Almada’s films are mainly focused on the effects of free trade agreements, narcotraffiking and immigration on the Mexican culture, according to IU ?Cinema.
Two of her films will be shown at the cinema this week for her visit to campus.
“Al Otro Lado (To the Other Side)” is a 2005 film that follows the story of Magdiel, a 23-year-old from a small fishing village in Mexico. Due to economic difficulties, he has to choose to join a drug trade or risk his life crossing the desert to the U.S.
“Al Otro Lado” will be screened 7 p.m. today ?followed by a question-and-answer session with Almada.
Almada’s second film will be screened 7 p.m. Tuesday.
“El Velador (The Nightwatchman)” is a film about the Mexican drug trade told through the central character, Martin. Martin watches over the mausoleums of drug lords in Culiacán. After the film, Almada will conduct a Q&A session.
Assistant professors in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese Jonathan Risner and Andrés Guzmán organized Almada’s visit.
“Each one of Natalia Almada’s documentaries is distinct in style and pace and poses fundamental questions about how one views and understands contemporary phenomena such as popular music, immigration, local fishing industries and the drug trade,” Risner said in an IU Cinema press release.
Almada earned a MFA in photography from the Rhode Island School of Design. Her films have been screened at the Sundance Film Festival, the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim ?Museum.
“In the case of ‘El Velador,’ what is most remarkable about Almada’s work is the poignant and poetic manner in which she treats her subject: a brutally violent drug trade. She approaches it through observation and shows its repercussions without ever putting the graphic violence itself on display,” Risner said in the release.
The film screenings are free but ticketed. Tickets for the films can be picked up at the IU Auditorium box office or at IU Cinema one hour prior to the screening.
Almada’s lecture is free and doesn’t require a ticket, although seating is limited.
Alison Graham
