Mexico independent cinema exhibition book IMCINE, Digi Mart USA News (Mexico City): Mexico’s Secretariat of Culture, through the Mexican Film Institute (IMCINE), presented the book “Exhibir cine en México.” Stories from Different Territories, which gathers experiences from independent cinemas, film clubs, traveling projects and community spaces that help circulate Mexican film and build ties with audiences.
In the text that opens the book, Secretary of Culture Claudia Curiel de Icaza stresses that recognizing the right in law is only the starting point. Making it effective requires public policies and the daily work of those who program, screen and build relationships with their audiences.
The presentation took place on November 4, 2026, at the Casa Universitaria del Libro (CASUL) of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). IMCINE Director General Daniela Alatorre Benard welcomed the Institute’s renewed focus on film exhibition, saying she hoped the pages would help people recognize one another across projects, share ideas and contribute to the discussion of those considering opening a space or starting an exhibition program in the country.
Alatorre Benard noted that IMCINE supports alternative spaces through the loan of Mexican films, thematic curation and film showcases, as well as support from the Mexican Film Promotion Program (FOCINE) in its exhibition component. She also highlighted that the Federal Law on Film and the Audiovisual, published in 2026, recognizes alternative exhibition spaces and access to cinema as a cultural right.
The event brought together representatives of independent spaces and collectives from different regions of the country, including projects from Guadalajara, Guanajuato and Toluca, who filled the room.
The book compiles 33 testimonies from projects in 19 federal entities, whose leaders describe their origins, forms of organization and challenges. It also includes a map of the 801 alternative spaces registered in the 2025 Mexican Film Statistical Yearbook.
Professor and researcher Ana Rosas Mantecón, author of the text “Exhibir cine en los márgenes,” included in the publication, reflected on the role of independent spaces as places of encounter and coexistence. “In my text I spoke of third spaces, which are places that are neither home nor work, but are the spaces that nourish the social fabric, the collective fabric,” she said.
The community dimension is reflected, for example, in the Cineclub Itinerante La Comarca in Lerdo, Durango, which holds screenings in plazas and schools that draw more than 500 people. In Chiapas, Kinoki Foro Cultural Independiente operates two fixed screening rooms and an itinerant program in which communities take part in choosing the films.
Programmer and researcher Isabel Rojas, linked to Oaxaca Cine and author of the text “Por los pequeños cines,” stressed the importance of documenting independent exhibition experiences. “Being able to historicize those ways of doing things that each of us has, and making this account a bit broader, a mapping, an atlas of exhibition and programming, I think is something extremely valuable in this publication,” she said.
Speaking from the experience of Cinema Nahual in Xalapa, Veracruz, Rafael López Vásquez highlighted the importance of creating spaces of encounter for audiences. “The responsibility is to create safe spaces so people can feel sheltered and also welcome, and see themselves reflected in the films, in cinema, in the stories we screen,” he said.
From the audience perspective, Cecilia Medina of Docu al Parque, a nine-year-old Guadalajara project, shared the challenges of bringing Mexican documentaries to public spaces and the labor difficulties faced by those who sustain these initiatives.
A free digital version of “Exhibir cine en México. Historias desde distintos territorios” is available for consultation and download at imcine.gob.mx.
