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Morelia International Film Festival (FICM) celebrates 20 years

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Morelia International Film Festival, Michoacan, Mexico
The Morelia International Film Festival decorated Morelia's historic district with a long decorative banner in the form of a carpet. Andy Altman-Ohr

I’ve never attended any of the 15 film festivals regarded as the finest in the world — Cannes, Sundance, Toronto, etc. —  but if I had a say in the matter, I’d put the Morelia International Film Festival (FICM) right up there as one of the best.

This year’s event, the 20th annual (Oct. 22 to Oct. 30), expects big audiences at two Cinépolis locations, as well as the new Teatro Mariano Matamoros in the heart of the historic center and a cinema under the stars showing free black-and-white Mexican classics (and more) every night in the city’s central plaza.

Many films will also be available for free via streaming through Cinépolis Klic and FilminLatino online and on TV via Canal 22.

Though the nine-day affair has a decidedly populist, accessible feel — every morning, people line up at the downtown Cinépolis to secure tickets for that day’s screenings, most at a cost of 71 pesos (US $3.55) per film, and many are free — Mexico’s most important film festival is also a major player on the world stage.

Still from Guillermo del Toro's film "Pinocchio"
Guillermo del Toro’s new reimagining, “Pinocchio,” animated in Guadalajara, will be showcased at the festival. Morelia International Film Festival

“Created in 2002, the Morelia International Film Festival immediately became one of the most important film events of the Latin-American subcontinent,” says a Cannes Critics’ Week newsletter put out by the French Union of Film Critics. “Structured around three competitive selections (short films, documentaries and first- or second-feature films, all exclusively Mexican), this festival performs a wonderful work of discovery and fully supports the young talent from its country.”

“All exclusively Mexican” applies only to the competitive categories, however, which this year includes 60 short films, 14 documentaries, 11 works in the Michoacán category and 10 titles in the Mexican feature film section — adding up to 95 works by Mexican filmmakers, many of whom will present their films.

But “exclusively Mexican” in no way applies to the full lineup. The festival always showcases films from around the world.

Among the U.S. films on the docket:

  • Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans” will be shown twice in advance of its Nov. 11 U.S. release. A semi-autobiographical film about Spielberg’s youth in post–World War II Arizona, “The Fabelmans” had its world premiere last month at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the People’s Choice Award. Catch it on Oct. 29 at 8:45 p.m. at the Teatro Mariano Matamoros. In a nod to the director — who is not in attendance — his 1982 classic “E.T.” will also be screened on Oct. 28 at 6:15 p.m. at the Cinépolis Morelia Centro in Sala 3.
  • “The Woman King,” a historical action film by director Gina Prince-Bythewood about a fierce, skillful unit of all-female warriors that protected the African kingdom of Dahomey for 200 years until the late 1800s, has several showings:
    • Oct.25, 11 a.m., Teatro Mariano Matamoros
    • Oct. 28, 3:30 p.m., Cinépolis Las Americas, in VIP Sala 2
    • Oct. 29, noon, Cinépolis Las Americas, in Sala 2
    • Oct. 30, noon, Cinépolis Las Americas, in Sala 4.
  • “Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song,” a documentary about the acclaimed singer-songwriter who died in 2016. Filmmakers Daniel Geller and Dayna Goldfine will attend. Showings:
    • Oct. 26, 2:30 p.m., Cinépolis Las Americas, in VIP Sala 2
    • Oct. 27, 2 p.m., Teatro Mariano Matamoros
    • Oct. 30, 12:30 p.m., Cinépolis Morelia Centro, in Sala 3.
  • “Armageddon Time,” a drama about a white, pot-smoking New York City kid who pals around with an African-American kid but then gets sent to a snooty, racist, all-white boarding school. The film premiered at Cannes in May and opens in the U.S. on Friday.
    • Oct. 26, 11 a.m., Teatro Mariano Matamoros
    • Oct. 28, 9 p.m., Cinépolis Morelia Centro, in Sala 5
    • Oct. 29, 10:45 a.m., Cinépolis Morelia Centro, in Sala 4
    • Oct. 30, 2:45, Cinépolis Morelia Centro, Sala 1.

Notable international films include:

  • “Broker.” Acclaimed Japanese director Hirokazu Koreeda‘s film about a baby who gets left in a mailbox. Showings:
    • Oct. 25, Teatro Mariano Matamoros
    • Oct. 28, noon, Cinépolis Morelia Centro, in Sala 4
    • Oct. 29, 5:30 p.m., Cinépolis Las Americas, in Sala 4. Be warned that it’s being shown in the original language with Spanish subtitles only.
  • “Triangle of Sadness,” a comedy-drama Palme d’Or winner at Cannes in May, this film in four languages has a global cast and Woody Harrelson as captain of a luxury yacht for the super-rich.
    • Oct. 25, 9 p.m., Cinépolis Morelia Centro, in Sala 4
    • Oct. 27, noon, Cinépolis Morelia Centro, in Sala 4
    • Oct. 28, 8:30 p.m., Teatro Mariano Matamoros
    • Oct. 29, 9 p.m., Cinépolis Morelia Centro, in Sala 5
    • Oct. 30, 11 a.m., Cinépolis Morelia Centro in Sala 4.

