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El Grito

(The Scream, Leobardo López Arretche, 1968)

New Restoration

Black-and-white still of a row of people walking down a street. They all wear white.

This student-made film of one of the most tragic moments in Mexican history is a milestone in the Mexican documentary tradition.

Banned by the government for many years, El Grito is an urgent, on-the-ground account of the growing student movement that gripped Mexico City in the days leading up to the 1968 Summer Olympics. During the summer months of 1968, student-led protests began to swell against the government’s lavish spending on the Olympics and repression of the media, unions, and public dissent. This movement came to an abrupt and violent end on October 2, 1968, when government troops fired upon protesters just 10 days before the opening of the Olympics. The death count of what is known as the Tlatelolco massacre is debated. The student movement and the Tlatelolco massacre were documented by university students led by Leobardo López Arretche, a film student who was deeply involved. Their film is a permanent record of an atrocity the Mexican government would not acknowledge for many years. In Spanish with English subtitles. (102 mins., DCP)

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IMAGE CAPTION
El Grito, courtesy of Filmoteca UNAM.

Program Support

Restored in 4K in 2018 by Filmoteca de la UNAM, from the original 16mm negative.

SUPPORT FOR FILM PROGRAMS PROVIDED BY

Rohauer Collection Foundation

WEXNER CENTER PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY

Greater Columbus Arts Council

The Wexner Family

Ohio Arts Council, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts

CampusParc

The Columbus Foundation

Every Page Foundation

Mellon Foundation

Axium Packaging

Nationwide Foundation

Michael and Anita Goldberg

Vorys, Sater, Seymour, and Pease, LLP

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY

Joyce Shenk

Rebecca Perry and Ben Towle

Lachelle Thigpen

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El Grito