Legend has it that, in order to get the role of ‘first assistant’, a profession usually reserved for men, Mexican Matilde Landeta arrived on a movie set dressed in a man's suit and sporting a false moustache, speaking in a deep voice to call for silence on the set. After this brazen display, the local cinema authorities agreed to a change their profile for the woman who had been a sought-after screenwriter.
Born into a relatively affluent family in 1913, Matilde Landeta discovered the cinema when her brother, Eduardo, became an actor. Her ambition to become a director was a constant struggle, full of betrayals and insults, such as the banker who entrusted the script she had just penned to another filmmaker, knowing Landeta had wanted to take the directing helm herself... or the distributors who boycotted her début film as director.
Her first two films, Lola Casanova and The Black Anguish, were adaptations of ethnographic author Francisco Rojas Gonzales. The latter was inspired by the true story of a black revolutionary whom the filmmaker was even able to meet.
Similar to the motion picture Trotacalles, a more classic tale of a confrontation between two sisters set against a backdrop of prostitution, her female protagonists were always the victims of male violence, portrayed by Landeta with a strong feminist consciousness. “Instead of telling the story of women who have been sacrificed,” she commented, “I wanted my films to tell the story of women whom I know and whom I consider to be authentic.” Matilde Landeta passed away in 1999, after making a final, belated feature film.
Our thanks to the Cineteca Nacional de México, the Filmoteca of the UNAM and to rights holders Marcela Fernández Violante and Ernesto Sanchez-Fernandez for the production of specific material made just for the festival.
With the support of
Lola Casanova by Matilde Landeta (1949, 1h30)
At the end of the 19th century in Mexico, a tribe of Indians mounts a revolt and kidnaps Lola Casanova, the daughter of a prominent man. Lola ends up adapting to her new reality... A plea for female emancipation and cross-cultural understanding.
Pathé Bellecour Tue 15 9:15pm | Institut Lumière (Villa) Thu 17 4:15pm | Institut Lumière (Villa) Thu 17 4:30pm
The Black Anguish by Matilde Landeta (La negra Angustias, 1950, 1h26)
Une nuit Angustias est suivie par un homme qui tente de la violer. Elle l’attaque et le tue. Elle fuit alors son village et s’enrôle dans une troupe zapatiste... Personnage critiqué mais très audacieux dans sa représentation d’une femme libre.
Pathé Bellecour Thu 17 7:15pm | Institut Lumière (Villa) Fri 18 9:30pm | Institut Lumière (Villa) Fri 18 9:45pm
Trotacalles by Matilde Landeta (1951, 1h41)
Two sisters lead separate lives: one married to a rich man and the other is a prostitute. They discover that they are being manipulated by the same man... A subtle melodrama protesting the prevailing male chauvinism.
Institut Lumière (Hangar) Sun 13 9:15am | Lumière Terreaux Tue 15 11am | Pathé Bellecour Wed 16 9:30pm
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