🍿 2022-11-03 13:07:32 – Paris/France.
They say reality is stranger than fiction, even though that fiction is political satire by Luis Estrada. A few hours before the premiere of Long live Mexico!the latest film from the acclaimed Mexican director, the storyline has taken an unexpected turn and will no longer be seen in theaters across the country, at least not for now.
A day after its premiere, Estrada confirmed that he had purchased the screening rights for his film from Netflix - the project's financier - and was looking for new distributors for the film. According to the initial contract, the entertainment giant would resume distribution of the film in national and international theaters from November 3, then offer it in its catalog in more than 190 countries, from the 16th of this month. But the case exploded. "I bought these rights from them to have them exclusively and not lose control of the film", tells Luis Estrada to EL PAÍS and assures that despite the last minute changes, the film will be able to be seen on the platform "once released in the cinemas that I receive from Mexico and the world", he underlines.
The news has been confirmed by Netflix, which assures that after the commercial premiere of Long live Mexico! The film can also be seen along with the rest of the director's titles on the platform, although he hasn't specified when yet. “We are delighted to be working with the master Luis Estrada on his new film, however, in recent weeks the director and producer have expressed interest in implementing a distribution strategy other than that agreed upon,” a door-to-door said. word of the company to this newspaper. . "We want to honor that vision, which is why we've agreed to return the film rights to him," he adds.
The disagreements between the director and the company a few hours after the premiere are striking. Estrada points out that while recording, there was always an "extraordinary relationship with Netflix" in which their standards were met at all times. In addition to director, he is also a screenwriter and producer of the film. After the shoot, he explains that one of his demands has always been that Long live Mexico! could be seen in commercial theaters, something he says was not part of Netflix's plans. "Originally, there was an agreement that the film were premiered in select theaters as they could not be shown in commercial theaters as it was an irremovable corporate policy,” he explains.
However, the recent premiere of another long-awaited Mexican film in theaters across the country by the giant seems to have been the trigger for Estrada to hit the table. "As they say in Mexico: what is even is not chipotudo", replies the filmmaker with the sarcasm that characterizes him. "I'm a cinematic dinosaur who continues to think that his films should be seen collectively: in a dark room with a big screen and with people eating popcorn", he underlines and adds: "I try to defend my dignity because I believe in cinema”.
After eight years of silence and after the success of Herod's Law (1999) L'enfer (2010) or the perfect dictatorship (2014), Estrada returns with his dark humor to delve into political satire and confront Mexican society with its worst ghosts, in what he says is his "most ambitious" film.
Long live Mexico! stars Alfonso Herrera, Ana de la Reguera, Damián Alcázar, Joaquín Cosío and Ana Martín, among other great actors, and tells the story of Pancho, a man who receives an inheritance from his minor grandfather and the problems that arise in the family after hearing the news. "The film is a political bombshell for what is happening in Mexico," says the director. “It goes beyond what is Mexican because it is a compendium of all the incorrect policies, of those that have become taboo subjects in our society. It's a microcosm in which we are all portrayed and no one is spared: it's about intolerance and polarization,” he says. Estrada, the great provocateur, returns to the fray. Even before showing his film in theaters.
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SOURCE: Reviews News
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