The evolution of Mexican cinema, the important role of Mexican filmmakers working in Hollywood and the influence of international filmmakers working in Mexico are all explored in the Academy’s Fourth Floor Gallery exhibition “Made in Mexico: The Legacy of Mexican Cinema.”  This remarkable history is brought to life through movie posters, behind-the-scenes photographs and star portraits, costumes and costume design sketches, fan magazines, original scripts, letters, documents, and other artifacts pertaining to the Mexican film industry’s vibrant past and compelling present. Also on display are video clips showcasing key performances and productions from a century of Mexican film.

Since the advent of public film projection in the late 1890s, Mexican audiences have proved enthusiastic, and Mexican filmmakers have been actively involved in documenting their country’s history and culture.  As narrative filmmaking in the silent era gave way to the early sound era of the 1930s, stories that spoke to audiences from Spanish-speaking cultures literally found their voice.  At the same time, Mexican performers became popular Hollywood stars, and important international filmmakers such as Sergei Eisenstein (and later Luis Buñuel, Fred Zinnemann and John Huston) traveled to Mexico to make films.

Mexican cinema enjoyed a “Golden Age” in the 1940s, widespread commercial success in the 1950s, and a remarkable string of three consecutive Academy Award® nominations for Best Foreign Language Film in 1960, ’61 and ’62.  The international profile of Mexican cinema has recently been raised once again by the Oscar®-nominated films Amores Perros,  directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, and El Crimen Del Padre Amaro, directed by Carlos Carrera.

Exhibition highlights include costume design sketches for stars Dolores del Río and Ramón Novarro, documents and photographs relating to the early sound recording system invented by the Rodríguez brothers for use on the groundbreaking film Santa (1932), and marketing materials for some of the Golden Age’s biggest hits, including the films of Mario Moreno, better known as “Cantinflas.” Complemented by items related to the most current Mexican releases, the displays feature, for the first time, captions and explanatory text in both English and Spanish.