The west of Mexico City opens a new cultural complex: the Cineteca de Chapultepec, alternate headquarters of the most important non-commercial exhibition space in the country, the Cineteca Nacional. Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Claudia Sheinbaum inaugurated the venue on September 24. In the words of the president of Mexico, “Chapultepec belongs to all Mexicans” and this work is a “benefit for the people.”
It opens its doors in a converted building that served as a weapons assembly plant for the Mexican Army. The new cinema library is part of the Chapultepec: Nature and Culture project, an ambitious plan that aims to remodel the largest green space in the capital, a forest of 800 hectares and four sections, through a growing cultural offer and the ecological restoration of Chapultepec .
The new cinema library is built in the fourth section of the Chapultepec Forest, a space that until 2021 functioned as a military camp with exclusive access to the army. The architectural project by the Mexican Mauricio Rocha It aims to integrate organically into the green spaces of the forest through transparent facades where wood predominates.
The Chapultepec Cinematheque will have eight rooms and an outdoor forum, as well as candy stores, a cafeteria, a bookstore, a video library, a restaurant and an exhibition hall. In addition, a few meters from the venue there will be the Chapultepec Cinematographic Training Center, which will receive 280 students and there will also be the National Art Warehouse, a complex under construction that will function as a gallery, site museum and space for the conservation of the artistic heritage of the country.
It is an attempt to emulate the success of the Cineteca Nacional, the heart of Mexico’s film culture, a 10-screen complex located south of the capital, whose last remodeling, in November 2012, raised its popularity to more of one million viewers in 2019 before the covid-19 pandemic. The Cineteca serves as one of the few non-commercial exhibition spaces in Mexico City with an almost inexhaustible supply of movie theaters operated by Cinépolis and Cinemex, the two large chains that dominate exhibition in the country. Only in the capital, the Statistical Yearbook of Mexican Cinema 2022 It accounted for 1,823 screens distributed in 214 commercial cinemas, compared to 205 non-commercial exhibition spaces. The new Chapultepec Cineteca will become the second alternate headquarters, after the inauguration of the National Arts Cineteca in August 2023.
How much do free tickets and performances cost?
Throughout the month, the film library will offer free screenings, with a program with films that represent the native communities, according to information from the Secretary of Culture Alejandra Frausto. The first film that was screened was Unísono by Carlos Lara and films such as Valentina by Ángeles Cruz and Ch’ul be, senta sacred by Humberto Gómez Pérez stand out. In addition to these films, different short films will be shown.
Once the promotion ends, general admission will be 70 pesos and 50 pesos for those under 25 years of age, students and seniors. Tuesday and Wednesday the cost is 50 pesos for anyone and for all functions.
How to get to the Chapultepec Cinematheque
It is located in the Military Industries neighborhood of Sedena, in the Álvaro Obregón mayor’s office. Separated from the rest of the sections by Constituciónntes Avenue, a six-lane road that connects the center with the west of the capital, the fourth section of the Forest joins the rest of the lung of the city through Cablebús Line 3, whose Cineteca Chapultepec station connects directly to the complex. Attendees can also arrive by Interurban Train, at the Vasco de Quiroga station. For those traveling by car, you must cross Constituciónntes Avenue or Reforma Avenue.
Subscribe here to the EL PAÍS Mexico newsletter and receive all the key information on current events in this country
