Obras del Colectivo Cine Mujer

Rompiendo el silencio (Breaking the Silence)
Rosa Martha Fernández, Mexico, 1979, 42 min. Spanish with English subtitles

No es por gusto  (Not Without Reason)
María del Carmen de Lara, Mexico, 1981, 51 min. Spanish with English subtitles

After the movie  we will break a piñata as symbolic collective breaking of silence and Tlayolan will prepare fresh gorditas filled with beans and cheese, using their own corn harvest.

No es por gusto and Rompiendo el silencio are two films by Colectivo Cine Mujer, a pioneering group in Mexico composed of feminist filmmakers, especially from Latin America. In the 70’s, much of the female expression in national cinema emerged from secrecy. The aim of Colectivo Cine Mujer was to amplify the voices of women — students, housewives, sex workers, and leaders of labor organizations — representing both their public and private lives. Their movies responded to the male-dominated perspective that shaped — and continues to shape — Mexican cinema.

Rompiendo el silencio is a documentary that examines the issue of rape in Mexico. The film exposes the complicity of various institutions — the Church, the judicial system, and the patriarchal culture — in perpetuating this violence. In a context where an estimated 60,000 rapes occurred annually, the film denounces the structures that protect and conceal these crimes within legal, religious, educational, family, and justice institutions.

No es por gusto is a series of interviews with women engaged in sex work in public spaces. Through their testimonies, the documentary reveals their daily experiences and how they are repressed by the police, exposing the dynamics of violence and marginalization to which they are subjected. (CV)

Clelia Villarreal (she/they) is a Mexican Film projectionist at SİNEMA TRANSTOPIA who is studying film science and cinematography in Berlin.