One of the rising stars of contemporary Mexican cinema (which will be explored in depth later this season in the series "GenMex"), Nicolás Pereda, at the tender age of 27, has quickly amassed a body of work comprising five extraordinary feature-length films and one short. Widely screened-and acclaimed-on the film festival circuit, they have enjoyed little exposure in the U.S. until now. Very much of his moment, Pereda combines aspects of some of the most notable trends in contemporary world cinema, including elements of deadpan minimalism, slacker cinema, the documentary/fiction hybrid, and long-take formalism. And like Tsai Ming-liang, Pedro Costa, and Jia Zhangke, his work has focused on a handful of actors who reappear from film to film, playing fascinating variations on their previous roles. Drawing a great deal of their power from these actors' remarkable presence, and from his own evocative sense of place, Pereda's films are among the chief testaments to the incredible vitality and creativity of Mexican cinema today.

Organized by FiGa Films, and presented in conjunction with the film series "GenMex: Recent Films From Mexico," in collaboration with Cinema Tropical and the Mexican Cultural Institute; see calendar for more details.

The retrospective will take place concurrently with the New York theatrical premiere run of Pereda's most recent film, Summer of Goliath; for more details click here.

Featured Works:

¿Dónde están sus historias? (2007, pictured); Entrevista con la tierra (2008); Perpetuum Mobile (2009); Together (2009); Todo, en fin, el silencio lo ocupaba (2010)

Program information:

The Films of Nicolás Pereda

Nicolás Pereda: Perpetual Motions        

Northwest Film Forum         

July 29-August 4, 2011

Four films and director in attendance

UCLA Film and Television Archive 

August 12-28, 2011

Five films and director in attendance

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Keep Moving by Michael Sicinski posted Jul. 07, 2011