Mexico before the eyes of the world

In a deposit of films made in our Filmarchive from the National Mexican Trains Company of more than 400 cans of 35mm of productions that go from the years of the twenties to the sixties, we found a film that made us pay attention singularly. This film of nitrate of cellulose that originally was of 4 reels (we have only 1, 2 and 4) has for us unique characteristics, there are scenes in black and white, has scenes tinged at different colors and scenes that we only found similar in one northamerican film: A leaf from the natures book, it seems to have a general tinged in the base because of the fabric material that is raw stock and where there is reduced silver, this acquires a colour definitely different like it can be seen the green or blue, and so we are lucky that we are before what seem a "BICROMIA" this is, a film with the scene formed by two colours which gives a bigger richesness.

We have restored this film translating it to an internegative material of colour and making also the copy in positive colour. Of course we are known ignorants in the identification of this type of material.

The scenes of reference are in a positive material of KODAK dated by his manuscript of fabrication in 1925, we will try to contact with the specialists of colour to get to know exactly of what kind of material it is.

The Mexican Movies in CD-Rom

A very noticeable success in our work of cataloguing has been the publication of the chronological index of the mexican movies 1896-1992 in the news of all the movies that has been produced in Mexico, has been said. It contains 8,457 titles with 12 pieces of information per each one of the films. Now, in combination with other institutions (The National Filmarchive, the Mexican Institute of Cinematography, the National System of Cultural Information and the Investigation Center and Educational Cinematographic of Guadalajara) we have put in disposition all the information of the index already told that can be found in our base of information FILNA in Micro Isis program, so starting from it, it can be elaborated a selection anthological of the best national classics with little scenes of culminating moments, their dialogs and musics, a portrait of the personalities more representatives so much as in the acting, like in the direction and production of our industry.

We pretend it contains all the information modernized of our production of feature film until 1993. It will have a distribution very extended in all the national territory because it will be diffused from the SNIC (National System of Cultural Information). That has importance in all the institutions of all cultural extension from the National Counsel for the Culture.

From 9.5 to 35 mm : a Voyage to the Present

It's well known inside FIAF that the Filmarchive of the UNAM owns an optical copy machine that makes blow up the 9.5 a 35mm. Was demonstrated in a memorial session in the Congress of FIAF in Havana in 1990. There they exhibited many films copied by it. When it was designed and done by us it was known that we had in Mexico a very good quantity of films of 9.5 mm and our hopes have been filled by a recent discovery for more than 300 of those reels.

In the city of Papantly, in the Mexican State of Veracruz (worldwide cradle of the vanilla), the family Buil of mid class placed, acquired a complete equipment of filmation and projection in the decade of the twenties, and taking care and actively this domestic format to registrate the gentle family likeness happening and provincial in his city. Almost all the reels have indications that permit a complete cataloguing: Voyage of Carmen to the city of Mexico, Celebration of the lieres of Papantla in the holy week of the year of 1935, and so on.

This material was rescued by José Buil, a filmmaker colleague of our's from the University.
He is a member of the filmer family and owner of the films, his grandfather was who bought the Pathé machines.

José remembers when he was a child, his father exhibit to them these films and it was fun. So, he elaborated a plan of production that produced when a grant was given to him from the Rockefeller Foundation and other institutions, mexican ones, to realize from these films, a documentary that gives news of the Buil family, his social environment in the city of Papantla, his entertainments and so all his life.

The filmarchive of the UNAM was in charge of the work of restoration of the material of 9.5 mm. In his majority are positive copies of 10 meters of size, they have a light shrinking in the base lines and the emulsion, in some the image was affected by fungs (Papantla is a tropical city), they are also curved and brittle, we applicated the acetone, humectation based in water and glycerine to give them flexibility to the reels.

We are convinced that these types of productions are the best ones to give them diffusion to these types of family films.