The creation of Ambulante Ediciones responds to an inescapable fact: the printed word is also a powerful tool for promoting social and cultural change. Since the beginning Ambulante has been aware of this, and now formalizes it under this label, whose mission is to expand the constellation of subjects, journeys and discussions already created by the festival. The aim is to publish essential woks that expand documentary cinema culture and open new spaces for reflection with our audience. From silent reading to public debate, Ambulante Ediciones also offers a chance to discover, share and transform ideas.
“I am very glad to see the way Ambulante broadens its horizons and ventures into publishing books,” shares Gael García Bernal.
Film as a Subversive Art, by curator and film critic Amos Vogel, was originally published in 1974. It is an essential work for the history of cinema, in which the author historically revises the seventh art in light of the concept of subversion. Amos Vogel was an essential benchmark in the history of avant-garde cinema, the art of curatorship, film societies and the alternative circuit of exhibition and display Cinema 16 in New York, which he ran from 1947 to 1963, and through which he imbued part of the New York society into transgressive and revealing film experiences.
The book analyzes how those who subvert ideology, aesthetics and sexuality use one of the most powerful artistic forms of our time to transform or manipulate our conscious and unconscious minds, to demystify taboos and to modify the existing and institutional values. This subversion of form and content is analyzed within the context of the world of science, philosophy and modern art. The book counts with both critical and historical value and is meaningful in that it is created amidst a unique intertwining of genres, such as film critic, historical reflection and literary essay. In addition to addressing the subject through a central text developed throughout the book, the work presents micro-essays analyzing hundreds of films–including censored, barely shown or never-seen-before titles—thus building, in the heart of a historical essay about film as an art form, a curatorial archive on its most relevant elements. Each chapter is widely illustrated with more than 300 frames of films including a brief but analytical comment.
A collection of essays on the work of French filmmaker Chris Marker, star of Ambulante’s 2013 section Retrospectiva—Chris Marker Inmemoria is a unique compilation in which filmmakers, critics, researchers and curators collaborate, and which adds to the few books of essays in Spanish about Chris Marker, in addition to including the original text Soy México (“I am Mexico”) written by the filmmaker himself. This book was co-published by Ambulante Ediciones, Cineteca Nacional and the French Embassy in Mexico. Chris Marker Inmemoria counts with the participation of Nora Alter, José Carlos Avellar, Carlos Bonfil, David Čeněk, Jem Cohen, Mark Cousins, Kristian Feigelson, Jean-Michel Frodon, Guillermo G. Peydró, Patricio Guzmán, Bill Horrigan, Isaki Lacuesta, Eric Le Roy, Viva Paci, Richard Peña, Murray Pomerance, Catherine Russell, Trevor Stark and Chris Marker. The book is offered for sale at Cineteca Nacional, the Educal bookstores, Cine Tonalá (Mexico City), Ágoras (Saltillo), La Venturosa, La Proveedora Escola, La Jícara (Oaxaca), Profética (Puebla), and through the facebook page of Cinema Xalapa (Xalapa).
The collaborators freely chose the approach and subject of their texts, so this book constitutes the reflection of their preferences, interests and obsessions in regard to Marker’s work—thus “inhabiting” the Markerian zone, sharing their itineraries and creating a context that allows to appreciate the work of this leading film figure: from the singularity of his understanding of politics and his participation in militant cinema (Carlos Bonfil, Trevor Stark, Patricio Guzmán, Jean-Michel Frodon), to his lucid ability to spark a dialogue between history and memory, facts and fiction (José Carlos Avellar, Viva Paci, Isaki Lacuesta, Guillermo G. Peydró), up to his trips to the Soviet Union (Russia) and Czechoslovakia (Czech Republic), offering the opportunity to discover solidarity and creativity bonds (Kristian Feigelson and David Cenek). The book—whose architecture responds not only to the polyphony of viewpoints but also to Marker’s work, so diverse in forms and means—includes texts by the following authors: Nora Alter, José Carlos Avellar, Carlos Bonfil, David Čeněk, Jem Cohen, Mark Cousins, Kristian Feigelson, Jean-Michel Frodon, Guillermo G. Peydró, Patricio Guzmán, Bill Horrigan, Isaki Lacuesta, Eric Le Roy, Viva Paci, Richard Peña, Murray Pomerance, Catherine Russell, Trevor Stark and Chris Marker.