TFI Pond5 Program 2018
499 YEARS examines the brutal legacy of colonialism nearly five centuries after Cortez arrived in the Aztec Empire. Bold, unique, and strikingly cinematic, the film uses magical realism, combining documentary and fiction to show how past traumas continue to affect contemporary reality, while challenging us to overcome our histories of violence.
Director
Mexican Director Rodrigo Reyes has screened his award-winning work worldwide, at festivals such as LA Film Festival, BFI London and The Museum of Modern Art in New York, garnering great reviews in and the New York Times. Rodrigo has received significant support for his work, including from Film Independent, Sundance Institute, Tribeca Film Institute, and in 2017, the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship.
Producer
Cordera has produced a wide range of long feature projects, series and TV shows with partners including National Geographic, Discovery, TVE in Spain as well as receiving several large grants from the Mexican Film Institute (IMCINE). Inti has produced two films with Director Rodrigo Reyes, the documentary PURGATORIO: A JOURNEY INTO THE HEART OF THE BORDER and the narrative LUPE UNDER THE SUN.
Producer
Based in Mexico City and New York, Andrew Houchens is a team member of the Berlinale’s European Film Market and an Advisor for the DocsMX Documentary Festival in Mexico. He previously collaborated with such esteemed organizations as Tribeca Film Institute, Independent Filmmaker Project, and the Los Cabos Film Festival. The films he has produced have premiered in competition at SXSW and have been acquired by the Criterion Collection.
Director of Photography
Alejandro “Jano” Mejía is a Mexican Cinematographer based in New York City. A Berlinale Talent Campus alumn, his work has screened at Berlin, Tribeca, Sundance, Los Cabos and Morelia film festivals, amongst others. He is a winner of a Panavision Award. His latest film, 306 HOLLYWOOD, premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival.