A celebration of visionary cinematic works from Mexico, spanning the country’s Golden Age to the present, told in narrative features, documentaries, and short films, including archival 16mm prints. Rayos: Cine en México is produced in partnership with The Grand Cinema and the Tacoma Film Festival, hosting several free public screenings and post-screening community conversations.
Trópico de Cáncer / Mitote
Documentary | 2004 | 52min
Documentary | 2012 | 54min
Director: Eugenio Polgovsky
Polgovsky’s debut Trópico de Cáncer immerses the viewer in the precarious lives of families dwelling in the arid desert region of San Luis Potosi, Mexico. They survive by hunting and gathering in order to sell plants and animals to motorists by the side of a thunderous superhighway that leads to the United States. Through handheld images of searing potency, this film crafts an intimate, near-wordless visual essay on the human capacity to survive in the most adverse circumstances.
In Mitote (Nahuatl for chaos or celebration), a shaman’s mystical rituals, furious electricians on hunger strike, and a euphoric football crowd collide in the Zócalo, Mexico City’s central square and the ancient ceremonial heart of the Aztec empire. The documentary essay depicts the square as a wrestling ring, in which nationalist fervor melds past and present, rage and celebration
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Curated by film programmer David Dinnell and independent film critic and educator Jay Kuehner.