A Letter from Paul Rotha

Abstract

In your Spring issue, Miss Irene Nicholson in her piece Mexican Films kindly makes two references to my visit to Mexico in 1952, both of which need amplification if my motives are to be fully understood. First, I was not only just impressed by Salvador Toscano Barragan's film Memorias de un Mexicano when his daughter courteously screened it for me; I subsequently brought its existence to the attention of the Museum of Modern Art Film Library in New York, the National Film Library in London, and the Cinematheque Fran(aise in Paris, in the hope that one or all of these archives would buy a print for preservation. I was also instrumental in having Miss Nicholson's article about this remarkable film published in the British Film Institute's journal Sight and Sound (Vol. 23, No. I, July, 1953). Second, my interest in Mexico for film production went a little deeper than being interested in the possibility of foreign companies, English or American, shooting their films 'on location' in the generous spaces of Mexico, to quote Miss Nicholson. The project in which I tried to seek Mexican support was as follows: As film history unrolls, various countries emerge at certain times and for certain reasons for their special contribution to the cinema of the decade. The Germans in the early twenties, the Russians in the middle twenties, the French in the late twenties and mid-thirties, the British during the last war, the Italians in the immediate postwar years, more recently the Japanese, and Hollywood on more than one occasion. Why not the Mexicans? They have a well-equipped industry, excellent technicians and actors, and a country so photogenic that it's hardly real! But, no outstanding directors-except Bufiuel who is Spanish-and what writers there may be are given little encouragement. Production is prosperous with a foreign market in the United States, Latin America, and presumably Spain. But, there are no outstanding pictures to set the movie world afire! So, Mexico needs urgently to train young directors. Who shall train them? The world picture of cinema just then (and indeed now) showed that several of the most gifted directors in Europe were either not working or were making films in which they had little real interest. Why not have the Mexicans invite two or three of these directors each to make a film in Mexico on an indigenous subject (in English, Spanish, and possibly French) with a stipulation that each of them undertakes to train personally a young Mexican assistant during production. In this way, over three or four years, a group of really internationally important films would be made carrying Mexican prestige round the world; and, at the same time, a group of young Mexicans would be trained in the technique of direction by world masters. On my return to Europe, I had occasion to explain this project to De Sica, Max Ophuls, and Jacques Becker. All three enthusiastically agreed to consider the scheme if it materialized. Alas! I never heard any more from the Mexicans to whom I proposed the project! It is still, I suggest, a good idea. 14 July, 1956 PAUL ROTHA E 1o8J