Morelia Film Festival: Narrative and Documentary Features Focus on the Personal to Reimagine a Fraught Social Contract

Suarez-Hesketh highlights the Morelia Film Festival. Eleven years after its launch, the Morelia International Film Festival (FICM) is still Mexico's most vibrant venue for both up- and-coming and established filmmakers. Positioned at the intersection of popularity and prestige, its competitive sections remain the most rigorous and widely respected in the country, while its inclusive programming features regional documentaries, archival gems, and star-studded productions. Mediating local, national, and global film trends and scenes, the FICM continues to energize cinema culture and is a resonant reminder of the vital role cinema plays in public life. During the 2013 edition, the presence of Chilean-born psycho-magician and cult director Alejandro Jodorowsky created widespread pandemonium, with hundreds of local students breaking through barricaded doors to crash his master class. Youthful exuberance is one of the festival's main sources of pride: organizers were thrilled to report that, of all international film festivals, Morelia has the second-most followers on Twitter, surpassed only by Sundance.