La fórmula secreta

Rubén Gámez is one of the most controversial directors in the history of the seventh art in Mexico. Despite his small production, his works are paradigms of independent cinema, the experimental and the non-commercial creative process. Among his works are the remarkable short film Los Magueyes (1962) and the feature film Tequila (1991). In 1964 Gámez filmed the medium-length film La fórmula secreta, an eccentric and amazing film, which won first place in the First Experimental Film Competition in 1965, and which had the collaboration of Juan Rulfo with a poem of the same name, read on screen by Jaime Sabines. This competition and the film, now a cult film, were key pieces in a heated debate on the ideology of cinema and the conditions of its production in the decline of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema.
This book contains photo sequences of Gámez’s films, interspersed with news, interviews and texts published in newspapers of the time and writings by Juan Rulfo, Jorge Ayala Blanco, José de la Colina, Jesse Lerner, Carlos Monsiváis, Alejandro Pelayo Rangel, to name a few. Together they describe an exceptional moment of the film culture in Mexico.
A book by Alias Editorial in co-edition with Imcine and Filmoteca from UNAM, with support from Ficunam and Cineteca Nacional.