The Malaga Festival withdraws a movie attributable to accusations of sexist violence in opposition to its director | Culture | EUROtoday

The Malaga Festival has eliminated the movie from its programming The day is lengthy and darkish, of the American director Julio Hernández Cordón, for having been accused of “acts of gender violence.” The administration of the Malaga Spanish Film Festival, which can be held from March 1 to 10, has made this choice to “avoid situations that could threaten the vulnerability of the affected people and in line with the firm commitment of this festival to to any type of violence against women and in favor of full equality of rights, guaranteeing protection to victims in any context and circumstance,” as reported in a press release.

The accusations in opposition to the director grew to become public through the month of May 2022. Four ladies made public their tales of bodily and emotional violence on the web site of Las Landetas, an nameless collective of pros within the Mexican movie trade whose major goal is to “make visible the violence that is part of the spaces of instruction and work.” The victims' testimonies describe assaults and psychological abuse, along with transmitting a sexually transmitted illness to certainly one of them realizing that she had it, in line with the complainant. “He knew that this disease was active at the time and yet he did not communicate it,” the lady states in her story. “He harassed me and insisted for months to participate as his character, when we met he was very intense and rude so I didn't want to do it. “He continued to harass and harass me,” summarizes one other of them.

In statements to EL PAÍS, Julio Hernández explains that the complaints are between seven and ten years previous and that they pertain to “toxic relationships and arguments as a couple” that he had with these ladies. “What I did has no justification,” he acknowledges, however on the similar time he factors out that not one of the complaints have reached the courts. “The strongest thing that happened was the spread of the disease. It is sexual violence. I should have communicated it ahead of time, I screwed up. I am aware that we live in a patriarchy, that I have had sexist and toxic attitudes. I have learned my lesson,” says Hernández. The filmmaker emphasizes that between the top of 2022 and the start of 2023 he participated in a course on male violence “to control frustrations and override sexist authorities.” “There is nothing against me, I did not hit anyone, there was no harassment or rape or anything like that,” Hernández insists. “During my productions, no one has complained about my filming. I believe in second chances. And my right to work is also being denied,” he emphasizes.

Hernández claims to have realized concerning the withdrawal of his movie, the ninth in his skilled profession, by way of the press. As he defined, weeks after his work was chosen to take part within the contest, he himself notified the group of the accusations in opposition to him. Later, one of many Human Resources managers answerable for the pageant's anti-sexist violence protocols wrote to him to request details about what occurred to decide. The filmmaker supplied a certificates of getting attended the coaching course for seven months, in addition to a press release through which he acknowledged his dedication to “restore” the harm dedicated. “I assume that I was violent with my words, with my silences, actions and emotions,” he emphasizes within the textual content, to which this newspaper has had entry.

The final communication with the pageant, through electronic mail, was two weeks in the past. According to the director himself and sources from the manufacturing firm, nobody, since then, has formally knowledgeable them of the withdrawal of his movie. Festival sources haven’t responded to this newspaper as to why the movie was withdrawn on the final minute, simply 72 hours earlier than the premiere of the work within the ZonaZine part. “We are not going to make any further statements regarding this,” the group has indicated.

Julio Hernández Cordón, born 49 years in the past in North Carolina to a Mexican father and Guatemalan mom, is an impartial movie director, producer, documentary filmmaker and screenwriter. Your film Buy me a revolver competed in Cannes 2018 and for I promise you anarchy He was nominated in 2016 as greatest director for the Ariel Award from the Mexican Film Academy. His first function movie, Gasoline (2008), was acknowledged with the Horizontes Latinos award on the San Sebastián Film Festival.

At the Malaga Festival, The day is lengthy and darkish It was scheduled within the ZonaZine Official Feature Film Section. Shot in Mexico and scripted and directed by Hernández Cordón, it addresses the connection between a daughter and her mother and father by way of vampirism. It stars Carla Nieto, Luis Alberti, Mila Mijangos and Eli Acosta. The filmmaker has two daughters who reside in Guatemala and a son who lives in Malaga.