Profile of the UNAM Filmotheque
The FIlmotheque of UNAM The Filmotheque of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) is one of the most prestigious and important film archives in Latin America.  Beginning with just two films and modest resources, the Filmotheque has managed to amass one of the largest film and print material collections in the world.  Among its…
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Javier Servin
The FIlmotheque of UNAM

The Filmotheque of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) is one of the most prestigious and important film archives in Latin America. Beginning with just two films and modest resources, the Filmotheque has managed to amass one of the largest film and print material collections in the world. Among its founding principles of collection, preservation and restoration, access has remained at the forefront of the Filmotheque’s vision. Throughout its 50 year history, the Filmotheque has continued its commitment to allowing users access to its rich and vast collection. Today, the Filmotheque strikes a balance between traditional means of access and adopting new technology to develop innovative methods of dissemination.

The Filmotheque of UNAM was founded on July 8, 1960. However, like most other archives, its creation was not a spontaneous occurrence. The seeds that would eventually grow to become the archive were planted during the previous decade. The 1950s saw the development of the cultural environment that would be necessary for the support of the Filmotheque.

Whereas the decade of the 1940s makes up what is considered to be “The Golden Age” of Mexican cinema, the 1950s saw a decline in the originality and quality of films. The 1950s saw an ever increasing production of cheap and formulaic films. Audiences began to refer to these films as churros, in reference to the mass produced, machine-made fried pastries readily sold on most street corners. The decline in production value was a combination of many factors, including the devaluing of the Mexican peso and the high demands from film industry unions. This led to studios having to cut down on cost by reducing filming times and relying on assembly-line style plots.[1]

Additionally, the introduction of television to Mexico in the 1950s further compounded the problems of the film industry. While only the wealthiest Mexicans owned televisions at the outset of the decade, by 1955 most every household owned a television. In addition to shows, programming consisted of showcasing films from the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. Older audiences were able to relive the nostalgia of their youth, while a new generation of viewers was introduced to the early films of Cantinflas, Maria Felix and Jorge Negrete.[2] This increasing competition from television, compounded with the economic crisis, led to the stagnation of the Mexican film industry.

Production companies like Azteca Studios, Clasa Studios, and Tepeyac Studios ceased operations. In 1958, as a result of the downturn of film production, the Mexican Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ceased handing out the Ariel award.[3] The 1950s also saw the film industry suffer a great loss of talent as Jorge Negrete, Miroslava, Joaquin Pardave and Pedro Infante—icons of the Golden Age—would lose their lives during that decade. [4] Despite the negative outlook, the predicament of the film industry led to some positive developments.

The crisis of major film studios bred the creation of an independent cinema. Critically acclaimed films such as Raíces (Roots, Benito Alazraki, 1953), Los Pequeños Gigantes (The Little Giants, Hugo Butler, 1960) and Torero (Bullfighter, Carlos Velo, 1956) were created by members of this alternative form of film production.[5] Additionally, a subculture of cinephiles would also develop as a result of the crisis the film industry. These film aficionados—both intellectuals and university students—formed cineclubs, which organized screenings, printed gazettes, and engaged in the critique and study of film. Eventually, a Federation of Mexican Cineclubs would be created in 1956 and this organization would call for “the foundation of a Filmotheque, a library, a cinema museum and a school of film studies.”[6] Among the members of these cineclubs was Manuel Gonzalez Casanova, who would become the founder of the Filmotheque at UNAM.

Manuel Gonzalez Casanova was a professor and member of the Cineclub Progreso in 1952 and was responsible for convincing the various cineclubs in the country to come together and form the Federation of Mexican Cineclubs. In 1959 Casanova, with the support of the Chancellor of UNAM Nabor Carrillo Flores, was able to push for the development of exhibitions and programs that responded to the cinematic interests of students and organizations from UNAM. This newly formed Department of Cinematographic Activities would eventually become the Filmoteca and lead to the creation of the University Center for Cinema Studies (CUEC) in 1963.[7] Once the Department of Cinematographic Activities was formed, it would be a short year until the Filmoteca was formed.

In 1960, the cultural environment that would be necessary for the support of the Filmotheque was fully developed. The emergence of cineclubs and the interest of university students had led to the creation of a department that would support their interests. The Department of Cinematographic Activities began the year by organizing a series of 50 Lecciones de Cine, “50 Lessons of the Cinema” to satiate the needs of cinephiles and introduce film to students as an academic endeavor. At the same time, the department was in contact with the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF) and archives such as the Filmoteca de Uruguay and the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) to help in the formation of the archive.[8]

On July 8, 1960 a small ceremony was held where Mexican film producer Manuel Barbachano donated a 16mm copy of two of his films, Raíces and Torero, to UNAM; the Filmoteca had officially been created by receiving its first donations. Despite the scant amount of films, the Filmoteca began its tradition of providing access by loaning out the prints. Later that year, the Filmoteca also acquired a copy of La Huelga (The Strike, 1925) by Sergio M. Eisenstein, the Filmotheque’s first acquisition.[9] From the small office that housed and loaned those prints, the Filmoteca would grow into one of the largest and important archives in Latin America.