Saturday’s opening-night selection has passed but is worth mentioning: the Latin American debut of “Bardo, falsa crónica de unas cuantas verdades” (known as “Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths” in English) by Mexican director Alejandro González Iñarritu, winner of five Oscars and three British Academy Film Awards.

BARDO, Falsa Crónica de unas Cuantas Verdades | Tráiler oficial | Netflix
Trailer for Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu’s new film, “Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths.”

 

The semi-autobiographical film, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival last month and hits Mexican theaters on Thursday, stars Mexican actor and three-time Ariel Award-winner Daniel Giménez Cacho. About a renowned Mexican journalist-documentarian living in Los Angeles who’s forced to return to his native country and spirals into an existential crisis, it’s Iñarritu’s first film shot entirely in Mexico since his debut, “Amores Perros,” in 2000.

“Bardo” opens in limited release in the U.S. on Nov. 4 and arrives on Netflix on Dec. 16.

Another Netflix-bound film set to have a grand Latin American debut at the festival is Guillermo del Toro’s reimagining of “Pinocchio.” Part of the stop-motion sequences were shot by Mexican animators in Guadalajara, and the story is set during the rise of fascism in Mussolini’s Italy.

Unfortunately, del Toro will not be in attendance.

I’ll be catching glimpses of this country’s inner workings by viewing Mexican documentaries and short films at the festival. Many offerings have English subtitles. I’m also sure I’ll catch a few Mexican feature films, and when I do, they’ll likely be directed by a woman: eight of the 10 directors competing for the festival’s Best Mexican Feature award are women.

“We have always supported women,” Daniela Michel Concha, the festival’s artistic director of programming, said at a recent press conference. “Of the 2,000 filmmakers who have participated in Morelia over 19 years, there are practically half men and half women, so I feel very happy and proud that right now in this edition, there are eight out of 10 [in this category]. The commitment to them has been permanent.”

I’ll also enjoy seeing Mexican classics from the 1940s and 1950s — part of The Golden Age of Mexican Cinema. The era is loaded with outstanding films and the films will have English subtitles. This year, offerings include the Hitchcockian “Él” (1953), by director Luis Buñuel and made in Mexico, and a nine-film tribute to Alejandro Galindo, one of the era’s finest directors. The salute includes a showing of “Una familia de tantas” (“A Family of Many”) from 1948 and “Los Fernández de Peralvillo” (1953), both which won Mexican Oscars.

The festival also has a penchant for showing old U.S. films partially set in Mexico. I’ll be sure to catch “One Way Street” (1950), a noir crime drama starring James Mason and Dan Duryea, showing on Oct. 25 at the Cinépolis Morelia Centro.

Mexican short film "Air" by Kenya Marquez
Guadalajara director Kenya Márquez’s short film “Aire” (“Air”), is a psychological thriller that examines how family traumas can span generations.

And speaking of old movies, the festival’s program includes four films starring the stoic U.S. actor Robert Mitchum:

  • “Out of the Past” (1947). Nearly 20% of the film takes place in what is said to be Acapulco, with Mitchum wearing a business suit and tie on the beach in one scene!
  • “The Big Steal” (1949). A man flees to Mexico with some stolen loot and Mitchum pursues him.
  • “His Kind of Woman” (1951). A down-on-his luck gambler accepts a mysterious job in Mexico. Costars Jane Russell, Vincent Price and Raymond Burr.
  • “The Wonderful Country” (1959). A Technicolor classic where Mitchum is an expat in Mexico hired to buy guns in the U.S. and bring them back.

For locations and times of any showings not given in this article, consult the festival’s bilingual schedule, which you can view or download as a PDF here.

There’s still more: more than 30 film premieres, including “Roost,” directed by Amy Redford — Robert Redford’s daughter — a selection of films from Critics’ Week at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, a couple of films about Ukraine and an Indigenous peoples’ forum that includes three features and seven short films.

Finally, American director and Oscar winner Barry Jenkins heads the 2022 guest list; four of his films will be shown, including the 2017 Academy Award Best Picture “Moonlight”:

  • Oct. 26 at 4:15 p.m., Cinépolis Morelia Centro in Sala 5
  • Oct. 28 at 8:30 p.m. Cinépolis Morelia Centro in Sala 1

Other guests include producer Frank Marshall (“Paper Moon,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”); Spanish actress Maribel Verdú; and French director Claire Denis.

