To foreigners, Mexico is known for its vibrant culture, delicious food, and awe-inspiring Mayan ruins. But in recent years, it has become associated with one specific art form: cinema.
Two of the past five Best Picture winners at the Oscars have been films by Mexican directors—Alejandro Iñárritu’s Birdman and Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water. Most recently,Alfonso Cuarón’s spellbinding Roma has received immense critical acclaim, helping to cement Mexico’s reputation as a thriving center for contemporary cinema.
At Shangri-La Plaza, the lush, beautiful films of Mexico bathe in the spotlight with the Cine Mexico film festival on Sept. 20 to 24 at the Red Carpet in partnership with the Embassy of Mexico in Manila and the Film Development Council of the Philippines.
With the richest cinematic tradition in Latin America, Mexico consistently produces films of the utmost quality. Through Cine Mexico, mall guests at the Shang continue to expand their cinematic knowledge and experience the best in entertainment.
Como Agua Para Chocolate (Like Water for Chocolate) is a 1992 classic that follows a young girl named Tita. Though she is desperately in love with a man named Pedro, her mother doesn’t allow her to marry him. When Pedro weds Tita’s sister instead, she immerses herself in cooking. Through this therapeutic pastime, she discovers that she can magically infuse her emotions into her cooking.
Qué Culpa Tiene el Niño (Don’t Blame the Kid) is a 2016 romantic comedy about a woman who accidentally becomes pregnant but decides to marry the father of her child anyway, even though he’s immature and unemployed. The movie stars Karla Souza, one of Mexico’s most popular actresses, who is best known to international audiences for playing Laurel on the award-winning legal thriller How to Get Away with Murder.
Poignant and heartfelt, the animated film El Angel en el Reloj (The Angel in the Clock) centers on Amelia, a little girl with leukemia who is whisked away by an angel in an attempt to stop time. In a realm where she must navigate hundreds of floating clock-castles in the sky, she learns about the importance of living in the present.
La Carga (Load) is an epic romantic drama about the quest for freedom. In the late 16th century, an indigenous man and a Spanish noblewoman escape into the New World to find a better life. Along the way, they learn to resolve their differences and become more intimate with one another. La Carga bagged 7 nominations at the Ariel Awards, the Mexican equivalent of the Oscars.
In the 2015 romantic comedy Enamorándome de Abril (Falling in Love with Abril), two writers with nothing in common spend a night together. He’s a steely journalist who secretly publishes books under a female name, and she’s a romance writer who uses a male pseudonym. After meeting, they begin to question everything they thought they knew about love and relationships, sending each one on a hilarious identity crisis.
La Boda de Valentina (Valentina’s Wedding) gives audiences a new take on the wedding comedy. Valentina, a scion from the most chaotic political family in Mexico, leads a blissful life in America. Thinking she has escaped all the drama, she gets engaged to Jason, her American boyfriend. When Jason insists they go to Mexico to meet her family, Valentina is sucked into her father’s re-election campaign, her crazy family’s antics, and her possessive ex, Alex.
In the 2018 comedy Cuando Los Hijos Regresan (The Kids are Back), an elderly couple finally retires, happy to live a life with no more responsibilities. But out of nowhere, their grown children start moving back into the house, forcing them to become parents to a horde of adult babies.
With a whole new cinematic culture to dive into, the Shang gives mall guests more ways to indulge in the arts and entertainment. #FeelTheShangVibe with Cine Mexico, an immersive look into the film capital of Latin America.
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