The Guanajuato International Film Festival (Festival Internacional de Cine Guanajuato or GIFF), in collaboration with Guanajuato’s Secretary of State Health, recently announced the launch of the campaign “Cero Violencia Contra la Mujer” (“Zero Violence Against Women”)—and Oscar-nominated actress Yalitza Aparicio will be the spokesperson for the initiative. GIFF organizers say that Aparicio expressed her interest a few months ago, and that her voice will be key in spreading the message.
“She wants to join the campaign, and as a woman she’s interested in speaking up. She’s a powerful voice, and a presence that we’re all interested in. If she raises her voice and adds her name to the project, more people will listen,” GIFF’s director Sarah Hoch, told Notimex. “We needed an empowering image, and as a woman, she was very interested in this campaign,” Hoch added.
According to a statement released by GIFF, the organization has been working “against gender violence in all its expressions with diverse platforms and campaigns year after year.” This is the fourth edition of the festival where organizers will take on different initiatives to address gender violence. One of them will be the installation of “Un Espacio Libre De Violencia” (“A Space Free of Violence”), where experts will offer psychological services to survivors of gender violence.
“It’s a topic that Yalitza cares about, and she already wants to begin speaking about it,” Hoch told Notimex, “she liked what we were proposing.”
Mexican actress Yalitza Aparicio poses at the red carpet of the 61st edition of the Ariel awards ceremony, at the Cineteca Nacional in Mexico City on June 24, 2019. (Photo by Alfredo Estrella/AFP/Getty Images)
During the 2019 Mexican Film Academy’s Ariel awards, actresses like Aparicio, film directors and others in the film industry, wore a red bandana in support of the gender equality campaign #YaEsHora (#TimesUp). The three pillars that women stood for were against sexual harassment, in support of equal pay, and in support of the need for more stories that focus on gender.
GIFF has been taking place since 1988 in San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato Capital. Programs include film screenings, workshops, conferences and concerts—all free for attendees. This year the festival will also feature a “Yo Me Comprometo” (“I promise”) campaign against suicide, with the host and actor Faisy as its spokesperson. The festival is set to take place for ten days beginning July 19. The presentation featuring Aparicio will take place on July 20.
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Amanda Alcántara is the Digital Media Editor at Futuro Media. She tweets from @YoSoy_Amanda.
[…] after Mexico’s #MeToo movement (using several hashtags such as #metooescritoresmexicanos and #YaEsHora) was sparked, when women in journalism, academia, film, politics, law, and Hollywood spoke out […]