For details on all the showings and events, visit the festival website, search the daily schedule or check out the virtual offerings on Cinépolis Klic, FilminLatino and Canal 22. The two Cinépolis locations will not require face masks, but screenings there will “be carried out under rigorous adherence to the Cinépolis new normal protocol.”

Andy Altman-Ohr is a former Oakland Tribune sports writer who later wrote about pastrami, bagels and hummus when he was managing editor of J. The Jewish News Weekly of Northern California. He and his wife are semi-retired, spending much of their time in Morelia, Michoacán.

Pemex spill contaminates Oaxaca beaches

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MND Staff
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Local residents reported beaches streaked with oil and a foul smell along the coast.
Local residents reported beaches streaked with oil and a foul smell along the coast.

A fuel oil spill contaminated four beaches in the Pacific coast city of Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, on Sunday, local authorities have confirmed.

The municipal government said that fuel oil leaked from a Pemex offshore platform known as a single buoy mooring or monobuoy.

The spill contaminated the Punta Conejo, Brasil, Salinas del Marqués and Azul beaches in Salina Cruz, a municipality on the southern coast of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec where the state oil company has a refinery.

Photos showed sand stained black with streaks of oil, while a foul smell was reported along the city’s coast. The spill, which affected some 10 kilometers of coastline, was first detected by local residents and fishermen.

Footage of a Salinas Cruz beach stained with oil was shared by a state news outlet on Twitter.

Salina Cruz Civil Protection chief Rafael Ramírez said that Playa Brasil was the worst affected beach. Authorities have asked Pemex to clean up the beaches, which have been closed due to the spill.

“We already told Pemex what’s happening and the request is for them to start cleaning the beaches immediately,” Ramírez said. “What happened is concerning and cleaning up is urgent.”

Ramírez said that the cleanup would take several days and that the spill and beach closures would affect fishermen and beachside vendors and businesses. He said there had been no reports of the spill killing wildlife, but noted that a number of dead sea turtles recently appeared on Salina Cruz beaches and that the coastline has been contaminated on three other occasions this year.

“Fifteen olive ridley turtles appeared dead on the Salinas del Marqués and Brazil beaches about five days ago. Until now the cause [of their death] is unknown but it’s a concerning number of animals. … Hopefully Pemex can give us a response and tell us what’s happening because they can’t keep contaminating these natural spaces,” Ramírez said.

With reports from Aristegui Noticias 

Ancient Maya stela discovered in Uxmal

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MND Staff
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The stela was found in Uxmal, a Maya city founded around A.D. 700.
The stela was found in Uxmal, a Maya city founded around A.D. 700. INAH

In the archeological site of Uxmal in the Yucatán peninsula, a Maya stela depicting a god and a goddess has been discovered by a technical team headed by the archeologist José Huchim Herrera. The monument could represent the duality between life and death.

The director of the National Institute of Anthropology and History INAH, Diego Prieto, announced during AMLO’s Thursday press conference the finding of the Maya stela, which he said “is a commemorative dual stela because it is carved on both sides.”

The north-facing side of the monument features the figure of a goddess with big eyes, a bare chest, and barbels at the corner of the mouth, Prieto said. The imagery likely represents death, as such depictions were common in the Puuc and Chenes cultural regions in the southern Yucatán peninsula. The woman depicted is also holding a quetzal bird in her left hand and wears a pectoral decoration with three rows of pearls, bracelets with pearl details and a long skirt.

An INAH graphic highlighting features found on the north-facing side of the stela.
An INAH graphic highlighting features found on the north-facing side of the stela. INAH / Presidencia de la República

On the south-facing side, Prieto continued, the stela shows the image of a god with a wide-brimmed headdress adorned with feathers and an owl’s head, as well as bracelets, loincloth, and leg bandages. The man wears a cape and holds a cane in his left hand and a bundle of some kind in his right hand.

The stela was discovered as part of the Program for the Improvement of Archeological Sites (Promeza), which undertakes archaeological projects along the route of the Maya Train. The director of INAH said that “the importance of the discovery lies in the fact that it was found ‘in situ,’” meaning in the same place the Maya left it: the sunken patio of the ancient city of Uxmal.

Located 62 kilometers south of Mérida, the city of Uxmal is part of the Puuc Route (a collection of five ancient Maya sites in Yucatán) and was founded in A.D. 700. Uxmal was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.

With reports from La Jornada and INAH

Second National Congress of Women Politicians held in Mérida

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MND Staff
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Yucatán governor Mauricio Vila on stage with female politicians at the second annual event

Mauricio Vila, governor of Yucatán, inaugurated the second National Congress of Women Politicians in the Peón Contreras Theater in Mérida on Oct. 17. 

The event marked the 69th anniversary of the recognition of women’s right to vote in Mexico. In fact, the first feminist women’s congress in Mexico – and second ever in Latin America – was held in the same venue in 1916.

