#MacabroXVIII: Third Programming Preview

GALA MACABRA - LA LLORONA (1933)

Macabro dedicates its Gala Macabra to the Premiere of the restoration of the film that started the horror genre in our country: LA LLORONA by Ramón Peón. A production with a story that pits superstition against logic through scenes featuring some of the most striking special effects of the era. A classic from the Archivo Permanencia Voluntaria, curated by Viviana García Besné, restored by THE ACADEMY FILM ARCHIVE, CINE FANTÁSTICO, FILMOTECA DE LA UNAM, and THE HANSON INSTITUTE.

Thursday, August 29, at the Patio Octavio Paz of the Biblioteca de México.

After the screening, we'll open the dance floor to the lloronas joining us for the now-traditional Danza Macabra at Bar Bucardón (Donato Guerra 1, Colonia Centro, CDMX)

PANORAMA MACABRO: OUT-OF-COMPETITION PREMIERES

As every year, we present contemporary genre cinema in genres related to Macabro, or subgenres, screened out of competition. Among them is the German film ENDE NEU by Leonel Dietsche, a science-fiction story that finds humanity's last hope in an unlikely protagonist.

This same section will also feature the action-packed, internationally intriguing THE MONGOLIAN CONNECTION (nothing to do with The Mongolian Conspiracy), a film by Drew Thomas that tells a story of international criminals, the FBI, Mongolia, and plenty of fight and action sequences.

MEXICO MACABRO PRESENTS IN SPECIAL SCREENING "NATHAEL" BY LEOPOLDO LABORDE

Finally, Macabro presents the digitization of a cult work by the most prolific and versatile filmmaker of his generation: Leopoldo Laborde. NATHAEL is a 1993 film, the director's second feature; shot on home video, it revealed Laborde's preoccupations and obsessions with death, and would go on to have a major influence on genre cinema.

NATHAEL screened at the first edition of Macabro in October–November 2002. Eighteen years later, it returns courtesy of its creator.

"Writing NATHAEL was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life: it gave me the importance and thrill of narrative construction. I'd already been typing up short stories since I was 10, but writing NATHAEL was my first real story built for film. And shooting NATHAEL was another of the most pleasurable experiences of my whole life. Today, looking back, I envy my hunger, my vitality toward The Camera. I chose good actors, but I didn't know how to direct them. But I didn't care: for the first time in my life, my marital relationship with The Camera was made official. I've never again had that much power expressing myself with a Camera. And editing it, another indescribable pleasure. I'll say that I haven't filmed that way again, because technically it's more expensive to shoot in that style. But every time I shoot a new film, that 22-year-old kid drifts through my mind—the one who had never before enjoyed doing anything so much, and who had never felt so much love, company, and strength, not only from the group of friends who supported him, but from his Friend, Lady, and Lover: The Camera. I'll share a dream with you: someday I'll let that 22-year-old kid step out of my mind and land on my set, to film again like back then, and NATHAEL on these new sets will leave me spellbound by its magic..." —Leopoldo Laborde, July 16, 2019.

FIRST MACABRO LAB SPEAKERS

We previously announced the return of Macabro Lab, a training and development project for genre cinema in Mexico, through the First Genre Cinema Seminar, which will take place as part of Macabro XVIII's activities and will be hosted at the Facultad de Cine on August 22, 23, and 24.

Among the first announced masterclass speakers for the seminar are Emilio Portes (screenwriting), Raúl Camarena (theoretical foundations of the genre), Tania Rojas (editing), Leopoldo Laborde (filmmaking), Henry Bedwell (pitching), and our special guest from England, director, producer, and owner of the distribution company Jinga Films: Julian Richards, who will give a masterclass on genre film distribution.

Likewise, filmmakers Carlos Meléndez and Adrián García Bogliano will close out the first edition of this seminar with a conversation on "Guerrilla filmmaking," as well as introducing the film SCHERZO DIABÓLICO, directed by García Bogliano and produced by Carlos, which will be screened as part of this talk.

More names will be added in the coming days. Registration information and the seminar's complete program can be found at: https://macabro.mx/macabrolab/

DATES AND VENUES

The eighteenth edition of Macabro will take place from August 21 to September 1, 2019, at the following venues: Teatro de la Ciudad "Esperanza Iris," Cineteca Nacional, Cinematógrafo del Chopo, Casa del Cine, Museo Archivo de la Fotografía, Museo Panteón de San Fernando, Museo de la Ciudad de México, Biblioteca de México, Centro Cultural "El Rule," Centro Cultural "Xavier Villaurrutia," Cine Villa Olímpica, Circuito de FARO's, Facultad de Cine, Sala Julián Carrillo de Radio UNAM, Universidad Latinoamericana, Del Valle campus, and Pulquería "Los Insurgentes."