In February, every Saturday at noon, we will be paying tribute to the rich film culture of our neighbor south of the border (oops, “wall”), that has consistently given birth to an extraordinary series of world class directors, from Luis Bunuel to Alfonso Cuarón, whose Roma is this year’s critics’ darling, and a favorite to win Best Picture, despite Hollywood’s animus towards the film’s producer, Netflix. If it does win, following last year’s The Shape of Water, Roma will become the second picture in a row helmed by a director from Mexico to win the Motion Picture Academy’s top honor.
We will be screening, subject to change, Bunuel’s Los Olvidados (1950), Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s Amores Perros (2000), Caurón’s Y Tu Mamá También (2001), and Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth (2006). Hopefully, Inarritu, Cuarón, and del Toro will be allowed to cross the border in the future to work on their American films and TV series, like Birdman which, by the way, won four Oscars for Inarritu, Gravity, that won seven Oscars for Cuarón, and The Shape of Water.