''Beauties of the Night'' (in Spanish ''Bellas de noche'') is a 2016 Mexican

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

. It is the first production of the filmmaker María José Cuevas. The film shows a glimpse of the glory, sunset and resurgence of five of the main showgirls ( vedettes) that triumphed in Mexico in the decades of the 1970s and 1980s.

Synopsis

They were the ''Queens of the Night'' in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

in the 1970's and 1980's. The names of the great vedettes illuminated the streets of

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

from the canopies of the big nightclubs, cabarets and theaters. But time passed. Nightlife changed in Mexico. New types of entertainment replaced them and the vedettes seemed to have been forgotten. Today, more than forty years of its splendor in the country's nightlife, ''Beauties of the Night'' explores the lives of five of the top vedettes of the golden years: Olga Breeskin,

Lyn May Lilia Guadalupe Mendiola Mayares (born December 12, 1952), better known by her stage name Lyn May, is a Mexican vedette, exotic dancer and actress. She was one of the most popular Mexican vedettes during the 1970s and 1980s, a popular sex symb ...

Rossy Mendoza María del Rosario Mendoza (stage name, Rossy Mendoza; June 6, 1950) is a Mexican vedette, actress, dancer and singer. During the 1970s–1980s, she was one of the highest grossing artists in the Mexican sex comedy film genre. Biography Rossy ...

, Wanda Seux and

Princesa Yamal Isabel Camila Masiero (born in Mendoza, Argentina), better known by her stage name Princesa Yamal, is a Mexican vedette, actress and dancer of Argentine origin. She was one of the most popular Mexican vedettes during the 1970s and 1980s. Care ...

. The film shows the viewer a deeper facet of the current life of these five vedettes. Women who, despite the years and have taken their lives to the extreme, are full of life and with an enviable physical condition. Not only have they managed to reinvent themselves and survive in the show business, but also in life itself. Between laughter and tears, the film reflects the passage of years, emotions and personal challenges for the life of each of these women.

Cast

* Olga Breeskin *

* Wanda Seux *

Production

The title of the documentary evokes the film ''

Bellas de noche ''Bellas de noche'' (in English ''Beauties by Night''), also known as ''Las ficheras'', is a Mexican film directed by Miguel M. Delgado. It was filmed in 1975 and starring Sasha Montenegro and Jorge Rivero. It is regarded as the film that began t ...

'', the first film of the so-called Cine de ficheras, which dates back to 1975. The idea of Cuevas to pay homage to these women arises from her childhood. Cuevas, daughter of the prestigious Mexican artist

José Luis Cuevas José Luis Cuevas (February 26, 1934 – July 3, 2017) was a Mexican artist, he often worked as a painter, writer, draftsman, engraver, illustrator, and printmaker. Cuevas was one of the first to challenge the then dominant Mexican muralism ...

, had contact with several of these women, who were friends of her father. Years later, Cuevas had a meeting with Princesa Yamal, who performed an Arab dance in front of her, giving her the idea of producing this documentary, whose realization lasted for a decade. The film delivers an exercise in which the contrasts of time come to light and unveils what lies behind the stardom. You can appreciate an honest, dynamic and effective exercise in which remains the curiosity to know more details. Although the documentary came from the idea of paying homage to these women, the relationship between them and the filmmaker María José Cuevas, became so close that they became a family. The vedettes Thelma Tixou,

Sasha Montenegro Sasha Montenegro (; born Aleksandra Aćimović Popović (Cyrillic: Александра Аћимовић Поповић; 20 January 1946) is a Mexican actress of Montenegrin descent. She was married to the late José López Portillo, a forme ...

and

Princesa Lea Susan Linda Fair, better known as Princesa Lea (born in Montreal, Quebec) is a Mexican vedette, actress, and dancer, of Canadian origin. She was one of the most popular Mexican vedettes during the 1970s and 1980s. Career She first stepped on M ...

were also considered to participate in the documentary, refusing for various reasons. The last two appear in the final credits in the acknowledgments section. The film is also favored by an enriching archive material.

Awards

Morelia International Film Festival The Morelia International Film Festival (''Spanish'': ''Festival Internacional de Cine de Morelia''; FICM) was founded in 2003 in the city of Morelia, Michoacán, México. It is an annual event that takes place during the second week of October. F ...

* Best Mexican Documentary * Best Mexican Documentary realized by a woman * Best Mexican Feature film

Los Cabos International Film Festival

* Audience Award for a Mexican Documentary film

Mexico City Awards

* Best Film

Panama International Film Festival

* Best Documentary film

Ariel Award The Ariel Award ( es, Premio Ariel) is an award that recognizes the best of Mexican cinema. Given annually, since 1946, by the Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences (AMACC), the award recognizes artistical and technical excel ...

* Best Film (Nominated) * Best Mexican Documentary Film (Nominated) * Best Edition (Nominated) * Best First Production (Nominated)

Other

International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) is the world's largest documentary film festival held annually since 1988 in Amsterdam. Over a period of twelve days, it has screened more than 300 films and sold more than 250,000 tic ...

- Official Selection. *

Toronto Film Festival Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

- Official Selection *

Telluride Film Festival The Telluride Film Festival (TFF) is a film festival held annually in Telluride, Colorado during Labor Day weekend (the first Monday in September). The 49th edition took place on September 2 -6, 2022. History First held on 30 August 1974, t ...

- Official Selection * Cartagena of Indias International Film Festival - Official Selection *

Palm Springs International Film Festival Palm Springs International Film Festival (sometimes stylized shortly as PSIFF) is a film festival held in Palm Springs, California. Originally promoted by Mayor Sonny Bono and then sponsored by Nortel,here for Table of Contents it started in 1989 ...

- Official selection * Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema - Official Selection * Film Society of Lincoln Center - Special Projection * Festival Cinema du Monde ( Sherbrooke, Nova Scotia) - Official Selection * Mexico Now Festival New York - Official Selection

References

External links

*
''Official Facebook''

''Official Twitter''

''Beauties of the Night in Ambulante.com''

''Official Trailer''

''Beauties of the Night Review in the Toronto Film Festival''

''Beauties of the Night in International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beauties of the Night (documental) Vedettes (cabaret) 2016 films 2016 documentary films Mexican documentary films 2010s Spanish-language films 2010s Mexican films