Today, the Filmotheque’s collection is colossal. This is a result of the Filmotheque’s “catch all” collection policy; the archive intakes all films and cinema related material, regardless of the title or content because the archive recognizes that there is a research or educational value in all materials.[10] The archive does not passively pursue this policy, it actively seeks material. This has led to material being found in some rather unusual places, such as a collection of 500 rolls of Italian film from 1910-1920 found in a bodega among sacks of corn.[11] This aggressive and broad policy of collection has resulted in the Filmotheque’s holdings to have grown from 3 film titles in 1960 to over 45,000 in 2012 and include other mediums.[12]

In addition to its film holdings, the Filmotheque also has a stock footage library and a Department of Documentation. The film stock library consists of about 120,000 cans of film in various formats ranging from 8mm to 35mm.[13] The Filmotheque’s Department of Documentation possesses print material that spans various formats. This collection includes over 14,000 books, 4,000 scripts, 8,000 movie posters, 3,000 lobby cards and over 82,000 photographs and production stills.[14] The ever expanding nature of the Filmoteca led to the construction of additional facilities for its library, exhibition and restoration work.[15] But simple collection is not the aim of the Filmoteca, it is also dedicated to the restoration and dissemination its holdings.

The Filmotheque has been responsible for the rescuing and restoration of numerous films that span the history of Mexican cinema. Among its restoration efforts are Muchachas de Uniforme (Women of Uniform, Alfredo B. Crevenna, 1950) Redes (Nets, Fred Zinnemann and Emilio Gomez Muriel, 1934) and digital restoration of the “Trilogy of the Mexican Revolution” El prisioner trece, 1933; El compadre Mendoza, 1934; and Vamonos con Pancho Villa, 1935 (Prisoner 13, The Godfather Mendoza, and Let’s Go with Pancho Villa, Fernando de Fuentes).[16][17] Despite its ever growing reputation as a film restoration lab and repository, the Filmotheque has never lost sight of its founding principle, which is providing access to its collection.

The Filmotheque very much adheres to the notion that “preservation without access is pointless.”[18] To this point, the archive offers many different ways for users to access its rich holdings. The Filmotheque continues many of the access programs on which it was founded, while also making use of new available technologies.

Among one of the founding access polices of the Filmotheque is that of print loans. This type of access began with the cineclubs and was continued by the archive, beginning with its first two film donations. While many of the films safeguarded in the vaults are rare—only surviving copies or films in need of restoration—much of the Filmotheque’s collection is available for print loan. Print loans are usually granted to university groups or events. However, materials are made available for outside organizations such as the Mexican Foreign service—which regularly screens films at Mexican consulates abroad—film festival programmers, and other FIAF institutions. Access to loan prints is dependent on completion of a formal request and contract with the Filmotheque. The requesting organization must define what specific title they are seeking and how the material is to be used. In addition, the organization must provide proper facilities and equipment with which to screen the film; this is to ensure that the material will be handled under suitable conditions.[19] In 2010 alone, the Filmotheque loaned out 390 titles, 133 of which were loaned to organizations and festivals abroad. Among those were: the Filmmuseum in Vienna, Austria; the Toulouse Film Festival in France; the Mexican Embassy in Peking, China and the UCLA Film and Television Archive.[20]

Researchers or filmmakers needing to access stock film footage or additional documents can do so through the Stock Footage Library or Documentation Department. Users needing to access certain news clips or stock footage of cities or events must make a formal request to the library. The staffs will then search for, locate, and transfer the material to the applicant’s preferred format.[21] Use of the stock film library is open to all users, both national and international. Access to the material is dependent on a review of the academic or commercial merit of the material and approval by the director.[22] Researchers or faculty needing print materials to enhance curriculum, theses, magazines or film festival programs can utilize the services of the Documentation Department.[23] Apart from university students, the department responded to the inquiries of over 22 international and more than 200 national researchers in 2010.[24]

The Filmotheque has also continued its longstanding tradition of exhibitions. Every month—and virtually every day—there are screenings programmed by the Filmotheque in at least one of its eight screening rooms. Some of the screenings consist of new Hollywood or Mexican features, but the bulk of the screenings consists of thematic subjects. Currently the Filmotheque has several thematic screenings programmed, including a series on “30 years Since the Discovery of HIV,” “7 Films from Cuban Cinema,” a science fiction series titled “Traveling to the Stars” and retrospectives on the films of Billy Wilder and Mike Leigh.[25] With such an overwhelming amount of programming, it’s no surprise that in 2010 the Filmotheque screened over 1,200 titles![26]

