For the first time in the three years of the current federal administration, a high-ranking authority in the Ministry of Culture attends the opening ceremony of the Morelia International Film Festival (FICM). On Wednesday night, in the return of the film meeting to a mostly face-to-face offer, the undersecretary of Cultural Development, Marina Núñez Bespalova, and the director of the Mexican Institute of Cinematography (Imcine), María Novaro Peñalosa, were part of the guest list special to the kick-off ceremony of the 19th edition of the contest.
Both the speeches of the federal officials and the president of FICM and general director of Cinépolis, Alejandro Ramírez Magaña, were openly conciliatory after two editions of frank distancing between both parties and the refusal of public support for the film meeting through the Support Program to Festivals (Profest). This is the first edition in which the festival has benefited from this benefit system in which the Ministry of Culture encompasses festivals of all formats.
“We share the motto of guaranteeing the cultural rights of thousands of Mexicans who enjoy and recreate themselves in the cinema. For this reason, with deep and sincere recognition, we applaud that the festival continues strong and standing, despite the vicissitudes of the public health crisis, and we urge that we start a new stage “, urged the Undersecretary of Development Cultural at the Mariano Matamoros Theater in the capital of Michoacán.
For his part, Alejandro Ramírez said before opening the edition: “we have managed to get here despite numerous obstacles, thanks to the confluence of support and will, both from people and institutions (…) thank you, Marina, for joining us and Please convey our gratitude to the secretary Alejandra Frausto for the support she has given us from the first day of her tenure ”.
The inclusion for the first time in the Profest of the Morelia International Film Festival, whose results were announced last July and whose amounts for each beneficiary, as well as the total resources, were not disclosed due to the electoral ban, as he excused in his Federal Social Communication of Culture moment, was preceded by a virtual meeting between the founders of FICM and the Culture authorities, headed by Alejandra Frausto Guerrero, at the beginning of last July.
It should be noted that although the festival was not included in Profest for the two preceding years, it did receive federal resources, albeit in decrease. The 2019 edition was supported with 7 million pesos, while the 2020 version received 2 million pesos, according to statements from the FICM.
“This festival is one of the most outstanding and committed activities of the various sectors of cinema, on behalf of the community of Mexican filmmakers and audiences. The Ministry of Culture and Imcine recognize it and strongly support it, ”Frausto Guerrero tweeted on that occasion.
Alejandro Ramírez’s response, in the same way, was: “Thank you very much, Alejandra Frausto, for the support you have always given to FICM and agreeing with us that it is through culture that we will succeed as a country.”
Raise percentage of GDP to culture
In the preamble to the start of the meeting, El Economista spoke with Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Batel, co-founder and vice president of the festival.
“I believe that culture in general, not only this festival but in general, any cultural manifestation, does serve to alleviate our penalties individually and as a society,” said Cárdenas Batel.
“Sometimes we can have differences and nuances with the authorities, but it will never be a relationship in that sense of conflict, because we have the possibility of dialogue. The other type of discussions we can have in other areas with the authority itself, with which we have a very respectful relationship. Our job is not to do politics, our job is to bring in the best way, the greatest amount of cinema and, notably, Mexican cinema, ”he argued.
The federal authorities of Culture, he said, have been receptive and sufficiently sensitive to the proposals of the festival organization. Among those approaches, he shared, “is that we see the need for greater support for culture. In other words, it is not a temporary matter for the government. For many years we have been insisting that we should comply with UNESCO’s recommendation to allocate a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product to culture and we are far below what it recommends.
“It is not a matter of parties, nor of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Peña Nieta or Calderón; it is an issue in which we must bet on culture ”, he declared and complemented that both parties are in permanent dialogue.
rrg
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx