Macabro 2023: This Was Our Year

Macabro celebrated its twenty-second edition, from August 15 to 27, 2023. Over thirteen days of the capital's summer, Macabro presented an inclusive celebration of horror cinema that brought together specialized and cinephile audiences, media outlets, the film community, Q&A sessions with guests, master classes, screenings for vulnerable audiences, workshops, music, retrospectives, tributes, parties, music, and tourism promotion.

Our programme focused on a lineup that moved between present-day visions of the genre, classics marking milestone anniversaries, and Mexico Macabro. Through the official selection across its different categories and formats, we looked at the anguish of family tragedy (La mesita del comedor, Meltdown and the winner of Fantasia 2022, Megalomaniac); the perspective of 15 female directors on one of the most controversial topics in Give me an A; the effects of the post-pandemic era in Apokawixa by Zawery Zulaswki; the stories and legends drawn from and inspired by folklore around the world (Irati, Legiones, Der Schwarze Spinne and Mother Superior; witchcraft (Juego de Brujas, The ones you didn’t burn); supernatural horror in Recuerdos del mal; the referential wonders in Minore and A lasanha assassina; a look at disappearances and murders in our country through various stories told in short-film form; the horror of a reality that surpasses fantasy in the documentary Isla Alien and the delirium of a Japanese auteur — Yoshihiro Nishimura — already familiar to Macabro, present this year with two works: Holy Mother and Onimanji.

Check out the complete Macabro XXII programme here: https://macabro.mx/2023/catalogo/

Here you can see the list of winners: https://macabro.mx/ganadores-macabro-xxii/

And our making-of: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxfFkyJKkTQ (abre en nueva pestaña)

TALKS AND CONVERSATIONS

Fear in the 21st century through horror cinema

Do our fears change, or do they stay the same? Have their representations changed? Have the stories changed? Why does the human being who lives next door to us seemingly scare us more than the legendary vampire Dracula or the Wolf Man? Is it true that, over the two decades of this century, the genre has shifted toward a more social and raw exploration rather than an imaginary or fantastical path? All of these questions led us to invite Emilio Portes (director and screenwriter of “Conozca la cabeza de Juan Pérez,” “Pastorela,” and “Belzebuth”); Michelle Garza Cervera (director and screenwriter of “Huesera”); and Hugo Magaña. It took place on Monday, August 21, at 5 p.m. at RADIO IPN.

The Mask in Horror Cinema.

The use of masks emerges the moment we become self-aware, and it is as old as humanity itself; wearing a mask can serve different functions: religious, artistic, festive, and… murderous!

What would horror cinema be without masks? These anonymous killers keep us on the edge of our seats wondering who is behind them—horror cinema would be boring without their existence.

Who was the first masked killer in horror cinema? Which are the most popular masks? What or who hides behind them? What is their function?

It took place on Wednesday, August 23, at 8 p.m. at Pulquería Insurgentes.

MACABRO COVEN PREMIERES

El inquilino | Dir. Samantha Gómez | Mexico | 2023 | 20 min.

A sex worker finds a zombie during her shift, takes pity on him, and brings him home; the zombie becomes her tenant, and the two find strange ways of relating to each other, becoming something more.

Delusión | Dir. Mónica Ocampo | Mexico | 2023 |

Is the mind more powerful than we think? Eris has always been present in Amaris's life, tormenting her days. Amaris is just a sensitive girl who has always struggled with her mental health, and all she wants is to get better, but that isn't part of Eris's plans. A recent change in Amaris's daily routine leaves her caught between a rock and a hard place, and little by little she lets herself be manipulated by Eris's bad influence, who will drive her to do something irreversible that she won't be able to escape.

SPECIAL ACTIVITIES: “SATÁNICO” EXHIBITION BY LORE MARTELL

As part of Macabro XXII's special activities, the exhibition “Satánico” by Mexican artist Lore Martell was presented, made up of a series of 16 photographs inspired by Mexican horror cinema. The exhibition was open to visitors at Casa del Cine from August 17 to September 8, 2023.

MACABRO TRAINING

Workshop: “From Screenplay to Film”

As part of the Macabro XXII programme, Macabro and Macabro Lab organized a workshop led by Fabián Forte: “From Screenplay to Film,” which covered everything from the project's initial idea to developing the literary screenplay, structuring the shooting schedule, and working on the technical screenplay while keeping the schedule's timing in mind. The workshop included a screening of the films “El muerto cuenta su historia” and “La corporación,” both directed by Fabián Forte. An activity held in collaboration with Centro Cultural CECCANN. Dates: August 21 and 22, 2023, from 5 to 10 p.m.

CINDIE MACABRO

This year we partnered with CINDIE, a platform specializing in independent film from around the world, to create the CINDIE MACABRO channel, launched with the goal of streaming a collection of Latin American horror films. The collaboration is commercial in nature and its reach extends across Latin America.

