Q&A with Inti Cordera, Executive Director of DocsMX
Highlights from our Instagram Live with Executive Director of DocsMX
DocsMX is an international documentary festival in Mexico. As part of our “Disruptors” series, we’ll be talking to Executive Director, Inti Cordera, about the event, the training programmes they offer and using cinema as a tool for social change.
Q: I think when you’re talking about how you founded DocsMX, there’s also the relationship with the industry that documentaries inhabit, and how that has evolved since you founded it. What are the challenges now for really thinking about cinema as a tool for social change?
A: There are a lot of industry challenges. A film has never been easier to do. We can now, rather than 10 or 20 years ago, shoot a film with a mobile phone. The technology capacities have brought to our hands the possibility of making films and sharing stories easier than ever. There has not been a time as now, where so many films are produced. It’s amazing how content is developed, is produced for platforms for broadcasters, for digital platforms, for the internet, for YouTube.
We do films. And making films represents a strategy for funding, the process of developing, of producing and distribution. It’s weird to think that there is so much money placed on these (streaming) platforms. The programming of the platform is the same as the private television 20 years ago. Industry and the process of production and distribution – this is a very complex challenge.
The other big challenge is the call for action. Some time ago, and even now, many films introduced us to the problem and sometimes didn’t give us a clue of what the solution is. And what I find now watching some films is that it is becoming a commitment of filmmakers not only to introduce the problem, but also to give us a glimpse of the solution.This is also a challenge, to connect the people that are doing the film with the people inside the film, and the people that will bring the idea of saying, Okay, this is happening. I don’t know how many thousands of miles far from here. But it’s a reality that is being seen here.
Q: How do we carry those tools of social change into the private realms of someone watching your documentary on their phone?
A: We talk a lot about these “impact campaigns,” that are becoming a way of bringing the films to other communities. Not only the traditional theatrical film venues, but also in the communities where you can connect a USB to the television to view in your house. It is important to understand that these kinds of films should be an invitation to work together with different kinds of organisations, filmmakers, film festivals or organisations. To build a network and guide the audience into a new way of sharing the experience of film who will say, “We saw the film, let’s talk about it.”
Q: What lies ahead for DocsMX and how can future filmmakers get involved and approach the festival?
A: After 18 years, we have learned where we are and what we do. We believe that our work is important. This is why we are trying to make DocsMX not only a recognised film festival that takes place every year in October in Mexico City, and some other parts of Mexico but we have also started our training program. Right now we are doing a series of workshops around regions of Mexico for more than 50 projects and close to 100 filmmakers from the north to the south. Training is so important for us.
We’ll be opening a call for projects for one of the workshops that takes place in Doc’s Lab. A workshop for Latin American, Spanish, and Portuguese projects. We’re also trying to expand our very small BLD platform we built and created in 2020. Since we didn’t know whether we were able to screen films in theatres in the pandemic year, we created a digital venue. After 2020, we said we may create these boutique platforms, sharing a catalogue of close to 90 films, including documentary, long feature films, some shorts, a catalogue of Mexican production from 2006 to 2020.
Eight years ago we started thinking we could collaborate with other states and make small versions of the festival that depend on the willingness of the state governments to support these kinds of initiatives. We love what we do. We are passionate about what we do. And sharing these ideas with the people we know, the people we meet, and the people we work with, now with One World Media, and maybe something will come from this conversation.
Q: Any final words?
A: In docs we trust.
Catch up on the full conversation here.