12 · 07 · 25

The María Félix “La Doña” program kicked off at MoMA in New York

This Friday, July 11, the María Félix “La Doña” program began with the screening of Que Dios me perdone, by Tito Davison, at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, which will run until July 27. The first screening was attended by Daniela Michel, founder and general director of the Morelia International Film Festival (FICM), and Chloë Roddick, festival's programmer.

During her speech, Daniela Michel highlighted that the title chosen to open the series "is a wonderful film because it offers us a perfect introduction to the character of Félix, already fully formed: in the first five minutes of the film, she responds with an absolutely devastating retort to the clumsy romantic advances of the wealthy businessman Don Esteban Velasco. The way she is filmed in close-up, with that cruel look that characterizes her and a huge black hat covered in tulle that fills the frame. It is so iconic and so María Félix."

 

 

Chloë Roddick mentioned that "the films you will see in this retrospective, from Doña Bárbara to Enamorada and French Cancan by Renoir, show an artist who transformed the Golden Age of Mexican cinema into something more: a model of female empowerment that continues to resonate today. She was our provocateur, our paradox, our guide to what was possible when a woman refused to be belittled. She remains a symbol of resilience, pride, dignity, and our collective hope for the future. Although she may not be well known here in the United States, in Mexico we love her deeply and carry her with us, like armor, like a compass, like proof of what we can become."

The María Félix “La Doña” program consists of the following titles:

1. Doña Bárbara (1943, dir. Fernando de Fuentes)
2. La mujer sin alma (1944, dir. Fernando de Fuentes)
3. Amok (1944, dir. Antonio Momplet)
4. La mujer de todos (1946, dir. Julio Bracho)
5. Enamorada (1946, dir. Emilio Fernández)
6. Que Dios me perdone (1948, dir. Tito Davison)
7. Maclovia (1948, dir. Emilio Fernández)
8. Doña Diabla (1950, dir. Tito Davison)
9. El peñón de las Ánimas (1943, dir. Miguel Zacarías)
10. La diosa arrodillada (1949, dir. Roberto Gavaldón)
11. Río escondido (1948, dir. Emilio Fernández)
12. French Can, Can (Francia, 1955, dir. Jean Renoir)
13. Tizoc (1957, dir. Ismael Rodríguez)

The program is organized in collaboration between FICM, Dave Kehr, curator of the Film Department at MoMA, and Steve Macfarlane, assistant in the Film Department, with the invaluable support of the Cineteca Nacional, the Filmoteca UNAM, Fundación Televisa, TV Azteca, Diana Internacional, Vasallo Visión, and América Móvil.