MACABRO PUEBLA

After four years of holding screenings alongside Macabro's main showcase in Mexico City, MACABRO PUEBLA was born this year—a project that marks a firm step toward decentralizing the festival, bringing part of the main showcase, made up of Mexican cinema, the most representative titles from the official selection, and the festival's award-winning films, to the city of Puebla. A short-film programme was also presented as part of this year's Mexican horror short-film selection, honoring works originating from the state.

ANNUAL ACTIVITIES

MACABRO PRESENTA

This year we launched our distribution and promotion project for alternative, Latin American, and classic genre cinema, in collaboration with the Cineteca Nacional, as well as other venues that screened films such as Nocturna and Rojo Profundo, among others.

MACABRO NOCTURNO

The horror-cinema outreach and promotion project continues after 8 years of ongoing screenings. Macabro Nocturno is a #MacabroFICH project in partnership with La Casa del Cine Mx that has presented, in a monthly screening since February 2015, part of the festival's film archive dating back to its founding in 2002, as well as horror-cinema classics.

Partnership with CEDECINE

Macabro FICH and CEDECINE forge a partnership for the screening of Rojo profundo, the Dario Argento classic, as the first activity in a collaboration aimed at bringing independent, classic, and cult horror cinema to new audiences across the country. Activities will begin this June.

Macabro has forged partnerships with national and international distributors, producers, and directors to screen films throughout the country in alternative venues such as film archives, independent cinemas, and film clubs.

Check out the press release with the full information here: https://macabro.mx/macabro-y-cedecine-forjan-una-alianza/

Macabro at Museo Panteón de San Fernando

As every year, Macabro, in collaboration with the Secretaría de Cultura de la Ciudad de México and the Museo Panteón de San Fernando, presents a screening of Mexican cinema as part of the activities commemorating Día de Muertos.

Macabro at Cine en la Ciudad

Cine en la Ciudad is a Procine-CDMX initiative aimed at bringing different cinematic expressions to various points across Mexico City, through screenings at film clubs, museums, FAROs, and Pilares, with collaborations from various festivals, distributors, producers, and cultural managers and promoters, among others.

Macabro took part this year with two Mexican titles: “La lotería” by Vadir Sottelo and “Ánima” by Alex G. Alegre.

BY THE NUMBERS Films screened: 110 Screenings: 106 Feature films: 45 National premieres: 24 Latin American premieres: 3 World/international premieres: 5 Short films: 65 Countries: 45 Institutions: 7 Sponsors and allies: 29 Media partners: 12 Venues: 19 Procine venues: 8 Venues in other states: 1 Platforms: 2 Audience at CDMX, Puebla, and State of Mexico venues and special screenings: 31,850 TV and streaming audience: 525,680 Guests: 35 Press notes: 219 Social media mentions: 556 Facebook followers: 478,653 X (Twitter) followers: 30,930 Instagram followers: 20,028 YouTube followers: 2,760

ALLIES, SPONSORS, AND COLLABORATORS

ecretaría de Cultura de la Ciudad de México, PROCINE CDMX, Cineteca Nacional, Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografía, and the UNAM Film Library.

Teatro de la Ciudad "Esperanza Iris", Cineteca Nacional, Cinematógrafo del Chopo, Casa del Lago, Casa del Cine, Museo Panteón de San Fernando, Museo Archivo de Fotografía, Centro de Cultura Digital, Centro Cultural "El Rule", Centro Cultural "Xavier Villaurrutia", FARO de Oriente, FARO Aragón, FARO Cosmos, Circo Volador, CECCANN, Facultad de Estudios Superiores – UNAM, Centro Cultural "Jaime Torres Bodet" – IPN, Radio IPN, Cinemateca "Luis Buñuel"

Coca Cola, Asus, Cis Solutions, LCI Seguros, CTT&Exp, Artec, Ghoulish Productions, Hotel Roosevelt, Diablo Panzón Food Company, La Facultad de cine, IP9 Studios, Grimorio Fermentorio, Editorial Planeta, Verbatim, Cervecería Minerva, Coven FX and Tequila El Rojo

Buenavida Fonda, Malavida Expendio, Casa Malfelino, Churrería general de la República, Parrilla Paraíso, Álvaro Roma, La Bipo Coyoacán, Pulquería Insurgentes, Bar Donceles, Artículo 123, Miralto, La Vienet, Fungi and El Periban.

Canal 22, Mx Nuestro Cine, Capital 21, Código 21, Radio IPN, Time Out, CinemaNet, CineGarage, Morras Malditas, Cameo, El Deforma, Cine Frame, Butaca Ancha, Tomatazos, SpoilerTime.

Caostica, Fantasía Film Festival, Aurora: Guanajuato International Horror Film Festival, Red Mexicana de Festivales Cinematográficos and Alianza Latinoamericana de Festivales de Cine Fantástico