Ripstein to inaugurate Gijón Film Festival with “Bleak Street”

Mexican filmmaker Arturo Ripstein will inaugurate the 53rd International Film Festival of Gijón in northern Spain with his new movie "Bleak Street".

The film, that has garnered critical acclaim at Venice and Toronto festivals, is based on a real event that occurred in Mexico in 2009: the accidental deaths of two dwarf fighters at the hands of prostitutes.

It features Mexican actresses Nora Velázquez and Patricia Reyes Spíndola, who has won several Ariel awards. The script was written by his wife: Paz Alicia Garciadiego.

“There’s a mysterious prestige regarding films that reveal that they’re based on true events. My movie is taken from actual facts, but it’s unannounced. On purpose. Because I prefer invention rather than facts. Reality is a fleeting occurrence. Verisimilitude is, in the best of times, eternal. That would be my aspiration. The story, the characters, the atmosphere, the structure of the film are truer than truth, because even though they’re born from reality, they have become, on account of cinema, wonderful fiction.” Ripstein said in his statement about the film.

The festival runs from November 20 to 28.