During the event, the governor pointed out that even though results have been positive in terms of gender parity, they are still not enough.

On that same note, Patricia Olamendi, an attorney, activist, and founder of the feminist advocacy group “Todas México”, said there is still work to do, and lamented Mexico’s track record on child trafficking as well as child and teen pregnancy. However, she applauded the local government’s efforts to pass the “3 for 3 against violence” law.

A photograph from the first feminist congress in the country in 1916, held in the same theater in Mérida

This initiative, which has been made law in the states of México, Oaxaca, Chihuahua, Jalisco, and Yucatán, aims to prevent those who are under investigation or have been convicted of crimes including domestic violence or sexual assault, or those who owe child support, from reaching public office. The legislation mandates that any candidate for an elected position must have a clear record.

“We will continue to defend our right to life, security, and democracy. We will support those who protect and guarantee women’s rights and those who include our feminist agenda in their public office,” said Olamendi.

In addition to the “3 for 3” legislation, the governor promised new amendments to existing women’s rights laws have been promoted, including the “ley vicaria” – a term that was first used in Spain – which is designed to protect women from men who violently use threats involving joint children in order to intimidate or harm their former partners.

Furthermore, governor Vila noted that since 2018, the budget for the Office for the Protection of Children and Adolescents has increased by 312%.

He also said that all municipalities in Yucatán have a local institute for women, and there are 34 “violeta” regional centers (the color purple is historically associated with feminist movements), which support female victims of gender violence and discrimination.

Yucatán has also promoted other  initiatives, such as the “Walk Safely” strategy, which provides training for public transport personnel to prevent street harassment and sexual violence. 

Along with the private sector, the local government developed a program through which companies can request free training for their employees to create a healthy and safe work environment for women. So far, eighteen companies have enrolled in the program. 

Recognizing Yucatán’s role in protecting women’s rights, the federal congressional deputy Blanca María del Socorro Alcalá Ruiz acknowledged the state has had a  “strategic vision with strong support for women.”

With reports from Latinus and La Jornada

Revenue from Mexico’s agricultural exports hits an all-time high

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MND Staff
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A packing house employee sorts avocados for export in Peribán, Michoacán last year.
A packing house employee sorts avocados for export in Peribán, Michoacán last year. Juan José Estrada Serafín / Cuartoscuro.com

Food and beverages including meat, fruit, vegetables, beer and tequila earned Mexico over US $34 billion in export revenue in the first eight months of the year, a new record high. 

Data from the national statistics agency INEGI, the Bank of México and the Agrifood and Fishing Information Service shows that agricultural and agro-industrial exports were worth $34.12 billion between January and August, an increase of 15.5% compared to the same period of last year. 

The only larger source of foreign revenue in the same period were remittances sent home by Mexicans working abroad. They totaled $37.93 billion in the first eight months of the year. 

Foreigners have long had a taste for Mexican alcoholic beverages, and their thirst hasn’t waned in 2022.

Commonly exported varieties of Mexican beer including Tecate, Sol and Pacífico on a dark background.
Mexican beer exports bring in billions of dollars of revenue every year. Depositphotos

Beer exports were worth just under $4 billion between January and August, while tequila and mezcal shipments brought in just over $2.9 billion in revenue. 

Five Mexican beers — Modelo, Corona, Dos Equis, Pacífico and Tecate — were among the top 10 best-selling imported beers in the United States last year, according to data published by Statista. Modelo and Corona were No. 1 and 2, respectively. 

Avocados were another significant earner of export dollars, bringing in just under $2.5 billion in the first eight months of the year. Two Mexican states, Michoacán and Jalisco, can now export the fruit to the lucrative U.S. market after the latter was authorized to do so earlier this year.  

While Mexico is a significant exporter of agricultural and agro-industrial products, it is also a large importer of such goods. Imports were worth just under $28.84 billion in the first eight months of the year, leaving Mexico with a trade surplus of almost $5.3 billion in the agricultural/agro-industrial category.

Corn imports were worth over $3.7 billion, foreign-grown soybeans cost $2.9 billion, pork purchases added up to almost $1.6 billion and the outlay on wheat shipments was close to $1.5 billion. 

President López Obrador is determined to make Mexico self-sufficient in both food and energy (including gasoline), but the country’s current dependence on imports — especially from the U.S. — means he has a significant challenge on his hands. 

The dependence on foreign-grown corn is a particularly sore point for the president (and many other Mexicans) given that it is native to the country and indigenous peoples living in what is now southern Mexico were the first to domesticate the crop some 10,000 years ago.  

With reports from Reforma

US imposes sanctions on Sinaloa Cartel-affiliated criminal organization

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MND Staff
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The U.S. Treasury building in Washington, D.C.
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington, D.C. Depositphotos

The United States government has imposed economic sanctions on a Sinaloa Cartel-affiliated drug trafficking organization (DTO), three of its alleged members and three companies. 

