Mexican sound cinema debut and recent film world deaths, Digi Mart USA News: Tuesday, November 3, marked 95 years since filming began on Santa, directed by Antonio Moreno and considered the first sound film of Mexico’s film industry, according to a column published by Vanguardia.
Citing Emilio García Riera’s Historia documental del cine mexicano, the column says Santa was shot from November 3, 1931, to January 5, 1932, at the Nacional Productora studios and on locations in what was then the Federal District, now Mexico City, including Chimalistac and Plaza Popocatépetl. The production cost 45,000 pesos and was based on the classic naturalist novel by Federico Gamboa.
The column quotes Lupita Tovar’s autobiography, Lupita Tovar: La novia de México, written by her son Pancho Kohner, in which she recalls that the sound engineering was led by Joselito Rodríguez, supported by his brother Roberto. She describes the family moving from Mexico City to California, training in Los Angeles, and bringing their equipment to Mexico by train at the order of President Pascual Ortiz Rubio.
Tovar also described the shoot as one of the best experiences of her life, noting the modest facilities at the Chapultepec studio and the group’s pride in being pioneers of Mexico’s sound film industry.
The column also reports the death, at age 93, of Italian filmmaker Tinto Brass on Wednesday, November 4, best known for the cult film Caligula (1979), starring Malcolm McDowell and Helen Mirren. Streaming platform MUBI recently restored the film’s final cut for its catalog.
On Friday, November 6, the column reports the death of Chilean director Sebastián Lelio at age 52. Lelio won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film in 2017 for A Fantastic Woman.
