Marcela Arteaga is a Mexican writer and director. Her 2003 documentary “Remembrance” was screened at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, the Festival des Films du Monde, and Hot Docs, among others. It received the FIPRESCI Prize at the 2003 Guadalajara International Film Festival as well as the Jury’s Special Award at the Guanajuato International Film Festival. It was also nominated for Best Documentary Film at the Mexican Academy Awards.

“The Guardian of Memory” will premiere at the 2019 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival on April 28.

W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.

MA: This film is about the kindness and hope that still exists in people who have gone through hell, and about Carlos Spector’s tireless efforts to help them not to lose their voices.

W&H: What drew you to this story?

MA: As a Mexican, I am aware of the violence happening in my country. I read about it in the newspapers, I feel it in the streets, I hear about it in political discourses, and I fear for my two daughters every day. I began to wonder when this would end — or if it would ever come to an end.

Like many people, I read books about drug cartels and their crimes, about authorities murdering or “disappearing” people. I became an expert on the subject, but it wasn’t until I met Carlos and heard him talking about real people who had suffered this type of violence that I realized I didn’t know anything about what was going on in Mexico.

The first time I interviewed Mexicans in exile, I realized that everybody talks about the violence occurring in Mexico, but no one wants to hear what is really going on and what this community has to say beyond violence: humanity, forgiveness, death, understanding, nostalgia, hope, future, and remembrance. I discovered the potential and inspiration hidden within their stories.

Meeting this community helped me understand the dimension of the tragedy that is going on in Mexico, and I felt the obligation to act. I could not sit back and watch the boat sink. And the only tool I have to fight against violence, murder, and people disappearing is filmmaking!

Political discourses are not only worthless but a deadly threat. “The Guardian of Memory” emerged from a sense of impotence—from the need to stop and take stock of our situation and see what can be done. But it also emerged from exploring human beings’ contrasts: decency, violence, sadness, satisfaction, voracity, and humbleness.

W&H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater?

MA: I want people to remember Bob Dylan’s words: “How many times can a man turn his head / And pretend that he just doesn’t see…Yes, and how many deaths will it take till he knows / That too many people have died?”

After all the stories I’ve heard, I can say that we only have each other as back up to fight for a better future. Many of us want change and a better future. In order to achieve this, we have to start listening to each other and stop thinking that if “something does not affect me, it is not my problem,” because actually it is. When faced with blatant inhumanity, we cannot remain silent, because in doing so, we become accomplices.

Margaret Mead said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?

MA: When speaking of tragedies, aesthetics are almost always overshadowed by the severity of the facts. I believe that art cannot be separated from the human condition, which is why my search goes always in the same direction: How does one approach [a tragedy from an aesthetic perspective]? Can art pay its debt to a suffering society?

That being said, the editing was the biggest challenge in making the film. Figuring out how to combine the testimonies with the created images. How to find the balance between facts and beauty, between emotions and concepts, without giving into my very personal way of making movies. The process has been very difficult, but I have learned so much. Editing involved facing the harshest judge: myself.

W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.

MA: First of all, I won funds from the Gabriel Garcia Marquez documentary support scheme in order to develop the project. Then, I won EFICINE support for part of the production. EFICINE is a fiscal stimulus for taxpayers, where those who contribute cash resources to film projects in Mexico can obtain a tax credit. At least 80 percent of the budget was met by the EFICINE stimulus. The rest of the production budget was funded by the Chicken & Egg Accelerator Lab grant.

Additionally, once the film was in its final post-production phase, we won the Impulso Morelia prize for post-production.

W&H: What inspired you to become a filmmaker?

MA: I actually became a filmmaker almost by accident. I was studying medicine at university, and a friend of mine asked me to help him with shooting his thesis film. That was the end of medical school. Filmmaking bit me like a mosquito.

W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?

MA: The best advice I have received is follow your intuition. The worst advice I have received is follow your intuition. Does that make sense?

W&H: What advice do you have for other female directors?

MA: Instead of giving advice, I prefer listening to what others have to say and listening carefully to what they don’t say. I advise any filmmaker, female or male, to listen to what people have to say.

W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.

MA: This is a very tough question. There are so many incredible woman-directed films! But if I have to pick, Antonia Bird’s “Ravenous” is one of my favorites. It was nominated by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films for Best Horror Film, Best Music, and Best Makeup. But what I really like about it is that beyond the story of cannibalism, the film is driven by a subtle, intelligent, and stark critique of capitalism.

It seems unfair that “Ravenous” is never mentioned as as a clever understanding of history, and the best explanation of how we got here: capitalism, cannibalism.

W&H: It’s been a little over a year since the reckoning in Hollywood and the global film industry began. What differences have you noticed since the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements launched?

Within the film industry for me personally, nothing has changed since #MeToo and #TimesUp. But as far as society is concerned, many changes have happened since these movements have started. I celebrate the bravery of all women that have the courage to speak out about their experiences.

Personally, these movements have led me to start questioning myself and to reflect on feminism and machismo, on men and women, and on how, as a woman, I deal with this subject. I have two daughters, and their viewpoints on the subject are completely different from each other’s and from mine. That, from my point of view, is a very good start.

I am sure that we as society will find the balance and the best way to live together while respecting each other.