October 24, 2008, Documentary captures Day of the Dead traditions, By Lulu Torbet, A series of films about deaf people, By Holly Yasui, ''Breaking through the Silence'', Cinemateca, October 27

Documentary captures Day of the Dead traditions
By Lulu Torbet
October 24, 2008 San Miguel de Allende

Video presentation
Día de Muertos
Fri, Oct 31, 5pm
Teatro Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
50 pesos

Día de Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is one of Mexico’s most important national holidays. Its importance lies in the essence of life itself—the certain knowledge that death comes inevitably.

In the instant of death, life converts to memories for those left behind. The Day of the Dead commemorates and celebrates those who are gone forever, a day suffused with both deep sadness and the pleasure of having had them with us in this world.

The celebration has pre-Hispanic roots that were amended in the New World to include elements that added intense color and distinctive flavors from each specific region of Mexico where it is celebrated, as well as the traditions followed by individual families.

This 30-minute documentary by alTirado captures many of the sad, bittersweet and joyous customs and rituals that show how sanmiguelenses pay respect to the deceased. In addition, there will be live music, a slide show and a brief talk with the filmmaker with the opportunity to ask questions. The documentary will be shown on Guanajuato State television later this month.

November 1 is dedicated to remembering those who died in infancy. The Catholic Church marks it as the Day of the Holy Innocents. November 2 is Todos Santos, All Saints’ Day, dedicated to all who have left this life. The spirits may arrive at the family home as well as the cemetery where they are buried. The relatives take this visit for granted and prepare everything needed to receive them in style.

At home, the tribute centers on an ofrenda, or altar, with regional dishes, especially the favorites of the deceased. Preferred beverages and foods are included—tequila, atole, tamales—even cigarettes for the smokers. Certain decorations are universal. The unique scent of cempasúchiles, or marigolds, with their brilliant golden petals, fills the air. Pierced paper banners in vivid colors hang everywhere.

At the cemetery, the tombs are adorned with equal zeal after they have been cleaned and repaired for their spiritual visitors, the tombstones polished, the iron gates painted, the grounds manicured.

“My parents always placed a majestic ofrenda in the house,” says alTirado. “I grew up learning our traditions, which is why I want to preserve and diffuse them with my work. It is interesting how Mexicans play with the values of life and death in the course of these rites. On the one hand, the whole process is carried out with absolute respect for the memory of the deceased. Prayers are recited, sometimes by a priest, to lend them greater formality. Some people say that photographs of the deceased are displayed so that they know that it is their altar. Candles are lit to offer them eternal light. There is always plenty to eat and drink, although it is understood that the honored guests will be unable to eat or drink or smoke anything. But the spiritual contact is what is important. Music is always necessary to be able to share those moments in complete happiness.

“Mixed in with all the seriousness is the mundane side of the celebration. It is said that the Mexicans play with death, but I do not believe it is exactly like that. I believe that once the respectful part is ensured, then they feel free to show their sense of humor and enjoy the fiesta. This is where the toys and sugar figures of skeletons and skulls, animals and food, come in. They represent the dead in caricature figures and give them sarcastic names such as calacas (skeletal), huesudas (bony) or pelonas (bold). And along come the musicians to the cemetery to sing to the muertitos, the dead ones, so all will be happy.”

Born in Mexico City, alTirado traveled extensively in Mexico and around the world as a photographer, photojournalist and documentary filmmaker. An earlier documentary, El Mundo Huichol, was shown widely throughout Mexico and aired on national television. He recently published a book of his photos, San Miguel de Allende: A Pictorial Story and soon will publish Art in San Miguel, about the visual artists who live here. He originally visited San Miguel 30 years ago, then lived for 20 years in New York City. He returned here to live just over a year ago.

A series of films about deaf people
By Holly Yasui

Film Series
Breaking through the Silence:
Johnny Belinda
Tue, Nov 4, 5pm
Teatro Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
Free

Starting November 4, IREE (Instituto de Rehabilitación y Enseñaza Especial) and the Bernard Weisman Foundation present a series of nine films about deaf people. As a gift to the community, the first film will be shown free of charge.

Screenings will be at the Teatro Santa Ana in the Biblioteca Pública on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 5pm (see schedule). Tickets are 50 pesos at the door, or you can purchase a series ticket for all nine films plus IREE’s pastorela for 300 pesos. There will be a brief discussion after each film with students, teachers and/or parents of students from the IREE school.

