Abstract
This paper discusses the effects of NAFTA on the Mexican film industry with special emphasis on the effects of neoliberal ideology, both on film’s audiences and its contents. It describes an industry that caters exclusively to the economic elites, blindly following a logic of economic optimization and foregoing any kind of attempt at a national culture cinema project. The paper then analyses Alonso Ruizpalacios’ Güeros (2014) as an interesting case study that illustrates the difficulties of trying to resist neoliberalism after decades of living in a society –and working inside a film industry– strongly shaped by its ideology.
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Films Cited
Amores perros, directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Mexico, Altavista Films-Zeta Film, 2000.
Como agua para chocolate, directed by Alfonso Arau, Mexico, Arau Films Internacional-Aviacsa-Cinevista-Fonatur-Fondo de Fomento a la Calidad Cinematográfica-Gobierno del Estado de Coahuila-Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografía (Imcine)-Secretaría de Turismo, 1992.
Güeros, directed by Alonso Ruizpalacios, Mexico, Catatonia Films-Conaculta-Difusión Cultural UNAM, 2014.
Sólo con tu pareja, directed by Alfonso Cuarón, Mexico, Esperanto Filmoj-Fondo de Fomento a la Calidad Cinematográfica-Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografía (Imcine)-Sólo Películas, 1991.
Todo el poder, directed by Fernando Sariñana, Mexico, Altavista Films, 2000.
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