Sergio Arturo García Michel (28 July 1945 – 19 September 2010) was a Mexican film director and professor, considered one of the key figures of

Super 8 Super 8 or Super Eight may refer to: Film * Super 8 film, a motion picture film format released in 1965 * Super 8 film camera, a motion picture camera used to film Super 8mm motion picture format * ''Super 8'' (2011 film), a science-fiction fi ...

cinema and part of the

counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...

movements of ''

La Onda ''La Onda'' (The Wave) was a multidisciplinary artistic movement created in Mexico by artists and intellectuals as part of the worldwide waves of the counterculture of the 1960s and the avant-garde. Pejoratively called as ''Literatura de la Onda'' ...

'' and ''Rupestre''.

Early life, studies and influences

Born on 28 July 1945 in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

, García Michel began his enthusiasm for cinema as a teenager spending entire afternoons watching films at the

Tlalpan Tlalpan ( nci, Tlālpan, , place on the earth, ) is a borough (''demarcación territorial'') in Mexico City. It is the largest borough, with over eighty percent under conservation as forest and other ecologically sensitive area. The rest, almost ...

theatre. In 1966, he bought his first

Super 8 camera A Super 8mm camera is a motion picture camera specifically manufactured to use the Super 8mm motion picture format. Super 8mm film cameras were first manufactured in 1965 by Kodak for their newly introduced amateur film format, which replaced th ...

and shot his first short film named ''Un dia''. By 1968 and already working as a publicist he enrolled at the

Centro Universitario de Estudios Cinematográficos The National School of Film Arts ( es, Escuela Nacional de Artes Cinematográficas or CUEC) is a public film school part of the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City. It was influenced by the ''Nouvelle Vague'' and by the First C ...

of the

UNAM The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...

, quitting a year later only to reenter in 1971 but quitting again in 1972 as he already had a professional career in film making. His influences were Richard Lester, Michael Lindsay-Hogg,

Kenneth Anger Kenneth Anger (born Kenneth Wilbur Anglemyer, February 3, 1927) is an American underground experimental filmmaker, actor, and author. Working exclusively in short films, he has produced almost 40 works since 1937, nine of which have been grouped ...

Michael Wadleigh Michael Wadleigh, (born September 24, 1942, in Akron, Ohio), is an American film director and cinematographer renowned for his groundbreaking documentary of the 1969 Woodstock Festival, ''Woodstock''. Biography A native of Akron, Ohio, Wadleig ...

Pino Solanas Fernando Ezequiel "Pino" Solanas (16 February 1936 – 6 November 2020) was an Argentine film director, screenwriter, and politician. His films include; '' La hora de los hornos (The Hour of the Furnaces)'' (1968), '' Tangos: el exilio de Gardel'' ...

, and counterculture intellectuals like

Abbie Hoffman Abbot Howard "Abbie" Hoffman (November 30, 1936 – April 12, 1989) was an American political and social activist who co-founded the Youth International Party ("Yippies") and was a member of the Chicago Seven. He was also a leading proponen ...

, Timothy Leary and Ken Kesey.

Works and awards

His better known works include: ''El Fin'' (Short film, Luis Buñuel Prize, Mexico City 1970), ''Ah, verdá?'' (Short film, awarded Best foreign film at Segundo Festival Super 8 in

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

, Spain 1973), ''Hacia el hombre nuevo'' (Short film, 1st prize winner at Primer Festival Internacional de Cine Súper 8 m.m. in Cali, Colombia 1976), ''La Venida del Papa'' (Documentary about Juan Pablo II in México, 1979), ''Una Larga experiencia'' (Documentary about the band Three Souls in my Mind, 1983), ''¿Por qué no me las prestas?'' (Documentary about Rockdrigo Gonzalez, 1995) and ''Un Toke de Roc: Fable in three acts'' (Movie, 1988). He was the founder of the Tlalpan Forum in 1980, an artistic hub in Mexico City, and professor/coordinator of film creation workshop at the Carrillo Gil Museum (1984–1999); in the School of writers from the General society of Mexican writers (1999–2002) and at the Union of Cinematographers (2002).

Death

On 19 September 2010, Garcia Michel was found dead in his house as a result of a heart attack.

Filmography

* ''Un dia'' (1966) * ''Natasha'' (1968) * ''Y pensar que podemos...'' (1968) * ''El fin'' (1970) * ''El psiquiatra'' (1972) * ''Luto'' (1971) * ''Sinopsis'' (1971) * ''Santa Fe'' (1971) * ''Eran tres'' (1972) * ''La lucha'' (1972) * ''Ah, verdá?'' (1973) * ''Próximamente en esta sala'' (1973) * ''¡Qué tiempos aquellos!'' (1973) * ''Campamento 2 de octubre'' (1976) * ''Hoy será mañana'' (1976) * ''Panamá, Panamá'' (1976) * ''Hacia el hombre nuevo'' (1976) * ''España: contestación al fascismo'' (1976) * ''La noche del festejo'' (1977) * ''La venida del papa'' (1979) * ''Supermán cayó en Vietnam y Tarzán en Angola'' (1979) * ''Patria Libre'' (1980) * ''Una larga experiencia'' (1982) * ''Un toke de roc'' (1988) * ''Betty Rock y el ultimo súper ocho'' (1989) * ''Rock macizo'' (1990) * ''¿Y tú qué onda?'' (1990) * ''Un video por la paz'' (1991) * ''Jorge Reyes en el año del eclipse'' (1992) * ''Nuestro ángel de la guarda'' (1994) * ''El ángel de la paz'' (1995) * ''Rockdrigo a 10 años / ¿Por qué no me las prestas?'' (1996) * ''Ruina de utopía'' (2000) * ''Óscar Chávez en Tlayacapan'' (2002) * ''Una nena como yo no se toma a la ligera'' (2003) * ''Santa Aventurera'' (2006) * ''Superbarrio contra la delincuencia organizada'' (2007) * ''La hija de María'' (2007) * ''Be Bop A Lula Comandante espacial. Los Beatles en México'' (2008) * ''El sentido de mi vida'' (2008) * ''El cantar de los cantores'' (2010) * ''El principio del fin'' (2010, unfinished)

Collections

''Un Toke de Roc DVD'' (co-produced by the UNAM and Contraluz Cine en video, 2006) includes the aforementioned movie, ''La venida del papa'', ''El fin'', ''Ah verdá?'' and an in-depth interview. ''Superocheros. Antología del Súper 8 en México'' includes the Agustin's short-film Luz Externa. Garcia Michel made the restoration.

Literary works

* ''Toward a fourth cinema''. Published by the

Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas The Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas (UAZ) (Autonomous University of Zacatecas) is a Mexican public research university based in the city of Zacatecas, Zacatecas, but with several campuses across the state. It is considered both the most prest ...

press in 1973. Re-issued by the

Ohio University Ohio University is a Public university, public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confeder ...

press in 1999.

References

External links

Sergio García Michel, Super 8mm films

''Refried Elvis: The Rise of the Mexican Counterculture''
Eric Zolov's book available as e-book for fair use by the University of California Press website.
El cine super 8 en México
Vázquez Mantecón's book available as e-book for fair use by ISSUU. {{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia Michel, Sergio 1945 births 2010 deaths Film directors from Mexico City