The U.S. Department of the Treasury (UST) said in a statement Wednesday that its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) had designated the Valenzuela DTO and its presumed leader Juan Francisco Valenzuela Valenzuela in accordance with a 2021 executive order — “Imposing Sanctions on Foreign Persons Involved in the Global Illicit Drug Trade.”

OFAC also designated “two Mexican nationals and Valenzuela DTO members, Héctor Alfonso Araujo Peralta and Raúl Rivas Chaires, as well as three Mexico-based transportation companies …  for having engaged in, or attempted to engage in, activities or transactions that have materially contributed to, or pose a significant risk of materially contributing to, the international proliferation of illicit drugs or their means of production,” UST said. 

The department said that the Valenzuela DTO was originally established as a transportation cell but evolved into a “sophistical network that became invaluable to Sinaloa Cartel leadership.”

A U.S. Treasury graphics shows the individuals and organizations recently sanctioned.
A U.S. Treasury graphics shows the individuals and organizations recently sanctioned. OFAC

It said the organization was run by three Valenzuela siblings but Juan Francisco is “the last remaining sibling involved” due to the arrest of his brother and sister by U.S. authorities in 2020 and 2021, respectively. 

UST said that “under the umbrella of the Sinaloa Cartel, the Valenzuela DTO is involved in the importation and transport of multi-ton quantities of illicit drugs, including methamphetamine, heroin and fentanyl, from Mexico to the United States.”

Juan Francisco Valenzuela, Araujo and Rivas all face trafficking charges in the U.S. but remain at large. 

As a result of the sanctions imposed Wednesday, “all property and interests in property of the designated individuals and entities that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC,” UST said.

It also said that “persons that engage in certain transactions with the individuals and entities designated today may themselves be exposed to sanctions or subject to an enforcement action.” 

“… Today’s action is part of a whole-of-government effort to counter the global threat posed by the trafficking of illicit drugs into the United States that causes the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans annually, as well as countless more non-fatal overdoses,” UST said. 

Brian E. Nelson, undersecretary of UST’s Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said that the Valenzuela DTO “fuels the ongoing drug epidemic we face in the United States.”

“… Starving this network of resources will help deprive the Sinaloa Cartel of critical support it needs to traffic its dangerous illicit drugs,” he said.

Formerly led by imprisoned drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the Sinaloa Cartel is one of Mexico’s two most powerful criminal organizations, the other being the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) 

Texas Governor Greg Abbott last month designated both cartels as terrorist organizations.  

Mexico News Daily

Pilot program for new curriculum suspended temporarily by government

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MND Staff
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Students look at textbooks at beginning of 2022-23 school year FOTO: DANIEL AUGUSTO /CUARTOSCURO.COM

The federal government said on Oct. 19 that it will comply with a court order against the implementation of its new curriculum model. 

Public Education Minister Leticía Ramírez said that a pilot program for the new curriculum, which was slated to commence later this month, will be temporarily suspended. 

The program was scheduled to begin in 960 schools across all 32 federal entities this week, but the organization Educación con Rumbo (Education with Direction) successfully challenged the curriculum model, arguing that it violates the constitution. 

Ramírez said that the Ministry of Public Education (SEP) has initiated its own legal action and expects a favorable outcome soon. 

President López Obrador with Leticia Ramírez Amaya, who was appointed Public Education Minister in August. Leticia Ramírez Amaya Twitter

Although the pilot program won’t commence this week, training for preschool, primary school and secondary school teachers on the implementation of the new curriculum will continue, the education minister said.    

The government is seeking to overhaul the way in which students are taught in Mexican schools. 

The Reforma newspaper reported earlier this year that the new education model is characterized by its promotion of a community rather than global outlook, its elimination of concepts considered to be neoliberal (a dirty word, according to President López Obrador) and its support for teachers’ educational autonomy.  

Marx Arriaga, SEP’s director of education materials, has already overseen a process to develop new textbooks that confine neoliberalism to the dustbin of history. 

He said in April that the new curriculum model will place much greater emphasis on sharing and the common good rather than pitting individual students against each other. The model will be “libertarian” and “humanist” and put an end to racism in the education system and “standardized tests that segregate society,” he said.  

With reports from Animal Político and El Financiero

Hurricane Roslyn weakens to tropical depression after making landfall in Nayarit

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MND Staff
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Roslyn weakened to a Category 3 hurricane before hitting the coast of Nayarit.
Roslyn weakened to a Category 3 hurricane before hitting the coast of Nayarit. Twitter @eraelitodolo

Hurricane Roslyn claimed two lives in Nayarit after making landfall as a Category 3 storm early Sunday.

