Pablo J. Sáinz

A film that portrays drug violence in Mexico as seen through the eyes of youth will be screened at the Digital Gym Cinema in San Diego.

Heli, whose director, Amat Escalante, won the award for Best Director at Cannes Film Festival last year under a group of jurors composed of world renowned actors and directors, all led by Steven Spielberg, plays from June 13th through the 19th.

The film tells the story of Heli, a young Mexican man who lives with his wife and son while working in a car assembly factory. Heli’s life turns upside-down when his sister, Estela, becomes involve in a world of drugs and violence, marking the family forever.

In a recent interview with La Prensa San Diego, director Amat Escalante, who is the son of a Mexican father and an American mother, said that the public should go see Heli to get a sense of what is going on in Mexico.

“Heli is about a family that tries to stick together even with all the obstacles put in front of them by the corruption and the violence that affect their place,” said Escalante, who lives in Mexico.

Escalante added that although the drug violence gets a lot of air time in the news, it is hardly portrayed on film.
“There not enough films that deal with this issue that has left more than 100,000 dead people in my country in a profound and analytical way,” he said. “What you see in the news is nothing more than a morbid journalistic view.”

The 34-year-old director said that there’s a perception that there are many Mexican films dealing with drug violence, but in truth there’s only a handful of films about this issue. He mentioned three recent movies, El Infierno, Miss Bala, and his own Heli.

“I think it is a small amount for such a huge and important issue,” Escalante said.

Although some critics have said Heli presents the crude reality of Mexico through its violent scenes, the director said that Hollywood films actually contain more violence.

“I think it is much more relevant to show the violent reality that affects the people of my country than to show 50 violent deaths in a typical Hollywood movie,” he said. “I think that when one touches on reality no one has fun, and I think that is the lesson here.”

For Glenn Heath, director of programming for the Media Arts Center San Diego, the organization behind the San Diego Latino Film Festival, Heli goes beyond presenting violence for violence’s sake.

“Heli treats the Mexican drug situation in a different way than any other film,” Heath said. “It’s frank about the kind of violence that is going on, but also bluntly attuned to the impact that has on rural families. These are people often forgotten by filmmakers, so it’s interesting to see it grappling with these experiences.”

Heath warned viewers to be ready to be challenged.

“It forces to viewer into uncomfortable situations where violence happens off-screen or in very quick succession,” he said. “It has become ingrained in the environment almost seamlessly, and we have to come to grips with the reality of the situation. Ambiguity is the film’s greatest asset, as it doesn’t give the viewer an easy answer to the situation.”

Heath said that “Amat Escalante won Best Director at Cannes because Heli is an expertly crafted, incisive film that deals with difficult subject matter in an artful way.”

After winning at Cannes last year, Escalante said that he has received a lot of work proposals, including those from major Hollywood studios. But he said he will remain independent from Hollywood.

“It is important for me to continue doing things close to my sensibility and that talk about something that I care about and that excites me,” he said. “I will continue making film that’s more personal and free. I won’t be doing any Hollywood films because I don’t like people telling me what I can or can’t do. I prefer to have freedom in that sense. I don’t rule out working in the United States, but under my own terms.”

For more information on Heli, which screens at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park from June 13th through the 19th, please visit digitalgym.org.