Spanish
Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro stated this Friday that the debate on migration is going through "an atrocious moment" marked by harsh policies and social polarization, while vindicating the role of cinema in giving "a second narrative".
In a meeting with the press during the 22nd edition of the Marrakech International Film Festival, in southern Morocco, Del Toro pointed out that the world is living "an atrocious moment" not only in politics but also in the perception of migration.
The Mexican, three-time Oscar winner, will be honored at the Marrakech Film Festival, where his most recent film 'Frankenstein' will also be screened, which is based on Mary Shelley's famous novel of the same name, with the director's characteristic cinematographic style, which mixes terror, fantasy and an exuberant and personal visual imagery.
Questioned about the immigration debate and the strict policies adopted by the United States, the Mexican filmmaker considered that the speeches that blame migrants for national problems "have been successful for decades", speeches that - he pointed out - will continue to be reproduced because they are used by "those in power".
"It's always those in charge who do it, because they say the problem doesn't come from us, the millionaires or the billionaires. (...) And people seem, for some instinctive and demonic reason, to prefer blaming the people next door rather than the people above," he lamented.
In this moment he described as "critical," the Mexican filmmaker defended the role of the arts and cinema to "offer the possibility of understanding that there is a second narrative" capable of generating empathy. He also recalled that this idea is present in Shelley's work in 'Frankenstein' and in its film adaptation.
"One of the things that Shelley tries to say in the book and (in) the movie is that you have already heard the story of my creator, now I will tell you mine. That in itself offers the possibility of understanding that there is always the other side. But yes, at a political level, at a social level, the possibility of recognizing ourselves in the other becomes increasingly difficult the more it polarizes, of course, which is absolutely inhumane," he underlined.
In another encounter with the public during the festival, Del Toro confessed that he has always considered 'Frankenstein' as his 'church', the book in which he has most recognized himself and which, according to him, caused him a kind of 'religious ecstasy'.
The filmmaker described his new film adaptation as an intertextual work, built from the dialogue between Shelley's novel, his own biography, and the author's.
During the conversation, Del Toro also returned to criticize the indiscriminate use of artificial intelligence and stressed the need to "not yield to the machine".
'Frankenstein' by Del Toro debuted at the Venice Film Festival on August 30th, and has since been screened in some cinemas and cultural forums in different countries.
Since his debut with ‘Cronos’, which was screened in the Zabaltegi section in 1994, Del Toro directed films such as ‘The Devil's Backbone’ (2001), ‘Pan's Labyrinth’ (2006), ‘Mimic’ (1997), ‘Hellboy’ (2004), ‘Pacific Rim’ (2013) and ‘The Shape of Water’ (2017), which was nominated for 13 Oscars.
