The film, by Roberto Gavaldón, was the first Mexican to be nominated for an Oscar for best foreign film
One of the emblematic roles of the actor Ignacio López Tarso was that of ‘Macario’, a film that was released in the year 1960 and that today is a classic of Mexican cinema.
In fact, the film by director Roberto Gavaldón was the first to be nominated for an Oscar in the category of Best Foreign Film, since the performances of López Tarso, Pina Pellicer and Enrique Lucero, in addition to their excellent photography, surprised worldwide.
It competed alongside ‘La Vérité’ (France), ‘Kapò’ (Italy), ‘Deveti krug’ (Yugoslavia) and ‘Jungfrukällan’ (The Maiden’s Spring) by Ingmar Bergman, which won the Oscar statuette.
The ‘Macario’ film is based on the homonymous story by B. Traven, which in turn is an adaptation of ‘The Godmother of Death’ by the Brothers Grimm.
‘Macario’ competed at the Cannes Film Festival for the Palme d’Or, while Gabriel Figueroa won the Best Cinematography award.
In fact, it was thanks to the incredible work of Figueroa that the film received awards in Valladolid, Boston, India, Italy, Vancouver and Edinburgh.