International Film Festival in Paris, and the Human Rights Award at the BAFICI film festival; The Old Thieves (Everardo González, México, 2007) received two Arieles for Best Documentary Feature and Best Editing.
AMBULANTE INTERNATIONAL
Starting on May 8th, 2008, AMBULANTE will bring a selection of Mexican documentaries from its past editions to Cuba, Tanzania, South Africa, Argentina, Spain, and other countries.
GUCCI AMBULANTE GRANT
In April, AMBULANTE launched its call for entries for the second edition of the GUCCI AMBULANTE GRANT, aimed at supporting the postproduction of documentaries, offering grants for up to 38, 000 USD to projects that have accomplished the first stages of production and require funding for their completion.
Thanks to the precious support of the Mexican Embassy in Cuba, the Mexican Foreign Affairs Ministry, the Mexican Institute of Cinematography and Cinemateca de Cuba/ ICAIC, AMBULANTE will extend its current reach to bring a selection of Mexican documentaries from its past three editions to Cuba, where it will travel through 7 cities from May 8th to June 13th.
Program:
The Old Thieves (Everardo González, México, 2007), Tropic of Cancer (Eugenio Polgovsky, México, 2004), XV in Zaachila (Rigoberto Perezcano, México, 2002), Black Bull (Pedro González Rubio y Carlos Armella, México, 2004) , My Life Inside (Lucía Gajá, México, 2007), Maquilapolis (Vicky Funari y Sergio de la Torre, México, 2006), To the Other Side (Natalia Almada, México - EU, 2005), Let the Street Be Heard (Itzel Martínez del Cañizo, México, 2006), Born WIthout (Eva Norvind, México 2007).
Dates:
Havana (Cine Chaplin) May 8-14
Bayamo May 10-16
Holguín May 10-16
Matanzas May 10-16
Santiago de Cuba May 10-16
Santa Clara May 10-16
Viñales May 10 - 16
Havana (Cine Club Casa Benito Juárez) Mayo 16 - Junio 13
