Lost, found and living the dream in San Miguel
By Atención staff, February 23, 2007
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Film premiere Lost and Found in Mexico Tues, Mar 27, 5pm Wed, Feb 28, 5:30pm Q & A with filmmaker Caren Cross & editor Elise DuRant |
Am I living the American dream? Am I happy? Do I have it all? Lost and Found in Mexico asks these questions. Filmmaker Caren Cross thought she had accomplished everything she had set out to achieve. She arrived in Mexico on vacation and immediately felt compelled to drop her old life. She began to listen to her heart, and for the first time she understood what she had lost in the United States and found in Mexico: her true self. Cross became fixed on trying to understand the changes she felt and embarked on making this documentary. In San Miguel de Allende, she interviewed other foreigners in a quest to understand why so many of them landed here. The answers in this thought-provoking film are both stimulating and unsettling. Might others, too, be lost without even knowing it? This film proves that transformation is possible and that sometimes you have to travel far to truly come home.
Atención San Miguel: What is your background?
Caren Cross: I was a psychotherapist in private practice for 27 years. However, my undergraduate degree is in fine arts. I always thought I’d be a painter. I painted a little bit through the years, but primarily I was totally immersed in my profession.
ASM: What first brought you to San Miguel?
CC: My husband, David, and I came to San Miguel for a one-week vacation. You’ve heard this story tons of times: we went home and I couldn’t get San Miguel out of my mind. I started to think that maybe I would take a month off each year and spend it here. I kept adjusting that idea until within a year I was determined to end my practice totally and move to SMA.
ASM: Did you feel something was missing in your life in the US? And did you think you could find it in San Miguel?
CC: I didn’t think anything was missing in my life. I felt content, fortunate, satisfied, stimulated. Mostly, I was attracted to this place because of the weather, the quality of the light and the fact that you didn’t have to drive a car. I wasn’t aware of the changes that were in store for me.
ASM: And so what did you find in San Miguel? And how did the film come about?
CC: Freedom was the first thing that I felt. I didn’t feel judged. I could just be. It reminded me of my childhood. Later, I realized that I was free because I no longer had to live by the standards of US culture, nor did I have to live by the cultural standards of Mexico. I was free to be more true to myself. As time went on, I was able to be more relaxed, less anxious, more present. This was a big discovery. I wasn’t aware of how anxious I had been.
The changes that I felt were so huge that I wanted to share them with others. I figured that I couldn’t be the only one who had lost her course! In retrospect, I see that I was combining my interest in human nature with my interest in art.
Most important for me was getting out of my culture and its constrictions. I think that is easier to do in a developing country than in the US. The film is not an invitation for people to come to San Miguel. In fact, that is the last thing I want!
ASM: How did you select the people who appeared in the film?
CC: At first I made a detailed chart and conducted 32 sit-down interviews. I interviewed people who represented different groups: young, old, gay, straight, married, single, long-timers, newly arrived. I threw that chart out at the end and chose the four main characters because they were articulate, engaging and honest. And each of them represented something that I identified with in my own discovery.
ASM: What challenges did you find in making this film?
CC: Are you kidding? I didn’t know anything about making a film. I started out by ordering five books with titles such as How to Make a Documentary Film. Without a doubt the most difficult part was having myself in the film. I didn’t want to be seen or heard. I thought I could express what I wanted to say through other people’s stories. It took a long time for me to get over my fears of making myself vulnerable. I didn’t want others to be able to judge me. This was huge. And facing this challenge and giving in to what was needed by the film was definitely the biggest hurdle.
ASM: How have audiences responded so far?
CC: The film seems to provoke people to talk about themselves, their lives, what’s important to them. What could be more gratifying than that? Also, many people get choked up and tearful. Especially men. I am really surprised by that, and it makes me think that men have a lot more pain than I ever realized.
ASM: What do you ultimately hope to achieve with this film, in terms of public response and distribution?
CC: I never knew that I was in pain. That I wasn’t being true to myself. That I was like a hamster on a wheel. If I can help people see that in themselves, then I have been successful. The point of the film isn’t to encourage people to move to San Miguel. The point is for people to become more conscious.
I would love to sell the film to a cable network or PBS. I can dream, can’t I?
Films highlight citizens’ power
Global Justice films
Argentina: Hope in Hard Times
Mon, Feb 26, 3pm
Winter Soldier
Thurs, Mar 1, 3pm
Teatro Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública, Insurgentes 25
50 pesos
Two films that demonstrate the power of ordinary citizens to change the destructive policies of their government are featured this week: Argentina: Hope in Hard Times and Winter Soldier.
