Mexican Police on Parade

The Meeting of President Taft and President Díaz at El Paso, Texas

1909

The first meeting of a U.S. president and a Mexican president took place when William Howard Taft met Porfirio Díaz on 16 October 1909, in El Paso. The meeting was celebrated in both El Paso and Juárez with parades, elaborate receptions, lavish gifts and large crowds. Shot by the pioneers of Mexican Cinema the brothers Alva. This is a typical example of newsreel material prior to the Mexican revolution. By hemerographical references we know that this footage was presented to the then president of Mexico General Porfirio Díaz in the Castle of Chapultepec, then residence of the president.

GlitterBomb

2015

GlitterBomb is a fantastic 32-minute documentary that showcases the best of the 2015 Mardi Gras season. It features interviews with Courtney Act, Bianca Del Rio, Nick Jonas, Alex Greenwich, Dan Murphy and Jake Shears, as well as local identities and international tourists, each sharing their experiences and perspectives on our fabulous Festival celebrations including Harbour Party, Pool Party, Parade and MG Party.

Beauties of the Night

2016

What happened to those vedettes who represented the mexican cabaret’s exotic beauty in the ‘70s and ‘80s? Four decades after the end of their roles, they tell their stories with dignity.

The Secret History of Eurovision

2011

A television documentary charting the history of the Eurovision Song Contest and its impact on European political and social structure.

Curse of the Mayan Temple

1977

A documentary exploring the ruins of a Mayan temple in Mexico and a "cursed" medallion that was found there.

Carlos Sainz: The Operator

2024

The Renaissance of Mata Ortiz

2010

The Emmy-winning story of how an American treasure hunter and a Mexican artist transformed a dying desert village into a home for world-class art.

Modern Mexico City

1942

This Traveltalk series short brings us to the capital of Mexico, where we learn a little about the three million people living there. Their living quarters are viewed, as are various monuments found throughout the city, including a monument to George Washington. We also see the Museum of Fine Arts and the Washington Apartments. From here, we visit the bullfights.

On the Road to Monterrey

1943

This Traveltalk series short visits three cities in Mexico. We start in the village of San Miguel de Allende, known for its churches. A monastery has been converted to a school of arts. The second stop is Queréaro, where a 5-mile-long aqueduct built hundreds of years ago is still functional. It was near this city that Emperor Maximilian was executed in 1867. Then it is on to Monterrey, the large industrial city whose nickname is the Pittsburgh of Mexico. Here are steel mills, other factories, and the largest brewery in Latin America.

Rural Mexico

1935

A Traveltalks visit to some small towns in Mexico. In Mazatlán, away from the tourist spots, we see a small village where fishing, growing coconuts, and gathering large sea turtles are the main pursuits. We then visit Toluca on market day, where people sell produce and pottery. The last stop is Taxco, where the Castilian influence of the Spanish conquerors is still prevalent.

Hasta el último trago... Corazón

2005

Borderland Blues

2017

„The Frontier“ or „La Frontera“ is the undulating landscape of the Sonora Desert in Arizona, which once was a symbol of freedom on the horizon of the American West – and also a region plagued by recurrent territorial struggles. Currently, a high steel fence stretches over several miles strictly separating the USA and Mexico into two territories. Every year, the remains of hundreds of migrants are retrieved from the area. The tense situation in Arizona’s borderland has split the locals into two groups: one demanding a more technically advanced border control system, the other requesting more humanitarian help. Accompanying various locals, NGO workers and self-proclaimed border guards from the region, filmmaker Gudrun Gruber raises the question of whether the latest border control technology will finally bring peace to the area, or rather merely increase the number of deaths.

Dark Suns

2019

An epic investigation into countless murders in Mexico. Presented in chapters, the film unfolds methodically through unsettling testimonials, sketching a portrait of an entire country transformed into a gigantic mass grave thanks to a climate of impunity established by both criminal gangs and state authorities.

The History in the Gaze

2011

The film portraits the stage previous to the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution, from the end of Porfirio Díaz´ government, the social volatility, the ephemeral government of Madero and the presence of the working class in the figures of Villa and Zapata, until the signing if the Constitution of 1917. All of this through moving images, filmed during those events mainly by the Alva brothers, filmmakers of that time. Those images let us perceive the contradictory and shuddered glance of the people of that period.

State of Bacon

2014

State of Bacon tells the kinda real but mostly fake tale of an oddball group of characters leading up to the annual Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival. Bacon-enthusiasts, Governor Branstad, a bacon queen, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, members of PETA, and an envoy of Icelanders are not excluded from this bacon party and during the course of the film become intertwined with the organizers of the festival to show that bacon diplomacy is not dead.