MEXICO CITY: Despite his international success, including a new adaptation of the classic puppet story “Pinocchio”, Oscar-winning Mexican director Guillermo del Toro fears his country’s cinema industry is facing “systematic destruction”. is facing
Del Toro’s animated version of “Pinocchio,” in which an elderly woodcarver and his living puppet find themselves in 1930s Fascist Italy, topped the streaming platform Netflix during the week of Dec. 12-18. It was a movie to watch.
It opened on Dec. 9, a week before the release of “Bardo,” a biopic about a journalist-filmmaker returning home after years in Los Angeles by fellow Mexican Alejandro González Iñárritu.
Mexican actors have also enjoyed recent success in Hollywood, including Tenoch Huerta, the rising star of the “Black Panther” sequel, the first major black superhero film.
Del Toro, Iñárritu and Alfonso Cuarón represent a golden generation of Mexican filmmakers who have won the best director trophy at the Oscars five times since 2013.
Del Toro’s fantasy romance “The Shape of Water” won best picture and best director at the 2018 Oscars.
The following year Cuarón created three golden statues for “Roma” — a dark black-and-white film about a family in turmoil in 1970s Mexico City.
– ‘brutal’ destruction –
But in stark contrast to the international acclaim of the trio, known as “The Three Amigos”, del Toro now warns that the country’s film industry faces “unprecedented” challenges.
“The systematic destruction of Mexican cinema and its institutions — decades in the making — has been brutal,” he tweeted recently.
Del Toro highlighted an announcement by the Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences that next year’s Ariel Awards – the country’s equivalent of the Oscars – has been postponed until further notice due to a “serious financial crisis”.
The organization said it regretted that “public resource support has declined significantly in recent years.
He added, “The state, which was the promoter and supporter of the academy for a long time, has abdicated its responsibility as a promoter and propagator of cinema culture in general and in particular.”
Del Toro even offered to pay for the Ariel sculptures out of his own pocket.
“He is a generous colleague, an artist who is always aware of what is happening not only with Mexican cinematography, but with the arts in general in the country,” said Academy President Leticia Hojara.
However, she would prefer an agreement with the state.
In the meantime, Ariels has been postponed, Huijara confirmed. (AFP)