Ciudad Grande (Big City) by Tuline G�lg�nen Ana �lvarez (review)

Abstract

Film Review: Ciudad Grande (Big City) 180 Ciudad Grande (Big City) A film by Tuline Gülgönen and Ana Álvarez (2017). Mexico City: Center of Mexican and Central American Studies and the French Embassy in Mexico. 31 minutes. https://ciudad-grande-documental.tumblr.com What we know of Mexico City, a megacity of nine million people, tends to be gained from socio-spatial descriptors: congestion, population, density, air pollution, crime. Yet here, in the 31-minute film Ciudad Grande, producers/directors Tuline Gülgönen and Ana Álvarez set out to show us how children observe and experience the city, through the eyes of five sets of children living in vastly different delegations of the city. In so doing, they show us poignant vignettes not only of the challenges of their lives, but also the opportunities and potentials of the city as a place for children. The film is loosely organized into three sections that juxtapose children’s experiences moving about, playing in public spaces, and experiencing nature in the city. Our entry to Mexico City looks like this: Riding the bus through the maze of Mexico City traffic while reading aloud the advertisements and store names we pass by. Chipping icy fruit treats with a wrench in a worn colonial courtyard. Kicking a ball in a quiet street with the backdrop of dogs barking and the green hills above Iztapalapa. Scootering through the tree-lined and cobbled streets of Coyoacán. Roller-blading through the smooth tile halls of a high-rise, talking through a walkie-talkie to mom. In the first five minutes, we see just how different these children’s experiences are. The producers’ technique of using drones to zoom in and out from children’s experiences helps us to witness children’s lives not only from the child’s perspective but also from the urban context in which they live. These aerial views give a sense of the urban form, greenery, topography, and density of each neighborhood and help us relate this context directly to children’s experiences of the city. This technique also helps us transition from one zone of the city to another. We leave the social play of children in a colonial courtyard playing a hand-clap game, laughing as they sing, “my school, my home, the WORLD!” and move to the isolation of life in the high rise with one girl peering through plate glass windows out at the megacity saying, “Here there is a swimming pool, two Jacuzzis, and a changing room.” Through the plate glass, we see an empty pool; an outdoor courtyard with glass walls several stories high separates the development from its surrounding community. Film Review: Ciudad Grande (Big City) 181 What was documented in 1980 by Berg and Medrich—that children in more affluent neighborhoods within the city of Oakland, California, were more isolated in their play than children in a more degraded but socially networked part of the city— continues to be true in many cities today. In Ciudad Grande, we see this in the experiences of a child in the isolation of her high rise; children being escorted through streets, by bus, by car, by family members; and children who are able to move about on their own. These variations lead to different experiences of the city: watching the city through the windows of a bus; making a pretend call from the phone on the sidewalk as you pass by; playing ball with a friend until someone tells you “watch out: someone is watching you.” There is no one city, only distinct experiences of it. Producer Tuline Gülgönen has also studied children’s experiences of the street and public spaces with colleague Yolanda Corona. Together, they describe children in more affluent neighborhoods having significantly less independent mobility than children in a less affluent one. In Ciudad Grande, we experience these differences directly and profoundly. In their research, Gülgönen and Corona (2015) also found that children’s ideal vision of the city was one with extensive nature. The aerial views in the film help us to see the greenery and topography of each delegation, and children’s small scale experiences of...