Describe your background and upbringing.

I was born in Monterrey, Mexico. The part of the city where we lived was growing, it was developing, and we grew with it. I have two sisters and I am in the middle. We had a great time playing and going from here to there and getting in trouble. I have great memories of my childhood in Monterrey. I lived there until I was 38 or 39 years old. I went to law school there.

You were a practicing lawyer. What drew you to documentary filmmaking and how did you start?

I’ve always been very passionate about cinema, especially documentaries. The stories around us, real life stories, are more impressive than any fiction ever written. When I first learned about the Ramon Carlin story (The Weekend Sailor), I was really hooked and I found a way to just make it happen. I mean what other way could I tell the story? I’m too lazy to write a book. I didn’t see it as something impossible. I thought, I just need to locate them, right? To see if they’re alive or not. And just invite them to do a couple of interviews. Right? And I guess for an interview, I need a couple of cameras and I know a guy—and that’s the way it started.

The Weekend Sailor, your first feature documentary, was an international success. How was it received in Mexico?

I think it was best received in the United States. Even though it’s about a Mexican champion, Mexicans don’t much care about [the story]. They care about having their stories on big platforms like Netflix even if they’re bad stories or negative stories. That’s more important for Mexicans.

What was it about the Michoacán-UNESCO story that inspired you to produce The Michoacán File?

A story about Mexican food getting into UNESCO and being inscribed a world heritage! I was impressed how our food could become something so important. Something  so important for humanity. I started learning a little bit more about it and it got my attention. Food is so interesting, so ancient, and so filled with techniques and ingredients that are unique to that culture. The UNESCO designation was the highest point from which I could tell the whole story—and be able to  end it with this kind of worldwide recognition. I liked that perspective.

It hasn’t happened to the Italians, for example, or to the Japanese—it’s a worldwide recognition that everybody wants to have. It was so important that even the French followed our example. I’m not saying that Mexican food is better than French food, of course, it’s not about that. It’s just they followed us for a reason. There are other countries that have similar recognition but tied to a specific date, a specific recipe, or a specific food. But recognition of a whole culinary system? No country but Mexico.

What do you hope audiences will take away from the film?

To learn more about Mexican food. To learn more about something they love. Because Mexican restaurants are always packed! Canadians, Americans and Europeans are trying Mexican food more and more and they’re liking it. And not only Mexican food, but other foods from other places in the world. I would like people to learn the beautiful things regarding our food culture and food history. Maybe we can get a little bit more respect for our gastronomic culture beyond the stereotypes.

What did  you learn from making your first film? 

Some basic things, like how to do an interview right, how to handle the the cameras, the light, at what time of the day you have to shoot. Many, many details. A universe of things to learn. Everything I learned in the first documentary I took to the second one of course, and also on the second one, I was asking questions and asking for help all the time. That’s so key, not to be afraid to ask the questions.

What are some challenges you have had in your film making journey?

At first, on The Michoacán File, I thought I knew it all. But it took me five years to do it when the first one took me two years.  Yes, we had the pandemic in the middle of that five years but it was still a long and difficult road. Moments where the story wasn’t clear. Or the story was clear but maybe [there were] misunderstandings or a lack of communication with my team, with my editor, or with the scriptwriter.

Greg is a Canadian writer, and he’s very talented in his trade. He’s a great guy. And he wrote a great, great script but there was a learning process. He didn’t understand exactly what my message was. Maybe a Mexican writer would have been easier [to work with]. But I wanted to work with Greg. And he learned a lot about Mexican history and about Mexican food, as did my editor. So those two key elements on my team—the writer and the editor—are both Canadian. And this is a very, very Mexican story, as you can imagine.

It was very confusing at certain points and there were dark moments, but we began to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We finally got to finish The Michoacán File and to screen it at festivals here and there. And then winning the James Beard Foundation Award! Well, here we are.

What’s next for you? Would you imagine your future film not having a Mexican element to it?

I don’t see why not. I actually imagine a fiction. I would love to work on a fictional feature that has nothing to do with Mexico. That could happen. Very exciting.

Edited for length and clarity. 

Read more: The Michoacán File and a Filmmaker’s Journey to Capture Mexico’s Culinary Heritage

Watch the trailer for The Michoacán File

The Michoacán File is being screened during the 14th Latin American and Spanish Film Week at the University of Victoria, Cinecenta on Saturday, September 22, 2024 at 7 PM . Spanish-English. hispfilmvic.ca