Sergio García Michel
| Sergio García Michel | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Sergio Arturo García Michel July 28, 1945 Mexico City, Mexico |
| Died |
19 September 2010 (aged 65) Mexico City, Mexico |
| Residence | Mexico City, Mexico |
| Occupation | Film director, cameraman, editor |
| Years active | 1966–2010 |
| Notable work |
El Fin 1970 Un toke de roc 1988 |
Sergio García Michel (July 28, 1945 in Mexico City, Mexico – September 19, 2010 in Mexico City) was an influential Mexican film director and professor, considered one of the key figures of Super 8 cinema and part of the counterculture movements of La Onda and Rupestre.[1]
Early life, studies and influences
Born as Sergio Arturo García Michel in July 28, 1945, he began his enthusiasm for cinema as a teenager spending entire afternoons watching films at the Tlalpan theatre. In 1966 he bought his first Super 8 camera and shot his first short film named Un dia.
By 1968 and already working as a publicist he enrolled at the prestigious Centro Universitario de Estudios Cinematográficos of the UNAM, quitting a year later only to reenter in 1971 but quitting again in 1972 as he already had a professional career in film making. His influences were Richard Lester, Michael Lindsay-Hogg, Kenneth Anger, Michael Wadleigh, Pino Solanas, and counterculture intellectuals like Abbie Hoffman, Timothy Leary and Ken Kesey.[2]
Works and awards
His most famous works are: El Fin (Short film, Luis Buñuel Prize, Mexico City 1970), Ah, verdá? (Short film, awarded Best foreign film at Segundo Festival Super 8 in Canary Islands, Spain 1973), Hacia el hombre nuevo (Short film, 1st prize winner at Primer Festival Internacional de Cine Súper 8 m.m. in Cali, Colombia 1976), La Venida del Papa (Documentary about Juan Pablo II in México, 1979), Una Larga experiencia (Documentary about the band Three Souls in my Mind, 1983), ¿Por qué no me las prestas? (Documentary about Rockdrigo Gonzalez, 1995) and Un Toke de Roc :Fable in three acts(Movie, 1988).[3][4]
He was the founder of the Tlalpan Forum in 1980, a major artistic hub in Mexico City and professor/coordinator of film creation workshop at the Carrillo Gil Museum (1984–1999); in the School of writers from the General society of Mexican writers (1999–2002) and at the Union of Cinematographers (2002).[5]
Death
On September 19, 2010, Garcia Michel was found dead in his house as a result of a heart attack.[6]
Filmography
- Un dia (1966)
- Natasha (1968)
- Y pensar que podemos... (1968)
- El fin (1970)
- El psiquiatra (1972)
- Luto (1971)
- Sinopsis (1971)
- Santa Fe (1971)
- Eran tres (1972)
- La lucha (1972)
- Ah, verdá? (1973)
- Próximamente en esta sala (1973)
- ¡Qué tiempos aquellos! (1973)
- Campamento 2 de octubre (1976)
- Hoy será mañana (1976)
- Panamá, Panamá (1976)
- Hacia el hombre nuevo (1976)
- España: contestación al fascismo (1976)
- La noche del festejo (1977)
- La venida del papa (1979)
- Supermán cayó en Vietnam y Tarzán en Angola (1979)
- Patria Libre (1980)
- Una larga experiencia (1982)
- Un toke de roc (1988)
- Betty Rock y el ultimo súper ocho (1989)
- Rock macizo (1990)
- ¿Y tú qué onda? (1990)
- Un video por la paz (1991)
- Jorge Reyes en el año del eclipse (1992)
- Nuestro ángel de la guarda (1994)
- El ángel de la paz (1995)
- Rockdrigo a 10 años / ¿Por qué no me las prestas? (1996)
- Ruina de utopía (2000)
- Óscar Chávez en Tlayacapan (2002)
- Una nena como yo no se toma a la ligera (2003)
- Santa Aventurera (2006)
- Superbarrio contra la delincuencia organizada (2007)
- La hija de María (2007)
- Be Bop A Lula Comandante espacial. Los Beatles en México (2008)
- El sentido de mi vida (2008)
- El cantar de los cantores (2010)
- El principio del fin (2010, inconclusa)
Collections
Un Toke de Roc DVD (co-produced by the UNAM and Contraluz Cine en video, 2006) includes the aforementioned movie, La venida del papa, El fin, Ah verdá? and an in-depth interview.
Superocheros. Antología del Súper 8 en México includes the Agustin's short-film Luz Externa. Garcia Michel made the restoration.
Notable collaborations
- Avándaro (1971) as cameraman (Dir. Alfredo Gurrola).
- Las Calles Negras (1971) as cameraman (Dir. Felipe Tirado).
- Luz Externa (1974) as cameraman and editor (Dir. José Agustin).
Literary works
- Toward a fourth cinema. Published by the Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas press in 1973. Re-issued by the Ohio University press in 1999.
References
- ↑ "Sergio García: Educación como práctica de libertad". Homo Cinéfilus. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
- ↑ Un toke de roc-Entrevista a Sergio Garcia. UNAM. 2005.
- ↑ "El cineasta independiente Sergio García Michel será recordado con retrospectiva y mucho rock". CONACULTA. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
- ↑ Roura, Melissa. "HOMENAJE A SERGIO GARCÍA MICHEL". GASTV. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
- ↑ "Sergio Garcia-Biografia". Escritores del Cine Mexicano. UNAM. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
- ↑ Hernández Chelico, Javier (21 September 2010). "Murió el domingo Sergio García Michel, cineasta de la contracultura". La Jornada. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
Further reading
- José Agustín Ramírez, La contracultura en México, Editorial Grijalbo, México, 1996.
- Oliver Debroise, La era de la discrepancia, UNAM, 2006.
- Rita González and Jesse Lerner, Superocheros, Wide Angle, Volume 21, No. 3. Johns Hopkins University Press, July 1999.
- Eric Zolov, Refried Elvis: The Rise of the Mexican Counterculture. University of California Press, 1999. ISBN 0-520-21514-1
External links
- Refried Elvis: The Rise of the Mexican Counterculture. Eric Zolov's book available as e-book for fair use by the University of California Press website.
- El cine super 8 en México. Vázquez Mantecón's book available as e-book for fair use by ISSUU.