Expresión en Corto International Film Festival

The Expresión en Corto International Film Festival is an annual international film festival, held since 1997 during the final week of July in the cities of San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico.

As a state-sponsored, non-profit organization and cultural event that does not charge admission to its viewing audience, the festival estimates an attendance of over 77,000 total audience members and receives over 1,500 works from more than 88 participating countries in its international competition. It presents a variety of films, conferences, workshops, tributes and activities at no cost to the visiting public.

Venues

More than 400 films are screened from 10am until 4am each day in 18 venues, which include such unusual locations as: the Jardín Principal (main square) of San Miguel de Allende; the classical open-air staircase of the University of Guanajuato; the subterranean streets and tunnels beneath the city of Guanajuato where underground films are screened; as well as horror films in the infamous Museum of the Mummies of Guanajuato and both municipal graveyards (panteónes). There are also screenings in more conventional spaces such as Teatro Angela Peralta (SMA), Centro Cultural Ignacio Ramirez - El Nigromante (SMA), the Teatro Santa Ana (SMA), Hotel Villa Jacaranda (SMA), Galería Kunsthaus Santa Fe (SMA), the Auditorio del Estado (GTO) and the Teatro Principal (GTO).

Categories in Competition, Tributes & International Pitching Market

The international competition is the largest in Mexico, with films competing in a variety of categories that include: Short Fiction, Short Animation, Short Experimental, Short Documentary, Long Documentary and Mexican Feature Length Opera Prima (or works by first-time Mexican feature directors). As well as an assortment of workshops, conferences, Women in Film and Television luncheons and tributes to both Mexican and international A-list filmmakers who are in attendance.

Expresión en Corto has paid homage to both National and International filmmakers, including: Tim Burton, Kenneth Anger, Oliver Stone, Irvin Kershner, Gaspar Noé, Felipe Cazals, Josefina Echanove, Patricia Reyes Espinola, Diana Bracho, María Rojo, Miguel Zacarías, Rafael Inclán, Julio Alemán, Don Manuel Esperón and Marga López, to name a few.

In association with Women In Film and Television International, Expresión en Corto celebrates cinema’s most accomplished women. Past honorees have included: Brigitte Broch, Katy Jurado, Angélica Aragón, Gloria Schoemann, Carmen Montejo, Silvia Pinal, Ana Ofelia Murguía, Ofelia Medina, Carla Estrada y Maria Elena Velasco, to name a few.

The festival hosts an annual International Pitching Market, bringing together international producers, distributors and diverse film financing institutions from around the world who are interested in participating in co-productions with the top Mexican feature and documentary projects currently in development.

Spotlight Countries

Yearly Expresión en Corto contends with the participation of a guest country of honor, presenting a showcase of the best of that country's film - past and present. In previous years Canada, Spain, Germany, Brazil, France and the U.S.A. have all been Spotlight Countries. For the upcoming 11th edition of Expresión en Corto from July 18 - 27, 2008, the Festival will be celebrating artists from the world’s most prolific film industry: India.

World-recognized film institutions that have participated in the past include: Cannes Film Festival, Festival International du Court Métrage à Clermont-Ferrand, International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Festival de Cine de Huesca, Annecy International Animated Film Festival, Canal+, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, American Film Institute, Museum of Modern Art, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Texas Archive of the Moving Image, Frameline, Outfest, MIX NYC, South by Southwest, Palm Springs International Film Festival, Chicago International Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, Sundance Institute and the University of Southern California and the University of Texas at Austin film departments.

Themes

Each edition of Expresión en Corto has managed a central theme. Previous themes have included: “In the Land of the Blind”, “Seven Virtues and Seven Sins”, “Censorship, Self-Censorship and Provocation” and “Breakout Filmmaking”. Each festival features special week-long programs of classic films dedicated to each theme and invites international filmmakers, writers, researchers and historians to give conferences on the same.

This year the festival tackles the theme of “Identity”, or the identification or representation of a country or culture through its historic film heritage.