FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information please contact
Andrea Betanzos at press@cinematropical.com / (212) 254-5474
Cinema Tropical Presents the U.S. Theatrical Premiere of Matías Meyer’s
THE LAST CHRISTEROS
An Impressive Minimalist Historical Film Detailing the Last Days of the
Mexican Cristero War
August 30 – September 5 at Anthology Film Archives
Cinema Tropical presents the U.S. Theatrical premiere of THE LAST CHRISTEROS (Los últimos cristeros) by
Matías Meyer, a highly unusual historical film that takes a meditative, nearly non-narrative approach to
portraying the experiences of those who continued to resist the Mexican government’s anti-Christian
(especially anti-Roman Catholic) persecution, even following the official end of the Cristero War in 1929. The
film opens on Friday, August 30 for a one-week exclusive engagement at Anthology Film Archives in New York
City.
Devoted to the cause, despite their increasing desperation and fatigue, and their yearning to rejoin their
families, this band of rebels – whose genuine religious faith and spiritual innocence is apparent despite their
paradoxical embrace of armed struggle – trudges exhaustedly through the hills and mountains of rural Mexico,
experiencing moments of grace and beauty amid the violence and suffering. Eschewing a narrative chronicle of
the War’s events, Meyer instead puts us in his weary fighters’ shoes, and emphasizes the quiet, strangely
tranquil moments between battles.
Winner of the Cinema Tropical Award for Best Director, this third feature by Meyer (following Wadley and The
Cramp) decisively establishes him as one of the most gifted of young Mexican filmmakers, and represents a
striking combination of minimalist cinema and historical depiction. Based on Antonio Estrada’s acclaimed novel
Rescoldo, The Last Christeros was nominated for eight Ariel Awards, Mexico’s national film prize, including Best
Film, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.
The film is presented in anticipated of GENMEX PART II, a series featuring some of the most inventive and
cutting-edge filmmakers working in Mexico today, running September 6-12 and presented by Anthology Film
Archives, Cinema Tropical, and the Mexican Cultural Institute of New York.
“The final days of a band of 1930s Christian rebels in the central Mexican wilderness are depicted with majestic
stoicism in Meyer’s elegant ode to independence (…) the film is free of factoidal narrative, and has been dedramatized to convey the experience of being a guerrilla fighter.”
–Robert Koehler, Variety
PRESS SCREENING: Friday, August 16 at 4pm at Anthology Film Archives located at 32 Second Avenue (2nd
Street). RSVP to Andrea Betanzos at press@cinematropical.com or (212) 254-5474.
THE LAST CHRISTEROS (Los últimos cristeros, Mexico/Netherlands, 2011, 90 min. 35mm. In Spanish with
English subtitles). Production Companies: Axolote Cine, Imcine, Eficine, Una Comunión, IDTV Film with the
support of the Hubert Bals Fund, The Netherlands Film Fund, Gobierno de Jalisco, and Gobierno de
Guanajuato; Directed by: Matías Meyer; Producers: Julio Bárcenas, Matías Meyer. Co-Producers: Paola Herrera,
Enrique Rivero, Frans Van Gestel. Screenplay: Matías Meyer and Israel Cárdenas, based on 'Rescoldo, los
últimos cristeros' by Antonio Estrada; Cinematography: Gerardo Barroso Alcalá; Art Direction: Nohemi
Gonzalez; Editor: León Felipe Gonzalez; Music: Galo Durán; Sound Design: Alejandro de Icaza; Hisoti Historical
adviser: Jean Meyer. Cast: Alejandro Limón, Jesús Moisés Rodríguez, Antonio García, Salvador Ferreiro, Abel
Lozano. A Cinema Tropical (www.cinematropical.com) release.
About the filmmaker: Matías Meyer was born in Perpignan, France. A graduate of the Centro de Capacitación
Cinematográfica in Mexico City, he is one of the founders of the independent production company Axolote
Cine, created in 2006. His first feature film Wadley, premiered in the Rotterdam International Film Festival in
2008. El calambre / The Cramp, his sophomore production based on a short story by Gao Xingjian, premiered
in the same festival in 2010. His work has been screened in numerous film festivals including Locarno, Morelia,
FICCO, Buenos Aired Independent (BAFICI), Cinéma du réel y Clermont Ferrand, among others. He’s currently
developing his new project titled Yo, for which he received support from the Hubert Bals Fund.
For more information, screeners for review, hi-res images, or to schedule an interview with the filmmaker
please contact Andrea Betanzos, (212) 254-5474 or press@cinematropical.com