Speaking at the press conference announcing the Monterrey Film Festival’s 2023 edition, Lorena Villarreal, the festival’s president of the board, hailed the event’s ambitions for its @Nuevo León industry section, “which will undoubtedly be an important hub connecting Mexican and global cinema,” she said.
With newly hired Diana Cadavid, a seasoned programmer at TIFF and artistic director-programmer of the LALIFF and Cali film festivals managing the section, Ficmonterrey has signaled its intent to become a new, unmissable appointment for the international entertainment industry.
This year’s edition will include over 15 industry events, encompassing panels, masterclasses, workshops, and conversations with prominent industry professionals. The plans for next year will include Works in Progress and Screenwriting Labs, says Cadavid.
@Nuevo León industry will present four programming tracks: The Voices of Female Directors with its guest country, Korea; In Conversation With…; Panoramas: Industry Encounters and Visions Nuevo León.
The Voices of Female Directors program will feature talks with the guest female directors of the festival’s country of honor, Korea. It will also pay tribute to its special guest, Yim Soonrye, who will hold a master class.
In Conversation with…includes talks with the likes of photographer-director Floria Sigismondi, Lebanese-American multi-hyphenate Oualid Mouaness and “Blue Beetle” screenwriter Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer who will hold forth on screenwriting and his trajectory from indie filmmaking to the mainstream.
Carlos Somonte will speak on the Art of Still Photography and Julián Calle on Creating Universes in the Video Game and Animation Industry.
The festival also pays tribute to film and TV icon, Tina Romero, born in New York City but who made her career in Mexico where her early films included horror film “Alucarda,” and a string of telenovelas. She also starred in “Missing,” opposite Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek.
The Panoramas: Industry Encounters track counts on the participation of Emerson Machtus, vice president of BLKBX Originals, Adhrucia Apana, director and founder of Curiosity Entertainment, Julián Calle, a conceptual artist with over eight years of experience in visual development for video games, films, and VFX projects, and film producer Paul Pérez who will give a talk on how to make mainstream films.
The Visions Nuevo León track will explore the opportunities that Nuevo León offers as a filming destination. “Production in the region has grown,” notes Cadavid, citing the lauded comedy “Love & Mathematics” by Claudia Sainte-Luce, which shot there and later world premiered in Toronto last year.
“Nuevo Leon has given us great support,” she says, noting that it is keen to fire up more productions in the region.
Other sponsors include the Federal Ministry of Culture via Profest, the Mexican Film Institute, the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Tourism of the State of Nuevo León, the Council for Culture and the Arts of Nuevo León, the Municipality of San Pedro Garza García, the Autonomous University of Nuevo León through its Ministry of Culture, Cinépolis Sala de Arte, CANACINE Nuevo León, and in particular, Group LVT, Tulip Pictures and Barraca Prods.
Aside from in-person screenings at venues across the city, some free virtual screenings will be available on streaming platform Filmin Latino in Mexico.