During the Toronto Film Festival, Universal Film & Television Journal’s Amir Ganjavie interviewed Pavel Cortes the Director of Programming for the Guadalajara International Film Festival, where he’s in charge of some of the competitive or official sections and some of the non-competitive sections of the festival.
Amir Ganjavie, UniversalCinema Magazine (UM): Do you have a definition for a good film?
Pavel Cortes (PC): I think a good film, it’s a mix between the shape and the content. It’s very important because, in the end, cinema is images and movement. So, I think a good film must have a good story, tell something relevant or important at this moment, but also bring something new to cinema.
The filmmakers have to develop what they are speaking about, the message of the film, and the way that they are presenting this message to the audience. So, I think a good film will balance good image, sound, and movement, with something related to the message that it’s bringing, the main character that is presenting, or the conflict or social conflict it’s showing. I think a good film could be a very commercial or an indie. But a good film will be an encounter with shape and the content or the message.
(UM): And what is the selection process like for your festival?
PC: There are three programming directors in charge of different sections, but we also work with a selection committee that is focused on specific sections because we receive a lot of films every year. So, we don’t have time to watch everything. So, we work with people from different areas of cinema, critics, producers, and directors, who help us to watch films and put together our official selection. It’s a long process.
(UM): And are films submitted directly through your website?
PC: Yeah, we have a call for entries in December. During this process, we receive all the people who want to participate, but at the same time, we travel to festivals, making contact with distributors with whom we already have been collaborating for many years. So, it’s a mixed process. Some films come from the call for entries and we do our research for the films that we want to participate in the film festival. In the end, we try to combine these two, bringing films that apply or call for entries and also films that we are interested in, films that come from collaborators that we have had for a long time.
(UM): Right now, Mexico has some of the greatest filmmakers in the world. I’m curious, is there any kind of relationship between your festival and them or are you trying to bring their knowledge into the festival in any way?
PC: I think Mexico is a very strong and connected industry. Guillermo del Toro is from Guadalajara. In a way, he is one of the founders of the festival. He also has the main screening room at the Cinematheque named after him. Michel Franco presented Memory here, which is an amazing film. But we also have like a new generation of producers, filmmakers, and animators, who are doing great things. So, we’ve had the privilege that all these amazing filmmakers are part of our history as a festival.
(UM): And how do you support the filmmakers when you invite them to the festival?
PC: That’s a good question because we are not able to pay for films in official competitions. So, what we offer is the possibility to bring the filmmakers to present their work, to experience Guadalajara screening their film, having these activities in the festival industry, in the different formative sections that we have, and they think it’s a wonderful experience. We bring the guests, cover all the expenses, and have the opportunity to have the participation of these international filmmakers in Guadalajara.
(UM): Several festivals struggle to secure venues, or have limited venues and therefore can’t accommodate many films, is that a problem for you?
PC: It’s very interesting because the festival is connected to the University of Guadalajara, which also provides the festival with security. And through them, we have a cinematheque, which is our main venue, which shows films all year round.
(UM): And do you have any kind of quotas in terms of race or gender when selecting films?
PC: Not really. But we try to present diversity in all the possible ways since I think that we have male, female, and genderless directors. Also with the topics, we try to bring amazing films, but films that also speak about relevant things, and give voice to people who didn’t have it before. So, we also try to bring stuff that will give a message to the audience. It sounds corny but it’s true.
(UM): Some festivals because of the countries or situations they are in can’t bring in films from “cancelled” or controversial filmmakers like Roman Polanski or Woody Allen. Would you program their films?
PC: I think that’s a very complicated question. Because in my personal opinion, I think we have to separate the author from his work. I’m not into this cancellation culture, because I think everyone at some point in their life, could do something or say something that can bring us to a cancellation. And I think a filmmaker has to be judged or appreciated for his work. Even if this is complicated for so many reasons. I’m not pro-cancellation, and that and it might be problematic but I love the work of Woody Allen. I found it brilliant and I think what happened in his personal life, maybe is not our business.
(UM): And what about films coming from Russia, do you have any problems with programming them?
PC: No. We are working for cinema and we are trying to make or bring the possibility to filmmakers to present their work in Latin America, and Mexico specifically. We are working to support cinema, wherever it comes from.
(UM): And what is the funding situation for your festival? I talked before with the festival director of the Los Cabos International Film Festival, and I just saw that the festival was cancelled due to a lack of financial support.
PC: I think all the art, culture, cinema, and different art expressions in Mexico are now in quite of difficult situation because all the funds and support from the federal government are not a priority now. They are more focused on other things; they find arts and culture to be a privilege. Not a human necessity. So, we have a difficult time speaking about the budget and support from the official institutions in Mexico. It’s a hard time. As you mentioned, one of the recent biggest festivals in Mexico, Los Cabos, was cancelled this year, and that gives you a read of what is going on in cinema and culture in Mexico. We are not in the best moment, but on the other hand, we are in a very privileged moment related to technology. The internet and digital era brings us the possibility to be very close even if we are very far away. So, it’s complicated.
(UM): And what changes have you noticed since Covid?
PC: Covid forced us to be creative and reinvent in different ways. We never stopped, that’s something important to mention, we switched dates, but we never stopped making the festival. We wanted to work during the pandemic so we never stopped. The challenges were different every year, but I think that brings a consciousness that we can work in different ways, use technology to be in contact, and present things online.
(UM): And how was your relationship with the streamers? Did the arrival of streamers in any way change the structure of your Festival?
PC: Not really. We have a direct collaboration with different platforms and we are presenting a lot of films. The cinematheque in that sense, helped us a lot because some of the films from these big platforms choose a few cinemas to have a small period of the exhibition and we have collaborated with them during the whole year. We have been collaborating with HBO, Netflix, and now are like the kings of the online exhibition.
(UM): Is there anything else you’d like to add?
PC: I believe in the possibility of cinema, of changing lives in so many ways. And I think the film festivals are very necessary for that reason because, on the one hand, you bring the possibility to the professionals of the industry to consolidate their work. To grow up. Maybe to get support for their next films, to participate in the development and cultures, and to continue developing his trajectory but also his life experience. Because I think that’s where the film and some film festivals are connected. Because at the end of the film is a life experience and at film festivals, on the other hand, a life experience. You go to a film festival and you go back to your house differently, you move things inside you and that’s the same as what films do in our life. We enter a screening room and we go out in a different way.
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