Award-Winning Mexican Director Challenges President Enrique Peña Nieto to Answer Questions Regarding Energy Reforms

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Article from SourceMex, May 7

In March of this year, the US-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honored Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón with an Oscar for his skill in directing the blockbuster movie Gravity. Cuarón’s achievement brought prestige to the Mexican cinema industry and was a major source of pride for fellow Mexicans. The director leveraged his time in the spotlight to enter the debate on energy reforms in Mexico. At about the same time that President Enrique Peña Nieto was sending Congress secondary legislation to enable the energy reforms approved by Congress at the end of 2013, Cuarón publicly questioned the initiative. The director took out a full-page advertisement in Mexico City-based daily newspapers La Jornada and Reforma on April 28 challenging Peña Nieto to answer 10 questions about how the government would open up the state-run oil company PEMEX to foreign investment and where the profits would go in this endemically corrupt country. Carlos Navarro Read More

What’s Going On with Dominican Cinema?

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Article from NotiCen, March 27

Fifteen films were produced in the Dominican Republic in 2012, a sizeable figure considering that, from 1923, when the first Dominican film was produced, to 2010, 57 local films and 72 foreign films were produced on Dominican soil. Among the foreign films that have been produced in the Dominican Republic are the Spanish film Fiesta del Chivo and the US film The Godfather Part II. The films produced in the Dominican Republic in 2013 span a number of genres including drama, comedy, and historical fiction. The country has also served as a backdrop for a number of international commercial productions, soap operas, and reality shows, a popular format nowadays. As a result, the Dominican Republic now has an increasingly number of skilled technical and artistic staff to meet the requirements of foreign production companies. Crosby Girón Read More