A 74-year-old man was killed in Mexcaltitán, a “magical town” in the municipality of Santiago Ixcuintla, when a beam fell on his head, Nayarit authorities told the news agency Reuters, while a 39-year-old woman died in the municipality of Rosamorada when a fence collapsed.

The fatalities occurred inland from Santa Cruz, a small community on the northern coast of Nayarit near where Roslyn made landfall at 5:20 a.m. local time Sunday, according to the United States National Hurricane Center (NHC). Roslyn reached Category 4 status on Saturday but weakened before battering the coast of Nayarit.

The storm weakened further after making landfall and was downgraded to a tropical storm by Sunday afternoon. At 10 p.m. Sunday, the NHC said that Roslyn had dissipated and the storm’s remnants were 80 kilometers west-northwest of Monterrey, Nuevo León. Maximum sustained wind speeds were just 45 km/h, down from a peak of about 210 km/h.

Government workers clear a road blocked by fallen trees on Sunday afternoon in Nayarit.
Government workers clear a road blocked by fallen trees on Sunday afternoon in Nayarit. Twitter @MiguelANavarroQ

The hurricane caused flooding, damaged homes and toppled trees in Nayarit, including in state capital Tepic. Photos showed cars submerged in water and houses with severely damaged roofs. Governor Miguel Ángel Navarro said on Twitter that fallen trees and mudslides had obstructed some highways in the Pacific coast state.

José Antonio Barajas, mayor of San Blas — the municipality where Roslyn made landfall — said in a video message that the hurricane also knocked power out. Close to 160,000 customers in Nayarit, Jalisco and Sinaloa were left without power, according to the Federal Electricity Commission, but service was restored for over 70% by Monday at 11 a.m. Central Time.

“The winds from this hurricane were, in truth, tremendous,” Barajas said. “The sound of the wind was strong.”

Jalisco Governor Enrique Alfaro said early Sunday afternoon that Roslyn only caused minor damage in that state and that people who evacuated could return to their homes. He also said that operations at the Puerto Vallarta airport had resumed. Heavy rain and powerful waves were reported in Vallarta, located about 140 kilometers south of the point where Roslyn made landfall.

The Associated Press reported that some beachside eateries sustained damage in the resort city.

“The biggest effect [of the hurricane] was from the waves, on some of the beachside infrastructure [but] we did not have any significant damage,” said local Civil Protection chief Adrián Bobadilla.

With reports from Reuters and AP

At this school, every graduate helps Mexico’s iconic sarape survive

By
Leigh Thelmadatter
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La Escuela Favorita del Sarape, Saltillo, Coahuila
A beginner student at La Favorita Sarape School in Saltillo begins their learning journey making a swatch on a frame loom, using only threads and their fingers.

One of Mexico’s most iconic garments is in a race against time to avoid extinction: the traditional sarape.

If you’ve ever watched a film in the Western genre or anything historic related to the north of Mexico, you have likely seen these bright, multicolored textile coverings that kept generations of herders and others warm.

Unfortunately, if you have even been in any tourist market, you have seen cheap knock-offs that trivialize the sarape’s cultural and historical importance.

The sarape is the result of a northward push by the Spanish and their indigenous allies after the fall of the Mexica city of Tenochtitlán. Areas like Coahuila were significantly drier than what they were used to in their central Mexican homelands, but Tlaxcaltecos and other Mesoamerican groups nonetheless transplanted much of their way of life here. 

sarape and banner of Escuela La Favorita del Sarape school in Saltillo, Mexico
The La Favorita Sarape School’s banner, made as — what else? — a sarape.

The Saltillo sarape of today is likely a modification of a garment called a tilma, a rectangular fabric that was used to wrap around the body and even to carry things. Sarapes are found in both Coahuila and Tlaxcala, and both claim denomination of origin rights over it. 

Sarapes in Saltillo and in Tlaxcala are similar, but the sarape is more strongly associated with the city of Saltillo. Real sarapes are handwoven on pedal looms with cotton and wool and have brightly colored stripes and large geometric patterns. 

Such work, however, has nearly died out. 

According to renowned folk art expert Marta Turok, by the 1990s, only one traditional workshop existed in Saltillo proper.  So in the 2000s, the state decided to step in, first founding a museum and then a formal program for the training and certification of sarape weavers. 

The result is La Favorita Sarape School, located in Saltillo’s historic center. It is Mexico’s only fully-accredited technical school dedicated to a traditional handcraft. 

The school has attracted students from all walks of life, who get involved for both economic and cultural reasons. Students who complete the two-year program get state-recognized diplomas, and those who create fine sarapes can have them certified by state cultural authorities.

The school’s organization may be modern, but the skills it teaches are traditional. The goal is to create new generations of weavers who value the art.  

The 50 pedal looms used by students, as well as by graduates working on special projects, are heart of the school. They are faithful recreations of the looms brought by the Spanish to Mexico. 

