Screenings are free, but ticketed. Que viva Mexico! (1932/1979) Directed by Sergei Eisenstein and Grigori Aleksandrov October 30 - Wednesday - 7:00 p.m. Que viva Mexico! is the result of a film project Sergei Eisenstein undertook in Mexico from 1930-1932, with the financial backing of Upton and Mary Sinclair, to make a history of the country. Eisenstein shot approximately 200,000 feet of footage but never saw it processed or edited the film to completion. The version screened tonight was edited in 1979 by Eisenstein’s friend and collaborator, Grigory Aleksandrov, who worked from Eisenstein’s notes and letters. The film is structured episodically, “a chain of novellas held together by a set of linking ideas”—most prominently life, death, and rebirth. In Spanish language with English subtitles. (16mm. 90 min. Not Rated.) El compadre Mendoza (1933) Directed by Fernando de Fuentes October 28 - Monday - 7:00 p.m. El compadre (Godfather) Mendoza narrates the travails of Rosalío Mendoza, an estate owner caught between warring forces during the Mexican Revolution around 1915. His survival depends on feigning allegiance to whichever force appears on his doorstep. Caught between Zapatistas and Carrancistas, each of which provides necessary support, Mendoza is left with impossible choices. The film's bitter finale can be seen as both a commentary on the opportunism of the New Order inaugurated by Carranza and de Fuentes’s interest in finding a Mexican aesthetic to replace the customary Hollywood ending. In Spanish language with English subtitles. (35mm. 85 min. Not Rated.) Professor John Mraz is scheduled to introduce. cinema.indiana.edu Looking for Mexico 51