IREE, a nonprofit organization that serves low-income families from San Miguel and surrounding areas, is in imminent danger of closing for lack of funds. All proceeds from this film series will go toward the school’s expenses of 30,000 pesos per month. Donations and student sponsorships also will be accepted.

The school was founded in 1992 with 25 students and three teachers. At first, they met in a small room in the San Antonio church. In 1993, the San Miguel Educational Foundation (now called the San Miguel Community Foundation) provided a grant to IREE to rent a house for one year and the school was established at Pila Seca 41. Subsequently, they started to receive additional grants and donations to cover salaries, rent and services.

At present, there are 38 students ranging in age from 3 to 22 years, four teachers (Lourdes Jimínez, Lorena Martínez, Miriam Gutiérrez and Marcela Trejo) and a teaching assistant, Leticia Elias, a former student who helps with the youngest children. The director, Cecilia Escobar, donates her time to the school.

At IREE the students receive speech therapy, sign-language instruction and the standard primary and secondary school curriculum. In addition to this basic education, students receive two meals a day. Lunch, plus the gas used in the stove to prepare it, is donated by the San Miguel Feed the Hungry program. The students’ mothers take turns volunteering their time to prepare the food.

Earlier this year, the major funding for the school ended. Thanks to an emergency grant of US$12,500 from the Bernard Weisman Foundation, recently established in San Miguel, the IREE has enough funds to stay open until the end of the year. Most of the children do not understand that their school is on the brink of closing and that their traditional Christmas play (pastorela), which is their personal gift to the community, may be their last school activity.

If IREE ceases to exist, its students will have no place to get an education and they will lose the free, healthy meals and opportunity to socialize with other deaf children who “speak” the same language (signing).

The Mexican government, unlike that of the US and Canada, provides no special services for disabled people. Therefore, if IREE does not survive, how will the children break through the silence that is their world?

For more information, contact iree@unisono.net.mx or hollyyasui@yahoo.com.

“Breaking through the Silence”
Tuesdays & Thursdays at 5pm
Teatro Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
50 pesos at the door (series ticket for 300 pesos)

Tue, Nov 4, Johnny Belinda (1948, US) No admission charge

Thu, Nov 6, The Miracle Worker (1962, US)

Tue, Nov 11, No film (Armistice Day, US)

Thu, Nov 13, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1968, US)

Tue, Nov 18, The Land of Silence and Darkness (1971, Germany)

Thu, Nov 20, No film (Revolution Day, Mexico)

Tue, Nov 25, Children of a Lesser God (1986, US)

Thu, Nov 27, Dear Frankie (2004, UK)

Tue, Dec 2, Black (2005, India)

Thu, Dec 4, My Beautiful Jinjiimaa (2006, Mongolia)

Tue, Dec 9, Babel (2006, US)

Thu, Dec 11, Pastorela by IREE students at The Ring, Hidalgo 25

Special Day of the Dead / Halloween movie: Nosferatu

If Dracula was known as the prince of darkness, then the vampire from Nosferatu must be dubbed the Prince of Nightmares. While I thrilled to Bela Lugosi’s character and all

its romantic yet horrific glory, it was Max Schreck’s portrayal of a vampire that haunted my dreams and whose visage became permanently burned into my mind after seeing this film as a boy. Fantastic camera direction and lighting provide the perfect backdrop to a classic tale delivered beautifully by a great cast of actors and one of the best directors to ever leave Germany. If you have any young fans of horror in your house, this is a must see.

Murnau wanted to film a version of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, but his studio was unable to obtain the rights to the story. Murnau decided to film his own version and made only slight changes to the story. The resultant movie has many similarities to Stoker’s original tale. “Dracula” became “Nosferatu” and the names of the characters changed; Count Dracula changed to Count Orlok. The court ordered all existing prints of Nosferatu destroyed, but a number of copies of the film had already been distributed around the world.

The Tip Important: In order 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. I also want to remind you of our new ticket price: 50 pesos and discount cards buy 12 shows for 450 pesos. Starting Monday, after 11am, buy your tickets in advance for any movie or show of the week. If you have a discount card, collect your pass to secure a seat; don’t take the risk of being locked out. Would you like to receive this info by email? Write to José Luis at alephamour@hotmail.com. Thank you.

The Movies

Special Day of the Dead / Halloween festival

White Zombie (1932)
Monday, October 27 at 3pm
Cast: Bela Lugosi
Horror classic, English, 73 minutes

Made in just 11 days back in 1932, with a US$50,000 budget and sets left standing from Universal’s Dracula and Frankenstein, this film remains a horror classic. Keeping dialogue to a minimum, cameraman Arthur Martinelli cuts loose on this odd fairy tale about a newlywed couple menaced by zombies. Avoiding the stagy static feel that pervades many other early talkies, White Zombie shows its story, rather than tells it.

