Trisha Ziff, The Mexican Suitcase (2011)

The Mexican Suitcase (2011)
Mexican-Spanish-American documentary, 86’
Directed by: Trisha Ziff; music by Michael Nyman

The Mexican Suitcase tells the story of three lost boxes, found in a closet in Mexico City in 2007, that disappeared in the chaos in Europe at the beginning of World War II. Contained in the suitcase were 4,500 unique negatives, the work of three friends, who met in Paris between 1936 and 1937, who would become some of the finest photojournalists of their time; exiled from their respective countries, Germany, Poland, and Hungary. They were radicals who understood the dangers of fascism. They traveled to Spain together to fight fascism with their cameras. They were Robert Capa, David “Chim” Seymour and Gerda Taro. Throughout the film we learn through their images the story of the war and the exile, the horrors of the French camps on the beaches of southern France where thousands of Spaniards perished. We hear the story of how Mexico pledged its total support to the Republic in exile. The suitcase, a metaphor, takes us through the narrative with the voices and memories of survivors and of the subsequent generation of exiles living in Spain, France, and Mexico. This is a film about photographs taken in the past (1937 to 1939) recovered in our present (2007). It is a film about seeing how we look and understand the past; how we ignore and bury what we prefer to turn away from; the role and the power of photography in this context.
Watch the trailer here.

Admission free. Seating is first-come first-served basis.
The film is screened in original languages with English subtitles.