Film: Que Viva Mexico!

In conjunction with Frida & Diego: Passion, Politics, and Painting, the High Museum of Art is screening the films ¡Qué viva México! at noon and Frida at 2 p.m in the Hill Auditorium every Saturday from February 16 through May 11. Explore the work and lives of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera with a morning in the galleries and an afternoon film!

¡Qué viva México! Screenings
Saturdays, February 16–May 11
Noon, Hill Auditorium (April 6: Education Center Lecture Room)

Filmed in 1930–1931 by famed Russian director Sergei Eisenstein, ¡Qué viva México! is an archival treasure with striking aesthetics and an avant-garde sensibility that continue to stand the test of time. After meeting Diego Rivera in Moscow, Eisenstein left Russia to make a film about Mexico but was shut down after shooting approximately 30 to 50 hours of footage. He was never given the chance to edit the film himself, so his friend, filmmaker Grigori Alexandrov, edited the footage in 1979, creating the remarkable version we have today. ¡Qué viva México! blurs the boundary between fiction and documentary as it moves from one vignette to the next, oscillating between narrative modes but maintaining an impassioned, romantic vision of the Mexican scene. Whether in the bullfighting ring, joining in Day of the Dead celebrations, or following two lovers' tormented saga, Eisenstein's camera never fails to evoke a distinctly Mexican cultural and visual landscape. Indeed, the description of Mexico offered at the heart of the film — "tender, lyrical, and cruel" — also epitomizes the life and work of the country's greatest cultural royalty: Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. Free with paid Museum admission and free to members.