Mexican short film finalist in NASA contest

The Mexican Space Agency (AEM) announced the short film "Apizaco" , from Mexican filmmaker Alex Moreno , was nominated among the thirteen finalists for the 2017 CineSpace Short Film Competition organized by NASA and the Houston Cinema Arts Society.

According to a statement released by the Ministry of Communications and Transport (SCT), the General Director of the Mexican Space Agency Javier Mendieta declared this nomination is evidence of how the talent of Mexican filmmakers stands out at an international level.

The short film "Apizaco" is a documentary of the story of three students from Tlaxcala – two women and one man – who competed against 120 contestants from all over the world in the Mars Trekker Global Teen Summit, another NASA contest.

For his part, Alex Moreno confirmed his interest in the project came from his main inspiration, which is Mexico.

“It's about showing the thousands of success stories of our country, that are, in rare exceptions, overshadowed by sensationalism and bad news,” said the filmmaker.

The CineSpace jury is formed by members of the Houston Cinema Arts Society and NASA, who are joined once more this year by Richard Linklater, filmmaker behind Oscar-nominated films such as "Boyhood."

The films will be screened at the Houston Cinema Arts Festival – taking place from November 9 to 13 – and the winners will be revealed during a ceremony at the Rice Media Center of Houston, according to Javier Mendieta.

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