Additionally, the Filmotheque provides students and faculty access to a special selection of DVD movies that can be rented and screened in the comfort of the user’s home. This program, called El Videoclub, harks back to the cineclubs that led to the creation of the Filmotheque. Students and faculty wishing to take advantage of this service must provide a valid ID and proof of address in order to register, similar to obtaining a membership at a Blockbuster. Once enrolled, users can borrow up to 6 movies a day at a cost of 10 pesos during the week, and 15 pesos for the weekend.[27] With over 12,000 titles ranging from Thomas Edison: Invention of the Movies (1889-1903) to Y Tu Mama Tambien (And Your Mum Too, Alfonso Cuarón 2001), the Videoclub provides users with a varied and eclectic selection that spans the entirety of the international history of film.[28]

Another program that led to the creation of the archive is also continued today by the Filmotheque. The academic exploration of film that began with 50 Lecciones de Cine is sustained by the Filmotheque’s various educational classes and seminars. These range from archival restoration workshops to the analysis of Woody Allen movies. These classes are not limited to university students; the public is welcome and encouraged to enroll.[29]

While the Filmotheque has dedicated a great deal of resources to continuing traditional forms of access, it has also embraced new technologies for the dissemination of its materials. The archive has put an increasing amount of print and video materials online. Prior to doing this, the archive had to undertake a study of derecho del autor (copyright) with regards to its collection.[30] This study was paramount for the archive, since Mexican copyright law is notorious for being extremely stringent and limiting of “fair use.”

Mexican copyright law, much like the U.S. copyright law, is outlined by the Constitution. Article 28 of the Mexican Constitution calls for the establishment of “privileges, extended for a fixed period of time, to authors and artists for the production of their works…”[31] Unlike the U.S., Mexican copyright law does not require the registration of works, they are considered copyrighted as soon as the work is incorporated in a tangible medium for distribution, such as letters, signs, sounds, images, etc. This protection is good for the duration of the author’s life plus 75 years. [32] This type of loose interpretation of the start of copyright makes the determination of when a film enters the public domain or can be considered an orphan film difficult. Compounding this, Mexico’s “fair use” provision is much less navigable than the U.S.’ Mexico does allow a limited amount of “fair use” as long as “the law states it expressly and the normal exploitation of the work is not affected.”[33] However, the law goes on to list a number of limitations to how “fair use” material can be used. For example, a user is allowed to copy parts of a work for a critique or a research paper. However, the user cannot distribute copies of their paper because it copies the material originally copied. In this case, the user would have to gain permission from the rights holder.[34] With such a restrictive nature of the copyright law, the Filmotheque was wise to undertake a study of how to provide access under the law.

Once the study was completed, the archive was able to determine what materials it would be able to put online. In order to avoid any litigation against the Filmotheque, and to protect rights holders, the archive decided to only provide online access to materials that it owned copyright to or had received permission to use. Currently, the Filmotheque has two websites dedicated to online access, El Cine y la Revolucion (The Cinema and the Revolution) and Cine En Linea (Online Cinema). The Revolution website consists of a collection of select digitized posters, lobby cards, and production stills and clips of movies created during or inspired by the Mexican Revolution.[35] The Online Cinema website is the more ambitious of the two.

Through its Online Cinema site, the Filmotheque hopes to provide internet users with access to some of the archive’s film titles and productions. The site consists of Cine Silente (Silent Film) and La Vida en Mexico en 18 Lustres (Life in Mexico in 18 lustrums) collection. The Silent Film collection consists of three feature length silent films: Tepeyac, (Carlos E. Gonzáles; José Manuel Ramos and Fernando Sáyago, 1917); El Tren Fantasma (The Phantom Train, Gabriel García Moreno, 1926); and El Puño de Hierro (The Iron Fist, Gabriel García Moreno, 1927). All three movies are significant in the history of Mexican Cinema and are presented with both archival and programming notes.[36] “Life in Mexico” is a documentary series created by the Filmotheque that consists of 18 films that illustrate the history of Mexico through the perspective of the moving image. Each film covers a 5 year period of Mexican history and includes newsreel and documentary footage and clips from feature films.[37] The Filmotheque avoided any infringement by going to every copyright holder, explaining how their material would be used and disseminated, and obtaining their permission for this project.[38] This type of undertaking is a sign of things to come; the Filmotheque is committed to utilizing available technology to make more of its collection available online.

The creation and development of the Filmotheque at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) is truly exceptional. What started as small office from which screenings were organized and copies of 16mm prints were loaned to student cineclubs has developed into one of the most prestigious and important film archives in Latin America, if not the world. Throughout its 50 year history, the Filmotheque has played a pivotal role in the collection, preservation, restoration and exhibition of both national and international cinema and has remained committed to its founding principle of providing access to its rich collections through both traditional and innovative methods.

This paper was written for MIAS 250, Access to Moving Image Collections, taught by Mark Quigley during Winter Quarter 2012.

Endnotes