On September 7 and 19, 2017 two catastrophic earthquakes devastated southern and central Mexico, leaving half a thousand dead and hundreds of thousands affected by the damages in buildings and urban infrastructure. Mexico City was severely hurt, but also many smaller cities and rural communities already suffering from extreme poverty. There are around 150 thousand destroyed or damaged buildings in six states, and the Mexican government estimates that reconstruction efforts will cost more than 2 billion dollars.
Citizen participation in salvage and relief efforts have been widely spread around the country and Films for Mexico is a collaborative effort to help from New York City. Mexican filmmakers, distribution companies, and several sponsoring organizations at the Graduate Center, including the Comparative Literature, History, and LAILC departments, worked to create a series of screenings of contemporary films from Mexico to raise awareness and promote donations to NGOs working on reconstruction in Mexico City, Puebla, Morelos and Oaxaca.
Film screenings will take place at The Graduate Center Thursdays and Fridays in October from 6:00 to 8:00 pm.
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Our Professor Paul Julian Smith will introduce Carmín Tropical (Mexico, 2014). Directed by Rigoberto Pérezcano. It won Best Feature Film at the Morelia International Film Festival. Carmín Tropical tells the story of Mabel, a muxe, third gender people in Zapotec communities, that returns home to her village in Oaxaca, Mexico to find her friend’s killer.
Friday, October 13, 6-8 pm, Segal Theater, The Graduate Center, CUNY
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For more information and other film screenings visit: filmstudies.commons.gc.cuny.edu