For many years, Argentina was a poster child for the policies of Wall Street, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. But instead of the boom that was promised, its economy collapsed. Argentines stormed supermarkets for food. The police gunned down 30 people in just one day. Where people could have turned on one another in fear and desperation, they turned to each other in mutual support.
Argentina: Hope in Hard Times (74 minutes) takes a close-up look at the ways in which Argentines are picking up the pieces of their devastated economy and creating new possibilities for the future.
Winter Soldier (96 minutes) documents the Winter Soldier Investigation conducted by Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) in Detroit, Michigan, in the winter of 1971. A call went out from VVAW to veterans all over the country saying, in effect, “Everyone is talking about the war that you know from the inside. If you want to have anything to say about it, come to Detroit and tell it like you saw it.” At the investigation, over 125 veterans representing every major combat unit to see action in Vietnam gave eye-witness testimony to war crimes and atrocities they either participated in or witnessed. The purpose of the investigation was to bring to light the nature of American military policy in Vietnam.
Although the event was attended by press and television news crews, almost nothing was reported to the American public. Yet this unprecedented forum marked a turning point in the anti-war movement. It was a pivotal moment in the lives of young vets from around the country who participated, including the young John Kerry. Their courage in testifying and their desire to prevent further atrocities and to regain their own humanity provide a dramatic intensity that makes seeing Winter Soldier an unforgettable experience.
Cinemateca
José Luis’s Pick and Tips:
The pick
The Overture
You will think that I am lying if I tell you that you’re about to be enchanted, amazed, delighted and moved by a movie from Thailand with xylophone music as its core feature. This film combines the exotic with the classic. Beautiful to watch and increasingly engrossing as it jumps back and forth between the past and the present, this one-of-a-kind Thai creation tells the story of the country’s grand old ranad-ek (a kind of xylophone) master who champions this classic form of Thai music to the point where he stands up to the occupying Japanese forces during WWII. This provides one of the film’s best scenes, pitting an intelligent and caring Japanese officer against this great musician. There is a budding love story here, too, along with traditions, parent-child issues, death, friendship, honor, competitions, ravishing beauty and, above all, the music, which won me over completely. No wonder The Overture is among the most highly regarded of recent art films.
The tips
In order to be able to provide the best viewing experience, the show times for some movies may be adjusted to accommodate their length. Be sure to check the schedule carefully. Also, please remember the new ticket price of 50 pesos. Discount cards are 450 pesos for 12 shows.
On Monday after 12pm, buy your tickets for any selection of the week. Don’t take the risk of being locked out! Nos vemos en el Cine….
The Overture (Hoam Rong, 2005)
Thursday, March 1, 5:30pm
Friday, March 2, 3 & 5pm
Wednesday, March 7, 5pm
Foreign drama,Thai with English subtitles, 103 minutes
Director: Ittisoontorn Vichailak
Cast: Chumphorn Thepphithak, Pongpat Wachirabunjong, Adul Dulyarat
Itthi-sunthorn Vichailak directs this captivating drama inspired by the real-life story of Thai musician Luang Pradit Pairoh, whose skill at playing a xylophone-like instrument called the ranard-ek has granted him legendary status in the world of classical music.
Special Movie Premiere
Lost and Found in Mexico
Tuesday, March 27, 5pm
Wednesday, February 28, 5:30pm
Director: Caren Cross
Editor: Elise Durant
Like so many others, Caren Cross arrived in San Miguel for a short vacation and fell in love with the town. She went home and packed it all up to move to Mexico, leaving behind the safety of her lifelong friends and career. It was inexplicable. It didn’t make sense. But after just a few years she discovered the move had profoundly affected her. She wondered if others felt the same way. Why do they come? Why do they stay? In Lost and Found in Mexico, Caren combs the streets of San Miguel searching for answers. There will be a question-and answer-period with Caren and editor Elise Durant following the film.
Musical Saturdays:
Wagner’s Die Meistersinger
Saturday February 24, noon
Sung in German with English subtitles, 266 minutes
Next week: Wagner’s Tristan Und Isolde
Die Meistersinger von Nürenberg is Wagner’s only comedy, a Wagner opera that will appeal to many who don’t usually care for Wagner operas. It is handsomely staged by the Deutsche Opera Berlin in a witty, musically polished interpretation. The characters (medieval German bourgeois craftsmen and artists) are recognizable types you might still see today: three-dimensional, warm, funny. Except for the villainous Beckmesser (Wagner's caricature of the music critic Hanslick), the people in Die Meistersinger are relatively free of the kind of obsessions that haunt so many characters in other Wagner operas.