Celebrating 45 years since its foundation, Mexico’s Cineteca Nacional (National Film Library) has become one of the most important spaces for the Mexican film industry , film lovers, and the international film community.
With 10 screening rooms, a free-access forum, a Gallery, and a Digital Video Library , the Xoco venue now has more than 17 thousand film copies.
The Film Library was born as a state-owned film archive in charge of preserving the country’s film heritage as part of a plan to restructure the industry in 1970 . It opened its doors on January 17, 1974 .
Originally located in Mexico City’s Churubusco Studios , the venue started one of its most important activities to date: The International Film Exhibition , which was founded in 1971 . In 1980 , the Film Library created an International Forum , an additional series of screenings meant to promote new and avant-garde filmmakers.
According to official data, there was a fire on March 24, 1982 that led to the loss of 6,506 films, 9,275 books and magazines, and around 2,300 original scripts . Due to the irreparable damage of cinema halls and the theater vault , the building had to be abandoned.
The new facility was inaugurated on January 27, 1984 , located in the former Compositores Plaza , though at that time, it only had four cinema halls, a documentation department, and a library.
In 2011, the National Council for Culture and the Arts (CONACULTA) modernized and extended the National Film Library , adding four new cinema halls with a seating capacity of 180 people , a free-access forum , and the remodeling of the old cinema halls.
A 700-square-meter vault was also built with capacity to store 50 thousand films and a digital restoration laboratory for the development of a program to rescue old films.
At present, the National Film Library has a film collection of more than 17,750 35mm and 16mm films, positive and negative . Furthermore, the Cineteca Nacional stores numerous photographs, photomontages, and billboards. The Carlos Monsiváis Digital Video Library also has a long list of films available for all audiences.
The venue also has a Documentation Center and a Gallery where original works and memorabilia of some of the most important filmmakers in history, such as Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock, and Walt Disney are exhibited.
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