México Now Festival (MXNOW) is thrilled to celebrate its 20th anniversary from November 20 to 24 with five nights of music, photography, film, multimedia art, and a community celebration. All events are free to attend with an RSVP and will take place at the festival’s new hub for 2024: Chelsea Factory.

Over the past two decades, MXNOW has provided a pivotal pipeline connecting Mexico and the United State’s arts and cultural communities. The festival has presented over 500 artists to audiences of tens of thousands of New Yorkers partnering with over 150 venues and cultural institutions throughout the 5 boroughs.

Schedule:

Wednesday, November 20, 2024

6:30 pm

Photography / Book Presentation
Patrimonio with Santiago Arau

Mexico City-born photographer and social media phenomenon Santiago Arau (@santiago_arau) will present Patrimonio, a newly released publication of photographs detailing the landscape and beauty of Anáhuac, the Valley of Mexico. Captured between 2015 and 2023, the almost 200 images in the book explore the territory’s heritage, geography, and culture to provide a chronicle of the region.

Arau has attracted nearly a quarter-million followers on Instagram for his exquisitely framed and deeply moving aerial photos. His use of drones offers a fresh perspective on uncommon scenes, creating a unique sense of his homeland’s density and complexity.

Following the book presentation, stay for a live Q&A with Santiago Arau. Learn about his work as a photographer and participate in a discussion where he will share more about his creative process.

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Thursday, November 21, 2024

7pm

Film / Screening
Morelia International Film Festival Selected Shorts

México Now Festival (MXNOW) joins forces again with long-time collaborator Morelia International Film Festival (FICM) to present award-winning short films that have been shown as part of MXNOW over the last 20 years. FICM is one of Mexico’s most renowned gatherings for contemporary cinematography, bringing to light the most compelling fiction, cutting-edge animation, and insightful documentaries.

Ivette Mercado, film editor and MXNOW team member, has curated a special selection of FICM shorts for the festival’s run at Chelsea Factory. All shorts will be presented in Spanish with English subtitles. Following the screening, stay for a live Q&A with Mexican filmmakers and representatives of the Morelia Film Fest. Seize the opportunity to hear directly from the creative minds shaping Mexican moviemaking!

This screening is presented with additional support from Festival Internacional de Cine De Morelia, Cinema Tropical and Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica, A.C.

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2004. The Sixth Section. Directed by Alex Rivera

“The Sixth Section” opens a surprising window on immigration in the twenty-first century. Following a group of Mexican immigrants from the tiny desert town of Boqueron who now work in upstate New York, the film documents their struggle to support themselves — and their hometown 2000 miles to the south. To do this, the men form a ‘union’ that raises money in the form of weekly donations of $10 or $20 from each of its members in New York. In the past few years the group has brought electricity, an ambulance and, most dramatically, a 2,000-seat baseball stadium to Boqueron. “The Sixth Section” is an intimate portrait of how ‘The American Dream’ is being redefined by today’s immigrants.

Duration: 26 Min

Friday, November 22, 2024

6:30 pm

Performing Arts / Community Celebration
Fandango Jarocho Newyorkino

Fandango Jarocho Newyorkino is a family-friendly community celebration filled with music and dance courtesy of the fandanguero community of New York City. This one-night-only event is inspired by fandango jarocho, a living cultural tradition over 400 years old from the coastal region of southern Mexico, but infused with distinctive New York influences. Everyone is welcome!

The roots of fandango jarocho go back to the spontaneous jams that would inevitably arise whenever neighboring rural townships gathered at local festivals and markets in Mexico. Performers and artisans would share poetry, theater, food, fashion, and music: jaranas, violins, harps, folksongs, and zapateados around a wooden platform called tarima. The sharing spirit of these gatherings expanded across the country, developing into rituals that have inspired meaningful cross-cultural connections.

This event is presented with The Latinx Project at NYU.

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Saturday, November 23, 2024

7:00 pm

Music / Concert
Coro Acardenchado

Join Coro Acardenchado (The Acardenchado Choir) for a night of freestyle improvisation, body percussion, and amazing vocal techniques. This unique choir was founded by musician Juan Pablo Villa in Mexico City as an homage to the cardenche song, a traditional a cappella chant for trios from Durango in north-central Mexico. The term cardenche comes from cardo (thistle) –a plant full of thorns that are more painful to remove than to get pricked with –and is an allegory of love.

Coro Acardenchado is directed by Juan Pablo Villa, in collaboration with María Emilia Martínez and Leika Mochán, and also hosts guest directors such as Tareke Ortiz and Leonadro Soqui. The group has performed across multiple Mexican theaters and forums, including the renowned International Cervantino Festival and the Day of the Dead Parade in Mexico City.

This concert is presented in collaboration with Music of the Americas at Americas Society.

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Sunday, November 24, 2024

5:00 pm

Multimedia Art / Sonic Essay
Echoes from the Borderlands

In this one-of-a-kind experimental sound work, acclaimed author Valeria Luiselli, composer Leonardo Heilblum, and multimedia artist Ricardo Giraldo will perform a powerful one-hour-long excerpt from Echoes from the Borderlands, a “sonic essay” that documents the histories of violence and resistance against land and bodies in the US-Mexico border.

The project is still in development and lasts 24 hours –the driving time along the border from San Diego to the Texas Gulf Coast. Echoes from the Borderlands interweaves a rich tapestry of soundscapes, music, poetry, essays, interviews, and archival material. The work also connects issues that have marked the borderlands, such as the genocide of native peoples, nuclear testing, migration, femicide, vigilantism, human trafficking, and mass detention.

Excerpts from Echoes from the Borderlands have also been presented at Joe’s Pub, Harvard University, and the University of California at Berkeley, among others.

Echoes from the Borderlands is being developed in partnership with Dia Art Foundation.

This performance is presented with NYU Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS).

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Date: November 20 - 24, 2024

Location:
Chelsea Factory
547 W 26th St,
New York, NY 10001

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