Maestro Francisco Javier Reyes, director of La Favorita Sarape School in Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico
The school’s director, Francisco Javier Reyes, left, gives an interview to a charro association. ” The Saltillo sarape is a national emblem,” he says. La Escuela Favorita/Facebook

But students don’t get to work with the giant looms right away. They first must learn how to card, spin and dye wool. Then they make their first swatches using small frames, weaving with their fingers to get a feel for wool weft, cotton warp and how colors mingle. 

When they do graduate to looms, they first make rugs and wall hangings because sarapes use much finer threads, which allows the finished piece to wrap around the body but are also more exacting and time-consuming to work with. In particular, the creation of intricate geometric patterns requires good eyes and knowing exactly when to change thread colors. 

The lead weaver at the school is Rubén Tamayo, who began his career as an apprentice to one of the old weavers. He came to teaching at La Favorita through weaving research projects with state cultural authorities. It has been a perfect fit. 

“When you are an artisan, it is a great responsibility because you are conserving a part of the culture,” says the maestro. “It is important to do excellent work because the sarapes represent the city and state.”

But the school’s work doesn’t end there. The institution has also been a strong advocate for a return to natural dyeing, something that had completely died out in the state. This effort is spearheaded by graduate María López Gutiérrez. 

One peculiarity of Saltillo sarapes is that the stripes are of graduated colors, making the dyeing of the wool more challenging. The colors were originally obtained using natural materials from Mesoamerica such as the cochineal insect and indigo. 

As part of the initiative, the school invited experts such as anthropologist and folk art expert Marta Turok along with weavers from Oaxaca to give workshops, but much of the work of bringing these methods back to sarapes was done by López. 

The school has received recognition at the national level, but maintaining the program and supporting its graduates is not easy. The first problem is that authentic handwoven wool sarapes carry a hefty price tag due to the time and talent needed to make them. Such garments are generally made for experienced collectors who know their worth. 

Master weaver Ruben Tamayo at Escuela La Favorita sarape school in Saltillo
Master weaver Rubén Tamayo with a work he made on one of the school’s 50 pedal looms that are recreations of looms brought to Mexico in colonial times.

But to make weaving more economically viable, teachers and students have developed new products — bracelets and other jewelry, decorative objects and ore — and collaborations. 

The school has also created modern clothing with sarape-inspired decoration, and with European artists to create fine tapestries. They’ve also partnered with the state’s budding smithing artisans to put mini-sarapes into silver frames for necklaces. 

Despite all this, filling the loom stations has not been easy. The school’s first generation of graduates numbered nearly 30, but it has dropped off since then, with only about 50 or so completing the four-semester course to date. But the school is the craft’s only real hope because, as Tamayo says, there is no one left willing to go through the rugged apprenticeship process that he did as a very young man. 

Turok agrees, noting that the traditional handcrafts of the north do not receive the same respect as those from the center and south of the country.

But, the school and the Coahuila government will continue, says director Francisco Javier Reyes, because “… the Saltillo sarape is a national emblem, and part of Mexican identity.”

Leigh Thelmadatter arrived in Mexico 18 years ago and fell in love with the land and the culture in particular its handcrafts and art. She is the author of Mexican Cartonería: Paper, Paste and Fiesta (Schiffer 2019). Her culture column appears regularly on Mexico News Daily.

Spring onions: young, gifted and green

By
Janet Blaser
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0
spring onions
Cebollitas — spring onions — are available year-round and deserve a spot in your regular culinary repertoire.

If you live, or spend any time, in Mexico, cebollitas — spring onions — are no doubt so familiar you don’t give them a second thought. And while they are delicious when grilled and eaten with tacos, carne asada and other traditional dishes, they also lend themselves delectably to all sorts of other recipes.

Spring onions, or “Mexican green onions,” as they’re sometimes called, are simply young “regular” onions harvested before maturity. They’re sweeter and milder, with a slightly herbal flavor, and have thinner skins than they will when they’ve reached their adult size. 

White ones are most commonly found, but sometimes you’ll see purple ones too. Unlike scallions, spring onions have a small bulb at the end. 

Like everything, the fresher the better! They should be bright in color, the tops not wilted, and the bulb should feel firm. 

Spring onion flatbread
Spring onion flatbread is a delicious and decadent option for breakfast, brunch or as an appetizer.

They keep for a few weeks in the refrigerator (wrapped in a paper towel and sealed in a plastic bag), and while they’re great grilled, spring onions add snap, color and texture eaten raw in salads. They’re a bright unexpected flavor in quiche, pastas, soups, stir-fries or omelets. Add them — remove the thick outer stems and slice thinly — just like with regular onions. 

In Japan, spring onion flatbread is a popular morning snack sold by street vendors. Some recipes call for yeast, but others — like the one included below — are a more simple pancake-like batter. 

