Carlos Reygadas in the context of contemporary Mexican cinema: historical and cultural nuances and reverberations

Abstract

Given the paths trodden so far along in the research master plan entitled "The long take and the sound dynamic in Carlos Reygadas' cinema" (Case No. 2011/15577-6) - dedicated to the study of how the sound relationships developed within the long take can structure the poetics of this director - came uo the need to improve our work through further research that may reveal the historical and cultural influence in his creative process. Thus, this opportunity seems of substantial importance to perform an internship in Mexico City (DF) under the specific guidance of researchers dedicated directly to studies of contemporary Mexican cinema, observing the primary objective to deepen our understanding about the context in which the director Carlos Reygadas, made his films. To accomplish this goal, we will have the guidance of the teacher Dr. Aleksandra Jablonska, linked to the Post-Graduate Program in Latin American Studies at the Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), which recently published her book "Cristales de tiempo: pasado e identidad en el cine mexicano contemporáneo" (Mexico: SEP / UPN / CONACYT, 2009) and coordinated the book "Tendencias en el cine mexicano contemporáneo: ficción y documental"(Leipzig: Academic Española, 2011). Another objective of this stage is to strengthen our analysis around the technical and aesthetic parameters that compose the soundtrack of Reygadas' films through the co-supervision of the teacher and researcher dedicated to the study of sound in cinema, Ms. Julian Woodside, linked to University Cloister of Sor Juana and to the Centre for Studies in Communication Sciences (CECC). Besides these goals, we take the opportunity to interview Martín Hernández (pre-booked) - Technical mix of the films analyzed in our research - and also with the director himself in point: the director Carlos Reygadas. We also emphasize the importance of being able to enjoy the extensive collection of library and film library of the UNAM, where we can gather large amounts of literature and audiovisual material, complementary to our search. (AU)