Mexico’s largest documentary film festival, Ambulante, returns to Oaxaca on Thursday 23rd April with an impressive program of international and local documentaries.
Founded in 2005 by Gael García Bernal, Diego Luna, Pablo Cruz and Elena Fortes, Ambulante is a non-profit organisation that focuses on supporting and promoting documentary film as a tool for social and cultural transformation. They provide training programs and take films to areas where they are rarely available. The main event, however, is the international film festival which tours Mexico for three months each year. This year the festival will screen over 100 films in more than 150 venues across the country.
Ambulante Oaxaca opens on Thursday 23rd April with a special screening of ‘Citizenfour‘, the story of Edward Snowden and the US government’s massive covert surveillance programs. This is a joint presentation with OaxacaCine who have, for the tenth year running, joined with Ambulante for their April program. They’ll be screening five documentaries at Teatro Macedonio Alcalá including the opening night feature, Mexico’s ‘El Patio de Mi Casa‘ and the USA’s ‘God Loves Uganda – Gospel of Intolerance‘.
Films will be screened at a range of venues across the city including the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Oaxaca (MACO), Cinepolis, Museo Belber Jímenez, La Jicara, Biblioteca Henestrosa and Teatro Macedonio Alcalá. There will also be open air screenings at Jardín el Pañuelito.
Regional screenings will be held in Teotitlan del Valle, Tlacolula de Matamoros and Santa Maria Atzompa, and the festival will also travel to Puerto Escondido and Huatulco. Check the program for more details.
Categories for this year’s festival include:
Reflector – Films of wide appeal that have been highly acclaimed by audiences and critics at festivals around the world.
Enfoque – A thematic section. This year’s themes include Train Experiences, Ritual and Cine-Trance, and Sensory Thresholds.
Ambulantito – A program of short documentaries and animations for the young and not-so-young.
Dictator’s Cut – Films on human rights and freedom of speech as well as censored films and filmmakers.
Injerto – Works made by artists and filmmakers that explore the dialogue between contemporary art and cinema.
Pulsos – A selection of the most recent documentaries produced in Mexico.
Sonidero – Film productions about different music trends, from documentaries with social and political content to exhilarating concerts.
Imperdibles – A wide variety of activities and presentations including plays, concerts, installations, live documentaries, drive-in cinema, workshops, and special screenings.
Observatorio – A series of cutting-edge documentaries from around the world that inspire new forms of thinking about and interpreting reality.
As well as presenting a fantastic selection of global documentaries the program also includes Ambulante Ideas – “a place for education that seeks to generate reflection, dialogue and exchange of views on artistic and social issues through workshops, lectures, panel discussions and multidisciplinary meetings.” From April 26-29 Oaxaca will host the ‘New Paths and Other Shortcuts to Collective Participation Lab’ – a series of conversations and other events that will be focused on the issues of education, migration and violence.
To see the daily program check our events calendar or you can download the full festival program here.
All screenings are free, with the exception of those in Cinepolis.
Ambulante Gira de Documentales 2015
23 – 30 May
Various venues, Oaxaca Centro
