Mexico

Director Luis Mandoki’s latest release, “Fraud: Mexico 2006,” opened in Mexico to large audiences, generating interest and controversy. The documentary suggests that Felipe Calderon defeated Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in a fraudulent process that included improprieties at polling places and an unlawful smear campaign against the leftist candidate, Obrador. The film’s pro-Calderon critics dismiss it as propaganda, while Mandoki says he hopes the film “will open our eyes and leave us asking what kind of country do we want, and what are we going to do to achieve it?” (Cambio de Michoacan)

 Contributed by Rich Basas of FPA’s Migration blog:

An often unknown issue outside of the local society in any country is the linguistic heritage of the indigenous people of the region. In Latin America these ancient tribal languages take on an added dimension, as many Latin American nations were formed early as independent nations compared to other colonial nations, as well much of the nationalism created at the time and existing today is a mixture of European societies interchanged with reverence with the local ancient civilizations which gives roots to much of the modern heritage of the nations in Latin America.

Unique to the Americas, Mexico’s original inhabitants were made of more than Aztecs and Mayans. In Mexico today much of the population can trace their roots back to one region, and many have parents and grandparents that speak languages that are for the most part unrecognised in the rest of the world and even in much of Mexico. With so few people speaking these local languages, often many are close to becoming extinct. Today, 20 Mexican languages are seen as being threatened.

According to a BBC report this week, one language has all but been abandoned. The “Zoque” language of Ayapan in Mexico has been prematurely abandoned, as the two last speakers of the language have simply decided to no longer speak to each other for personal reasons. This ancient Olmeca language has dialects which are spoken by many in the south of Mexico in Chiapas, Oaxaca and Vercruz states, but all are becoming threatened by extinction.

With more than 350 different languages spoken in Mexico, there is a hope that new speakers of these languages will arise from their families and endure the slow extinction of culture and language associated with the diversity in Mexico. A mostly unknown situation outside of the country as well as in between different Mexican states, the world would do well to preserve as best as possible one of the most ancient civilizations and its linguistic heritage.

Mexican writer Fernando del Paso has been awarded the Juan Rulfo literary prize, a major honor in Spanish literature.  Born in Mexico City in 1935, Del Paso is the author of Palinuro of Mexico and Noticias del Imperio, among other works.  Though best known for his four novels, he has also had success as a poet, painter, playwright, journalist, and diplomat. 

The literary prize will be presented officially at the Guadalajara International Book Fair in November.

Famed Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas has been commissioned by Mexico City officials to design what would be Latin America’s tallest skyscraper at 984 feet.  As the New York Times noted recently, however, the proposed ”Bicentennial  Tower” is causing controversy among its future neighbors and city activists who are taking legal action.  If built, the 70-story tower overlooking the city’s Chapultepec Forest would open in 2010 to celebrate Mexico’s 200 years of independence from Spain.

This image depicts what Koolhaas has in mind.  (Photo: Office for Metropolitan Architecture)

The stars of the critically-acclaimed film “Y Tu Mama Tambien” are turning their attention to social injustices in Mexico.  Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna held a gala dinner in Mexico City to raise money for the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights, and Witness, an organization started by singer Peter Gabriel that promotes the use of video and film to document human rights abuses.

Garcia Bernal and Luna said they would make documentaries to raise awareness of issues such as the unsolved murders of more than 300 women in Ciudad Juarez.   

(AP photo of Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna)

Mexico City’s Palacio de Bellas Artes museum is hosting a 2-month exhibition of artist Frida Kahlo’s work, marking 100 years since her birth.  Kahlo (1907-1954) was born in Mexico City and has been recognized as an intellectual and social activist.  As a painter, she depicted Mexico’s indigenous culture in a style combining realism, symbolism, and surrealism.  The Bellas Artes exhibition, the largest ever of her work, runs through August 19th.

Photo:  Frida Kahlo and her husband, artist Diego Rivera, in 1932

The UBS Art Gallery in New York City is hosting an exhibition to highlight the life and art of Mariana Yampolsky, an American-born artist whose work celebrates Mexico’s culture, history, and landscape.  ”Embracing Mexico: Mariana Yampolsky, Life and Art,” is featured in the Gallery until August 3rd. 

Yampolsky (1925-2002), who was born in Chicago, went to Mexico in 1944 and became a Mexican citizen in 1954.  “Embracing Mexico” explores the artist’s deep connection to her adopted country through an exhibition of her work as a photographer, printmaker, book editor, curator, and collector. 

“Embracing Mexico” is organized by the Mexican Cultural Institute and sponsored by the financial corporation, UBS, which is hosting the exhibition in its art gallery. Click here for details.

Photo: “Huipil de tapar” (Headdress) by Mariana Yampolsky

Three notable Mexican film directors have signed a $100 million deal with Universal Pictures in Los Angeles to produce five movies, including Spanish-language films.  Guillermo del Toro, Alfonso Cuaron, and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, who individually directed last year’s Oscar-recognized Hollywood hits “Pans Labyrinth,” “Babel,” and “Children of Men,” will call their new production company Cha Cha Cha.  Universal will distribute the trio’s films both in North America and overseas.   The three directors marketed themselves as a group in their talks with Hollywood studios.

(Photo: Inarritu, del Toro, and Cuaron)

See: Mexican Directors Ink $100M Studio Deal (AP: ABC News)