Pictures of the Mexican Revolution: cinema and politics in documentary records

Abstract

This article shows the connections between cinema and history in the two first decades in XX century in Mexico. The cinema arrived in Mexico in a session dedicated to Porfirio Díaz. The president soon became the first star movie in mexican cinema, interested in its publicity potencial. The movies were seen as historical documents that pointed the true. The Mexican Revolution redefined the cinema role showing the social movement by the contact between the filmaker and the national politic moment. The development of the revolution after its battle phase, and the process of institucionalization of its discourse in the official sphere removed the protest power from the documental images. The image of Zapata dead body went all the country through and became a emblem of this project.

cinema; history; Mexican Revolution