Just as when a famous person dies we think of Chabelo, every time there is a difficulty, we always resort to, or are helped by, a very particular Mexican: Guillermo del Toro.
Guillermo del Toro (El Gordo for his friends; Totoro as one of his actresses baptized him) has become a patron of new talents in the world of Mexican cinema in which he recognizes great talent, passion and a special commitment to telling stories. Through two grants—one with the Mary Street Jenkins Foundation (the Jenkins-Del Toro Scholarship), and another awarded together with Fundación Cinépolis (Animexico to study a master’s degree in animation at the French school Gobelins, l’école de l’image)—, the director seeks to promote the development of Mexican cinematographic art and promote this industry as a point of cultural, artistic, social and economic development.
His commitment to more Mexican filmmakers achieving their dreams is such that last October he promised that the scholarship he offers through Animexico will continue for the next 10 years in honor of his mother Guadalupe Gómez, who died last October.
His last commitment to the mexican cinema It has been with the Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences (AMACC), which after announcing the suspension of the call for the Ariel —the highest distinction granted to the best Mexican cinematographic works in the artistic, technical and scientific order—, offered to cover the cost of the statuette (created by sculptor Ignacio Asúnsolo) delivered in 25 categoriesthis, as a way to absorb part of the expenses and allow the realization of the 65th edition of the ceremony.
According to figures from the Mexican Institute of Cinematography (Imcine), the decentralized public body that promotes the development of national film activity, the State covered the cost of manufacturing the statuettes delivered at the 2021 and 2022 Ariel ceremonies with $1,164,293.97 (via Imcine) and $1,164,293.97 (via Cineteca Nacional).
The producer, too, has won the statuette five times (four for The invention of Chronos in 1993 and one for The Pan’s Labyrinth in 2007).
The problems of the Academy
The so-called Golden Age of Mexican cinema allowed the country to become the center of Latin American and Spanish-speaking commercial films between 1936 and 1956. It was in the middle of that period, after the production of 82 films and thanks to the extensive artistic and technical infrastructure that the industry allowed itself to create, the Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences (AMACC).
In 1947, it held its first award ceremony, which was held consecutively until 1958, when the critical situation that Mexican cinema was experiencing coincided with the end of the Golden Age and led to the suspension of the Ariel award. It took 14 years for the film community to meet and recognize each other again.
Although every industry faces problems, the president of the AMACC, Leticia Huijara, acknowledged at the Ariel 2022 ceremony that they were once again in trouble, and very big. “Today, the Academy does not have the resources to be able to operate and continue working as it has done up to now. We must take a break and explore alternative paths to continue”, in addition to denouncing a brutal cut in budgets and “the precariousness of work are problems that also affect the cinema”, he said last October.
A month after that declaration, the situation of the Academy has not changed and it had to make the difficult decision. “During the coming months, the AMACC will be redirecting its efforts to reorganize the work through its different commissions, but, above all, to reconstitute the organization’s finances, seeking to give viability and financial certainty to the academic activities it carries out over the years. throughout the year and to the delivery of the Ariel”.
Del Toro, who was one of the first to react, regretted that the cuts from the federal government affect not only the Academy, but also any cultural expression in the country.
In his attempt to achieve support networks and reconcile, he tweeted to Huijara and Alejandra Frausto, Secretary of Culture, “close ranks (…) to reinforce cohesion within the film industry and to continue defending, as well as strengthening, this and other spaces for free and independent reflection on Mexican cinema”. Both parties say they are willing to do it.
But in addition to the outstretched hand of the director of The orphanage, theater producer Alex Gou has also offered one of his theaters (Gou Producciones owns the Centro Cultural Teatro 1y 2, and the Teatro Aldama, both in Mexico City) to host the 2023 ceremony.
Thanks to the virality of the situation, the AMACC has also allowed itself a little hope. “We are working on the creation of a board of trustees and the launch of a vast financing campaign through quotas and donations.” I hope it is achieved.
“I’m mexican”
After winning the Best Director award for the shape of water at the Golden Globes, at a press conference afterwards, del Toro was asked by a reporter about his filmmaking style. “You really understand and have an extraordinary ability to look into the darker side of human nature, fantasy and horror, but you are also a very joyful and loving person. How do you find that balance?” to which Del Toro replied: “I’m Mexican.”
I’m mexican. Nobody loves life more than we do in the sense that we are very aware of death; so the preciousness of life lies in being side by side with that one place that we all (…) approach with a final destination: death.
The love for his nationality, his compatriots, his country in that simple phrase has turned Guillermo del Toro into a Mexican idol-hero-patron saint. We could say that just as his fascination with monsters —with whom he made a pact since childhood: they let him go to the bathroom at night and he would repay them with his lifelong friendship—, is similar with any Mexican who seeks to excel despite difficulties.
In 2019, he responded to a tweet from the Sociedad Matemática Mexicana (SMM) team requesting donations to compete in the international Olympiad that would take place in South Africa.
During one of the many crises that Mexican resident doctors faced in 2019, they also urged the federal government to meet their needs and pay their salaries. The filmmaker’s tweet managed to position the issue on the national agenda.
Shortly after the 2017 earthquakes, the year in which it premiered the shape of water at the Morelia International Film Festival (FICM), donated a performance to benefit the people affected. Also He offered his social networks to search for missing persons and disseminate the things that were needed in the shelters at that time.
That same year, the Mexican director paid for a fan’s biopsyafter a friend of hers contacted him via Twitter asking for a supportive retweet to help expedite donations for her medical treatment.
In 2020, Del Toro was outraged and asked for justice for Giovanni López, a young man who died after being arrested in the municipality of Ixtlahuacán, in Jalisco, for not having used a face mask. “More than a month later, there are no answers, there are no arrests. It is not an abuse of authority. It is murder,” she wrote on his social networks.
One of his last gestures was when joined the request for help from producer Nicolas Celiswho denounced the abduction of his nieces to Israel.
Yes, perhaps Guillermo del Toro has not been able to resolve and respond to everything that is asked of him —after the recent defeat of the Mexican National Team against Argentina, some assured that If he were the technical director of the Tri, he would surely win—, but its approval, retweet or expression of a topic forces us to review and pay attention.
And he knows how to do it very well.