The movie touches on problematic themes prevalent throughout Mexican society such as youth marginalization, issues relating to security, press freedoms and the potential for art to become an alternative to violence.
“Disparos,” from directors Rodrigo Hernandez Tejero and Elpida Nikou, will be featured in three cities — Mexico City, Monterrey, and Tijuana — on November 15, 2019. The documentary tells the story of Jair Cabrera, a young teenager from the outskirts of Mexico City who finds an escape from the violence in his neighborhood of Itzapalapa through documentary film.
Apart from being featured at our exhibit, “Ambulante Presenta” where “Disparos” will reach 23 Mexican states, the documentary will be shown at the following theatres:
In Mexico City —
Cineteca Nacional
Le Cinéma IFAL
La Casa del Cine Mx
In Monterrey —
Cineteca Nuevo León
In Tijuana —
Cine Tonalá Tijuana
Disparos is a look at everyday life in Iztapalapa, one of the most violent neighborhoods in Mexico City. In 2018, 17.7% of all violent acts committed were in Iztapalapa, according to Mexico City’s office of crime statistics. In contrast, the film explores the possibilities that journalistic photography poses to expose the difficulties of living in an environment filled with drug trafficking and gangs, which leads to a lack of opportunities that lead many young people to crime in the neighborhood.
Through Jair’s perspective, his career as a photojournalist coincides with the violence in Mexico City as the film relates to journalism as a relatively dangerous profession. According to the organization, Artículo 19, 249 journalists were victims of violence in the first quarter of 2019. Edomex (the State of Mexico) is one of the states with the largest amount of incidences of violence against the press. It is a moment where the press is stigmatized as an accomplice to positions of power or is silenced as a means of terror. The film rescues the integrity of a young professional caught in between capturing and denouncing his reality.
Disparos has been featured in various international and domestic festivals including the Guadalajara International Film Festival, Monterrey International Film Festival, the Guanajuato International Film Festival, Zanate, Dok.Fest Munich (Germany), Valencia International Film Festival (Spain), Seattle Latino Film Festival (the United States), Osnabrück (Germany), and the International Festival of Film of Human Rights (Argentina). Additionally, the film also won the Press Award in the “festival Viva Mexico Recontres Cinématographiques” (France).