The Corpse Vanishes (1942)
Monday, October 27 at 5pm
Horror classic, English, 64 minutes
Director: Wallace Fox
Cast: Bela Lugosi, Elizabeth Russell, Frank Moran, Luana Walters

The beautiful, 80-year-old Countess Lorenz (Elizabeth Russell) manages to stay young thanks to her diabolical husband, Dr. Lorenz (Bela Lugosi), who, with the help of his hunchbacked henchman, Angel (Frank Moran), kidnaps young brides and steals their glandular fluids. But clever reporter Patricia (Luana Walters) becomes suspicious of Dr. Lorenz and sets up a fake wedding to prove to authorities what is going on. Will she be next to die?

Interview with the Vampire (1994)
Monday, October 27 at 7pm
Horror-vampires, English with Spanish subtitles, 123 minutes
Director: Neil Jordan
Cast: Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas, Kirsten Dunst, Stephen Rea

Director Neil Jordan’s Oscar-nominated tale of bloodsucking immortals moves from eighteenth-century New Orleans to a Grand Guignol theater in Paris to present-day San Francisco as it explores betrayal, love, loneliness and hunger. The lives of a trio of vampires—cavalier Lestat (Tom Cruise), tormented Louis (Brad Pitt) and child-like Claudia (Kirsten Dunst)—are interconnected for centuries in this adaptation of Anne Rice’s romantic horror tale.

The Jacket (2005)
Tuesday, October 28 at 5pm
Thriller, English with Spanish subtitles, 103 minutes
Director: John Maybury
Cast: Adrien Brody, Keira Knightley, Kris Kristofferson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Kelly Lynch

John Maybury’s masterful thriller stars Adrien Brody as Jack Starks, a Persian Gulf War veteran who has lost his memories to amnesia. When Jack is accused of a heinous killing, he realizes he must find a way to prove his innocence. Desperate to unearth clues about his past, he seeks a controversial treatment that allows him to go back in time—which turns out to be a heart-wrenching decision when he realizes he’s destined for tragedy.

The Phantom of the Opera (1989)
Tuesday, October 28 at 7:30pm
Horror classic, English with Spanish subtitles, 93 minutes
Director: Dwight H. Little
Cast: Robert Englund, Jill Schoelen, Alex Hyde-White, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Lawrence

An emotionally and physically scarred man known as the “Phantom” (Robert Englund)—once an enormously talented composer—haunts an opera house in search of a maiden he can groom to be a diva. Once he identifies his protégé (Jill Schoelen), he kidnaps her and takes her on a journey of revenge back to 1885 London, where he plans to unleash his new creation in this gory film version of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit musical. Based on Gaston Leroux’s novel.

Special Halloween Night Screening in the Biblioteca´s main patio
Nosferatu: Original Version (Nosferatu, Eine Symphonie des Grauens, 1929)
Thursday, October 30 at 10pm (doors open at 9:30pm)
Free entrance, cash bar available
Vampire film, Silent, 81 minutes
Director: F.W. Murnau
Cast: Max Schreck, Alexander Granach, Gustav von Wangenheim, Greta Schroder, Ruth Landshoff

Many horror freaks call F.W. Murnau’s silent German classic the scariest Dracula adaptation ever. The bone-chilling tale kicks off when a sailor on a ghost ship opens a coffin, thereby releasing a vampire named Count Orlok who sets off on a rampage of terror aimed at a real estate agent and his comely wife. The creepy caped one is played by Max Schreck, sporting grotesque makeup that transforms him into a symbol of pestilence and decay.

Phantom Ship (The Mystery of the Marie Celeste, 1935)
Friday, October 31 at 7pm
Classic thriller, English, 62 minutes
Director: Denison Clift
Cast: Bela Lugosi, Shirley Grey, Arthur Margetson, Edmund Willard, Dennis Hoey

Found afloat in the middle of the vast ocean in 1872 with nary a passenger and a full supply of food and drink, the Marie Celeste remains one of the biggest marine mysteries. This 1935 film imagines the events leading up to the ship’s eerie discovery and stars Bela Lugosi as Anton Lorenzen, a sailor aboard that ill-fated vessel who takes matters into his own hands. But he’s not the only troubled soul aboard.

Kids Movies: Cartoons
Saturday, November 1 at noon.