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Mexican actor and filmmaker Gael García Bernal has been awarded the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Ministry of Culture in recognition of his extensive career in film.
And about damn time – from his early 2000 breakthrough in both Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Amores Perros and Alfonso Cuarón’s Y Tu Mama Tambien to Bad Education, The Motorcycle Diaries, No and the more recent The Wasp Network and Another End, the actor has steadily shown he is one of Mexico’s finest cinematic exports.
When accepting the honour at the ceremony held in Mexico City, García Bernal took the opportunity to call on European and South American cinema to unite against American “hegemony”.
In an interview with AFP, he highlighted the cultural and political proximity of these two worlds, and how he believes that it is “more necessary than ever” that Latin American and European cinema should join forces, especially in the face of social polarisation and the “hegemony of English-language cinema, of US cinema”.
The 47-year-old filmmaker called for a “dialogue between these two continents”, as they share “certain fundamental ethical principles” such as the defence of migrants and foreigners.
After “spectacular moments with European films that have done well here, or with Mexican and Latin American films that have done well in Europe, new parameters are emerging and a huge world is opening up,” he said.
“Mexican pride in a big way! Gael García Bernal makes history by receiving the Order of Arts and Letters in the rank of Officer, awarded by the French government. A well-deserved recognition of his career and his role as a cultural bridge between Mexico and the world.”
García Bernal also stated that the honour destowed upon him “is also recognition of the feeling of not being alone in the fight”, because “more than ever, we need a critical society today”.
Gael García Bernal can be seen playing Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in Magellan by Filipino filmmaker Lav Diaz, which was screened at last year’s Cannes Film Festival and was released in France on 31 December. The film has been screened at various international festivals, including the Human Rights Film Festival, Palm Springs International Film Festival and it heads to Sweden’s Göteborg Film Festival this weekend.
