Alfonso Cuarón: An American Cinematheque Retrospective

The American Cinematheque is thrilled to welcome legendary and critically acclaimed Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron in-person for a curated retrospective featuring many of his most iconic works, centered around his latest foray into television, DISCLAIMER*, a psychological thriller that permits him the unique opportunity to utilize many of his patented filmmaking tendencies in bringing his cinematic language into the space of television. Cuaron, a modern-day poet of both the minimal and maximal, is one of the most versatile filmmakers working today, having excelled in making widely successful films that are copiously categorized as arthouse, blockbuster, franchise and independent; an ode to his artistic integrity, his distinctive artistic voice is apparent across his entire, varied oeuvre.

Cuarón is perhaps at his most effective when he is at his most personal, shedding a humanist light on the experiences of marginalized communities in his home country of Mexico. Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN, a nuanced road comedy about class stratification, is also miraculously a tender, expressive film about sexuality and human desire during the delicate period one comes of age. ROMA, undoubtedly Cuarón’s most personal film in which he explores the world of his childhood—1970s Mexico City—is the emotionally charged vessel that he uses to honor the memories of the women who raised him, and navigate layers of the multi-faceted class struggle that shaped his surroundings. Cuarón speaks his poetry in the subliminal spaces of the independent works he makes in his home country, but he has also excelled in the explosive space of science fiction—quite literally in GRAVITY, one of the most celebrated filmic depictions of the quiet horror that awaits us in outer space. Similarly, the filmmaker’s dystopian CHILDREN OF MEN, each frame shot with mastery and precision, is an insightful interrogation of our values and a haunting admonition of where our world may be headed.

Alfonso Cuarón has just as adamantly lent his cinematic talents to creating unforgettable childhood films that inspire wonder, hope and curiosity in the minds of youthful audiences across generations. THE LITTLE PRINCESS, set during the tumultuous years of WWII, follows a young girl who must maintain her creativity and individuality amid a clash with the harsh realities of the adult world. Furthermore, with HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN, Cuarón submitted a singular vision of the iconic wizarding world, in one of the most visually striking and thematically decadent installments of any major franchise.