Madrefoca create #unparéntesis

Mexican production company, Madrefoca, have created a unique way to support their local film industry through the recent unprecedented times of Covid-19.

The film industry is facing increasingly difficult challenges throughout the world, and Mexico's freelance film crews will unfortunately be hit hard.

Madrefoca have created #unparéntesis [a parenthesis], which aims to create a moment of calm in these turbulent times for both their local crews and their social media space alike.

They approached local cinematographers, long-time collaborators of the company, and briefed them to generate intimate and personal content with the challenges of lockdown. The invitation went out to both male and female cinematographers: Matías Penachino, Flavia Martínez, Federico Barbabosa, Emilio Valdés and Sophia Stieglitz. In exchange for their work, Madrefoca pays them a salary which they are asked to donate to their immediate crew: electricians, grips and gaffers, focus pullers and camera assistants. In the case of Sophia Stieglitz, for example, her salary was donated to Amazonas Eléctricas, Mexico’s only team of all-female grips and electrics.

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Madrefoca also counted on the enthusiastic and selfless support of other close collaborators including editors, sound designers and composers to complete the films. The project is ongoing and the five videos created so far live on their social media channels and constitute, for those watching, a moment of calm.

The initiative has been very well received and Madrefoca are now moving into the next stage of their campaign: to involve local clients of commercial brands to help sponsor more of the intimate and calm-inducing content. These new films will in turn help those who work in other film crew departments: from drivers to boom operators, wardrobe assistants to food catering.

Madrefoca founders Vanessa Hernández, Jorge Aguilera and Alejandro Saevich, explain: “Through the last weeks, we found ourselves living a very strange episode and soon realised that the hiatus would not be a short one. We became worried about the people in our business who live hand-to-mouth... ‘How could we help them if we couldn’t hire them?’ #unparéntesis has become a unique way we can help and celebrate our industry whilst creating a little less anxiety for those watching."