Friday, August 01, 2014

GIFF Painting the Town Red; Meanwhile, TV Shows Police Beatings in Puebla

First about the Festival. This year, I'm a happy film buff, pleased that the Guanajuato International Film Festival shows more feature-length films than before. For starters, here are a few photos giving the feel of the GIFF, but I urge you to scroll down to the report about a real event ignored in the mainstream news...:
60 people watched  the documentary about the renowned
 Huichol artist  Sanchez de la Torre.
At the Cervantes, they were sitting toward the  rear.

Like me, keeping up their strength between films 


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Principals onstage to talk about the Polish-Mexican film Six Degrees
  filmed in bothcountries
Deciding, as usual, the hardest part


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After seeing the colorful film about Sr. De la Torre making art--a mural he painted now is displayed at the Metro station near The Louvre, but he was not invited to the opening-- I walked over to a small nearby restaurant. I walked in on a black-and-white scene on the large television that shocked me. The owner and his teenaged son were staring at footage of police brutally beating demonstrators.

I judged from the coverage it must be Mexico. "Where?" I asked.

"Puebla."

"Is it worse than Guanajuato?" He nodded.

"How can they do this? "Those people have rights.".

Looking right at me, he said, "Estamos en Mexico."

I didn't start on a history lesson about my own country. I wanted him to keep talking.

"At least they're showing it on television," I said.

He let me know I wouldn't see it on Televisa."We watch a cable news channel here and at home."

I followed up by checking the headlines at a new stand today. None of them reported the beatings.