MANDOKI EN EL NEW YORK TIMES

MANDOKI EN EL NEW YORK TIMES

El New York Times publica hoy una nota sobre Luis Mandoki y FRAUDE: México 2006. Chequen el dato: 300,000 personas han visto FRAUDE en las primeras 2 semanas de estreno. ¿No que nadie la iba a ver?

December 2, 2007
Film on Mexico's Disputed '06 Election Stirs Emotions
By JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr.

MEXICO CITY, Dec. 1 — A documentary about last year's disputed presidential election has drawn big crowds and generated controversy here, after its director, Luis Mandoki, waged a long battle to find a distributor willing to take on a politically charged film.

Last year's race was a virtual tie, but electoral officials determined that the conservative candidate, Felipe Calderón, had edged out a left-wing populist, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, by 243,000 votes, out of 41 million cast.

The election officials, who all belonged to parties opposed to Mr. López Obrador, rejected calls for a complete recount and strictly interpreted the law to limit the number of ballot boxes reopened. The courts later upheld Mr. Calderón's victory in the face of mass protests by Mr. López Obrador's supporters.

One of the many Mexicans who contend the election was flawed enough to merit a recount was Mr. Mandoki, a successful director and filmmaker here and in Hollywood. In the period before the election, Mr. Mandoki made a glowing biographical film about Mr. López Obrador, a populist who promised to end tax breaks for the rich and break up monopolies.

The new film, "Fraud, Mexico 2006," lays out in detail the arguments of leftists who say the combination of a smear campaign and fraud at polling places swung the election to President Calderón. Mr. Mandoki got financial backing for the movie from Federico Arreola, a journalist, entrepreneur and close campaign adviser to Mr. López Obrador.

The film contends that several powerful business executives; Vicente Fox, then the president; and Mr. Calderón waged a negative campaign against the leftist candidate, despite restrictions in Mexican law on mudslinging and on campaigning by current officeholders. In advertisements on television, radio and the Internet, they asserted that Mr. López Obrador was a potential left-wing authoritarian who would destroy the economy. Some spots suggested he was like the autocratic president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez.

The large number of people going to see the film — more than 300,000 in the first two weeks — showed that the controversy has not been put to rest and that a good part of the population still feels something went awry in the balloting.

The film has stirred up deep emotions. Standing ovations and shouting matches were not uncommon in the 230 theaters where it is showing. On Nov. 24, a dispute broke out between employees of a Cinemex theater in Mexico City and the audience when one of the reels broke 20 minutes into the film. The audience accused employees of censoring the film. The employees shouted insults at the audience and chanted, "Calderón! Calderón!"

"I am very surprised and happy," Mr. Mandoki said in a recent interview. "At a premiere, people often stand at the end, but here, in all the theaters, the people not only applaud but they stay until the credits are over."

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