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Imogen Sara Smith Presented Robert M. Young's ALAMBRISTA! at the 24th FICM

Alan Rodríguez

As part of the screenings that make up the México Imaginario section at the 24th edition of the Morelia International Film Festival (FICM), the film Alambrista! (1977), written and directed by the American filmmaker Robert M. Young, was screened.

The film was introduced by Chloë Roddick, a festival programmer, and Imogen Sara Smith, a film historian who curated this section.

The film tells the story of Roberto, who owns an unprofitable farm in Mexico. His wife is pregnant, and they have few resources, so he decides to cross the border illegally and work in the United States for a white man. His mother tells him that his father had done the same, intending to stay only temporarily, but he never returned.

The film was awarded the Camera d'Or at the 1978 Cannes Film Festival, however, it was never distributed and disappeared for a long time.

Imogen Sara Smith spoke about the director's profile and highlighted his work as a documentary filmmaker and his interest in social justice issues: "In 1973 he had already made the short film Children of the Fields where he showed the life of a farming family and it was there that he became fascinated with being able to tell the story of undocumented workers."

It is important to mention that the feature film actually navigates between fiction and documentary, since most of the people in the cast are not actors and much of what was filmed was totally improvised.

Regarding the film's cinematography, Smith commented: "It's truly the star of the film, because he shot it with a handheld camera and it has many low-angle shots that allow for a very enjoyable and impactful experience of what he wanted to communicate," he concluded.

The screening of Alambrista! concludes the México Imaginario program at this year’s edition of FICM.