Mexico Guest Country Special Presentations

This is a work of almost ascetic severity, shot entirely inside the Mexico City apartment of a freelance journalist named Laura (played by the marvellous Mónica del Carmen). But somehow Leap Year uncovers an entire world, recounting a sweeping psychological narrative of a woman’s descent into delusion, sexual obsession and self-destruction and then her voyage out again. Focusing on the details of everyday life with a camera that rarely moves, Rowe manages to make Laura’s story both gripping and dramatic. Andrew O'Hehir, Salon

Director Luis Urquiza and producer Lourdes García will be in attendance to introduce this special event.

Followed by a reception in the Vancity Theatre atrium (1181 Seymour Street @ Davie). Cash bar.

Luis Buñuel made this adaptation of one of the world’s most famous shipwreck novels, Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, during his Mexican period. Despite the fact that the film veers from Buñuel’s “usual” style, for most it is considered the best film version of Defoe’s book, since the director left his personal touch on the story, and when that director is Buñuel, there’s little room for mediocrity.

Newlywed Oliverio receives disturbing news that his mother is on her deathbed. He travels to a remote part of Mexico to fetch a lawyer who can sort out her will.

In this film festival favourite, every day is magical in the tiny logging town of San Miguel de Cruces, Mexico, thanks to director Juan Antonio de la Riva, who captures the rhythms of small-town life through the stories of its inhabitants. From a young couple facing separation as the husband prepares to seek work in the United States to a pair of teens on the cusp of adulthood to the local movie theatre operator struggling to stay open after the introduction of satellite dishes, Pueblo de madera portrays a town—and a people—in transition.

Drawing on personal experiences, de la Riva follows an itinerant movie projectionist who travels along the mountain back-roads in a battered truck, showing classic movies to lumberjacks off the tailgate. Camping, sleeping on old film posters in cheap hotels, Francisco’s life is rootless. A younger vagabond becomes his helper, then a pretty young woman becomes their companion. Along with a backwoods carpenter, the two young people help Francisco attempt to realize an elusive dream—to settle in his hometown, build his own theatre and show his cherished movies. Michael Donnelly