Mexican Contemporary Cinema

This course addresses the radical transformations suffered by Mexican cinema in the wake of neoliberalism, due to the impact of privatization in exhibition and production and the changes in the cinematic audiences from the popular to the middle classes. The course will address four phenomena: the decline of nationalism as the privileged discourse for Mexican cinema; the rise of romantic comedy as the main cinematic mode for the middle class; the transformation of the notion of "political cinema", and the emergence of transnational directors. Students will see films by the major directors of the period, including Maria Novaro, Alfonso Cuarón, Alejandro Gonzáles Iñarritu, and Fernando Sariñana.

Required text: Lucía Hinojosa Córdova, El cine mexicano (Mexico: Trillas, 2003), course pack for purchase in Mexico.

Texts available in Mexico