The two day event “Foundations of Mexican Independent Cinema" is curated by film scholar Valerie Pires and features screenings and discussions with scholars and filmmakers focused on the convictions, creative world, and legacy of Grupo Nuevo Cine, a 1960s collective of Spanish exiles, Mexican, and Latin American filmmakers, artists, and intellectuals based in Mexico City. Influenced by Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel and Mexican poet Octavio Paz, the collective included Jomi García Ascot, María Luisa Elío, Emilio García Riera, Gabriel García Márquez, José de la Colina, Carlos Fuentes, Leonora Carrington, Alberto Isaac, Benito Alazraki, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Paul Leduc, Arturo Ripstein, and Felipe Cazals, among others.
The event screenings include the landmark experimental film On the Empty Balcony (En el balcón vacío, Jomi García Ascot, 1961), which won awards at the Locarno Film Festival and Sestri Levanti Film Festival in 1962, and Back Home So Late (2025) by Spanish filmmaker Celia Viada Caso, winner of the Spanish First Prize in L’Alternativa Official at the 32 Festival de Cinema Independent de Barcelona.
Discussions following these films will include the following participants: Professor Breixo Viejo, Valerie Pires (curator and film scholar), Professor Richard Peña, Diego García Elío (founder and editor, El Equilibrista), Rodrigo García (filmmaker), Luis Juárez (film restorer), José Manuel Mouriño (essayist and filmmaker), Celia Viada Caso (filmmaker), and Issa García Ascot (filmmaker).
Additional screenings include the experimental short films The Blue Lobster (Luis Vicens, Álvaro Cepeda Samudio, Enrique Grau Araújo, Gabriel García Márquez, 1954); Remedios Varo: 1913-1963 (Jomi García Ascot, 1967), and A Way of Saying (Issa García Ascot, 2011).
The restored version of On the Empty Balcony is presented courtesy of Elias Querejeta Zine Eskola (EQZE). The Blue Lobster is presented courtesy of Fundación Patrimonio Fílmico Colombiano.
Program
Day 1 | Wednesday, April 29, 2026
Lenfest Center for the Arts
Registration Information
Schedule
3–4:30 PM | Screening
The Blue Lobster (La langosta azul, Luis Vicens, Álvaro Cepeda Samudio, Enrique Grau Araújo, Gabriel García Márquez, 1954, Colombia). Dur: 29 min. Silent. Presented courtesy of Fundación Patrimonio Fílmico Colombiano.
Remedios Varo: 1913-1963 (Jomi García Ascot, 1967, Mexico). Dur: 20 mins. Spanish with English subtitles. US premiere.
4:30–6:30 PM | Break
6:30 PM | Welcome and Introduction
Welcome by Ron Gregg, Senior Lecturer in Discipline, Film and Media Studies
Introduction by Valerie Pires, on the "Foundations of Independent Cinema in Mexico," focusing on Grupo Nuevo Cine and the film On the Empty Balcony.
7 PM | Screening
On the Empty Balcony (En el balcón vacío, Jomi García Ascot, 1962, Mexico). Dur: 56 min. Restored. In Spanish with English subtitles. Presented courtesy of Elias Querejeta Zine Eskola (EQZE).
8 PM | Discussion Panel and Q&A
Professor Breixo Viejo and film scholar Valerie Pires (co-moderators) with discussants Professor Richard Peña, founder and editor of El Equilibrista Diego García Elío, filmmaker Rodrigo García, film restorer Luis Juárez, and filmmaker and essayist José Manuel Mouriño, and Professor Ron Gregg.
9 PM | Closing Remarks
Ron Gregg, Senior Lecturer in Discipline, Film and Media Studies
Day 2 | Friday, May 1, 2026
Instituto Cervantes New York (211-215 E 49th St, New York, NY 10017)
Registration Information
The event starts at 6 PM with a screening of the US Premiere of the films A Way of Saying (Un modo de decir, Issa García Ascot, 2011, Mexico. Spanish with English subtitles) and the award-winning film Back Home So Late (Volver a casa tan tarde: 10 pequeñas historias sobre María Luisa Elío, Celia Viada Caso, 2025, Spain. Spanish with English subtitles). A discussion with the filmmakers Issa García Ascot and Celia Viada Caso and a closing reception will follow the screening.
Sponsors:
Columbia University School of the Arts | IG: @columbiaschoolofthearts
Instituto Cervantes New York | IG: @institutocervantesnewyork
Co-sponsors:
Elias Querejeta Zine Eskola | IG: @eqze.zine.eskola
Fundación Patrimonio Fílmico Colombiano | IG: @patfilmcolombia
Cineteca Nacional Mexico | IG: @cinetecanacionalmx
El Equilibrista Editorial | IG: @editorial_el_equilibrista
Film Program, School of the Arts | IG: @columbiafilm
Hispanic Institute for Latin American and Iberian Cultures | IG: @casahispanicany
Institute for Latin American Studies | IG: @ilas_columbia_edu
Center for Mexico and Central America | IG: @cemeca_columbia
Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race (CSER) | IG: @csercolumbia
Hunter IMA | IG: @hunterimamfa
Hunter Film and Media | IG: @film_media_hunter
NYU Espacio de Culturas | IG: @espaciodeculturas_nyu
