Mexico’s largest documentary film festival, Ambulante, returns to Oaxaca on Thursday, April 14 with an impressive program of international and local films.
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 160 venues across the country.
Ambulante Oaxaca opens on Thursday, April 14 with a special screening of ‘Sonita‘, Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami’s story of a young Afghan refugee in Iran who channels her frustrations and seizes her destiny through music. This is a joint presentation with OaxacaCine who have, for the eleventh year running, joined with Ambulante for their April program. They’ll be screening five documentaries at Teatro Macedonio Alcalá including the opening night feature, Werner Herzog’s ‘Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World‘, Laurie Anderson’s ‘Heart of a Dog‘, and Zhao Liang’s ‘Behemoth‘.
This year’s program celebrates the concepts of interconnectivity and interdependence and brings together over 100 titles from acclaimed directors including Werner Herzog, Paul Thomas Anderson, Amy Berg, Tatiana Hueze and Laurie Anderson among others. Themes include LGBTQ, women’s sexuality, migration, conservation and environment, musical currents and legendary artists such as David Bowie (‘Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars‘, Janis Joplin (‘Little Girl Blue‘) and Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood (‘Junun‘).
Films will be screened at a range of venues across the city including the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Oaxaca (MACO), Cinepolis, La Jicara, Biblioteca Henestrosa, Centro Cultural San Pablo, and Teatro Macedonio Alcalá.
Regional screenings will be held in Santa Catarina Minas, Santa María Atzompa, Guelatao de Juárez, San Juan Guelavía and Puerto Escondido. Check the program for more details.
All screenings are free, with the exception of those in Teatro Macedonio Alcalá ($30/$20) and Cinepolis. Cinepolis screenings cost $40 per film or you can purchase a cinebono which will give you four tickets for $120.
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.” See the program for more details.
You can pick up a copy of the full festival program at one of the venues or download it here.
Ambulante Gira de Documentales 2016
14-21 April
Various venues, Oaxaca Centro