To make your own grilled onions at home, rinse onions and remove the roots and any tough outer leaves. Cut to the desired length. Spray with olive oil or drizzle with a little oil and mix by hand. Grill on a hot barbecue for 15–20 minutes until nicely charred, turning occasionally. Serve when tender-crisp.

Deep-Fried Spring Onions

  • Vegetable oil, for frying
  • 1 cup buttermilk or water-thinned yogurt, mixed well
  • 1 cup flour
  • 8 spring onions
  • Salt

In a large, deep pot or skillet, pour 2 inches of oil and heat on medium-high till hot. Put buttermilk (or substitute) and flour in separate shallow bowls. Trim onion tops so they fit comfortably in pan. Remove outer layer; trim bottoms, then halve lengthwise. Dip onions in buttermilk, dredge in flour and fry 3-4 minutes until golden brown and tender. Drain on paper towel-lined plate; season with salt.

Spring Onion Pancakes

Pancakes:

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • ¼ cup plus 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil, divided
  • 2 Tbsp. sesame oil
  • 1 cup thinly sliced spring onions, from trimmed tops and bulbs
  • Salt

Dipping sauce:

  • 2 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
  • 2 Tbsp. soy sauce
  • 2-3 Tbsp. finely sliced spring onions
  • Pinch crushed red pepper flakes

Combine flour and boiling water in a large bowl. Stir to combine until dough forms. Transfer to lightly floured surface; knead until a very smooth, slightly tacky ball forms, 3–4 minutes. 

Place dough ball in a bowl; cover with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap. Let rest 30 minutes at room temperature, or up to overnight in refrigerator. Meanwhile, mix 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil and sesame oil in a small bowl. 

To make the dipping sauce: in a small bowl, stir together vinegar, soy sauce, spring onions and red pepper flakes.

When ready to cook, divide the dough into four balls of equal size. Working with one ball at a time (keep others covered) roll into an 8” disk and brush with thin layer of oil mixture. 

Then roll tightly into a thin rope and twist into a tight spiral, tucking the outer end underneath. Using the palm of your hand, flatten the spiral, then gently roll out again into an 8” disk. Brush the top with another thin layer of oil and scatter with ¼ cup sliced green onions. 

pasta with zucchini and spring onions
Wake up a simple pasta dish by adding the sweet snap of spring onions.

Repeat process, rolling disk again into a tight rope, re-forming it into a spiral, and then rerolling into an 8” disk. (This lamination process makes a flaky pancake.) Repeat with remaining dough balls.

Heat one-quarter of the vegetable oil in an 8-inch skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering; gently add first pancake. Cook, undisturbed, until golden on one side. Flip and cook until golden on underside, about 2–3 minutes per side. Remove to paper-towel-lined plate; season immediately with salt. 

Repeat with remaining pancakes, adding more oil if necessary. Cut pancakes into triangles and serve with dipping sauce or plain yogurt.

Pickled Spring Onions

  • 1 bunch spring onions (approximately ½ lb. trimmed and cleaned)
  • ½ cup apple cider vinegar
  • ¼ cup water
  • 3 Tbsp. sugar
  • 1 tsp. sea salt
  • 1 tsp. mustard seeds
  • 1/8 tsp. red chili flakes
  • Optional: ½ tsp. celery seed

Wash and thinly slice trimmed spring onions into thin rounds. In small pan, combine vinegar, water, sugar, salt, mustard seeds, celery seeds (if using) and red chili flakes. Bring to a boil. Once the brine is simmering, add onions. Stir to combine and cook until onions are heated through, 2–3 minutes. 

Remove pan from heat; spoon onions and liquid into prepared glass jar. Close lid tightly and allow to cool. Once cooled, store in refrigerator; let rest at least two days before using. Keeps about 2 weeks. 

Pasta with Zucchini, Spring Onions and Herbs

  • 1 pound rigatoni pasta
  • 3 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 3-5 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 cup thinly sliced spring onions 
  • 3½ cups zucchini, thinly sliced
  • ½-1 tsp. red pepper flakes
  • ¼ cup crema, heavy cream, half and half or plain full-fat yogurt
  •  Salt and pepper
  • ¼ cup fresh minced herbs (mint, parsley, cilantro)
  • Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta as directed on package. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and red pepper flakes; sauté 30 seconds. 

Add onions; cook 2 minutes until translucent. Add zucchini; cook 3 minutes until just tender. 

Drain pasta; add to skillet with zucchini and onion; toss well. Stir in herbs. Add dairy/yogurt and stir until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. 

Sprinkle with Parmesan before serving. 

Janet Blaser is the author of the best-selling book, Why We Left: An Anthology of American Women Expats, featured on CNBC and MarketWatch. She has lived in Mexico since 2006. You can find her on Facebook.

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