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Perpetual Motion: The Cinema of Nicolás Pereda

Screening of Nicolás Pereda's film Todo, en fin, el silencio lo ocupaba (All Things Were Now Overtaken By Silence).

Sunday, August 28, 2011
7:00 PM
Billy Wilder Theater
Hammer Museum
10899 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles,

Perpetuum mobile is Latin for “perpetual motion” and in musical terms, it can be a composition in which large sections are repeated, often at a different pitch, for effect. It’s also the title of Nicolás Pereda’s third feature. But perpetuum mobile, in both senses of the phrase, could also describe Pereda’s body of work as a whole. Since his first feature in 2007, Where are Their Stories?, earned him international acclaim and comparisons to filmmakers such as Pedro Costa and Lisandro Alonso, Pereda has worked seemingly non-stop, producing four more features and a short, each of which speaks to the others through repeated themes, characters, actors and forms. It’s a remarkably unified career that critic Robert Koehler has described as, “one grand, unfolding cinema exploration, revealed in succinct sections all under 90 minutes.”

Born in Mexico City and residing in Toronto, Pereda has shot all of his films in his native Mexico where divisions of class and geography—rich and poor, rural and urban—fuel his fascination with crossing boundaries and blurring categories, especially fiction and non-fiction. Earthy and deeply rooted in the local, a groundedness derived in no small part from Pereda’s outstanding regular company of performers, including Gabino Rodríguez and Teresa Sánchez, Pereda’s films are often also punctuated by heady cinematic play. Different takes or rehearsals of a scene may be presented in succession (Perpetuum Mobile, Summer of Goliath) or what appears to be a documentary interview could be an audition (Interview with the Earth), each note of ambiguity a nod to the constructed nature of the image that, rather than break the illusion, deepen its mystery.

About the Film:

TODO, EN FIN, EL SILENCIO LO OCUPABA (ALL THINGS WERE NOW OVERTAKEN BY SILENCE) (2009)

Director Nicolás Pereda’s fascination with the filmmaking process comes to the fore in a work that represents a break from and a deeper investigation into the forms and themes of his previous films. In this fi lm within a film, artist and activist Jesusa Rodríguez performs Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz’s poem First I Dream, or rather prepares to perform as a camera crew sets up shots to film her. Along the way, Pereda reveals how moments of stillness, concentration and contemplation shape the act of creation.

61 Minutes | In Spanish with English Subtitles

 

Cost: Free to UCLA students with valid ID; $10 Online; $9 At the Door; $8 non-ucla students & seniors (door)

Special Instructions

To purchase advance tickets, please visit the link below. Parking Information: Parking is available in the lot under the theater. Enter from Westwood Blvd., just north of Wilshire. Parking for people with disabilities is provided on levels P1 and P3. After 6pm: $3.00 flat rate. Before 6pm: $3.00 for first 3 hours with Museum validation and $1.50 per 20 minutes thereafter, maximum $12 per day. To obtain validation stamp show your ticket stub at the security desk in the Wilshire Lobby.

www.cinema.ucla.edu/events/2011-08-12/perpetual-motion-cinema-pereda

Download File: Nicolas_Pereda_Series-yl-3ov.pdf

Sponsor(s): Latin American Institute, Center for Mexican Studies, Film and Television Archive, Spanish and Portuguese