Gael Garcia Bernal, one of Mexico’s most bankable film stars and a favorite in Hollywood, is to be honored at the upcoming International Film Festival in Guadalajara for his contributions to cinema.

Garcia Bernal, star of films such as “The Motorcycle Diaries,” “Y Tu Mama Tambien,” “Babel” and “Amores Perros”, is to be the recipient of the Guadalajara Prize which recognizes the contributions of a person from Latin America to international cinema.

The film star isn’t just a pretty face — Garcia Bernal is also the co-founder of the documentary film festival Ambulante with his close friend and fellow actor Diego Luna. Ambulante just finished its fourth run in Mexico and has traveled to many parts of the world including the United States, Britain, Ireland

and Cuba.

The statement from the Guadalajara film festival (pdf) commends Garcia Bernal for his “tireless concern for films”, adding; “Gael Garcia Bernal is the executive producer along with Diego Luna of Canana Films, a company founded by Pablo Cruz with the goal of bolstering Latin American production and lending support to new filmmakers. Films such as Como Voy a Explotar by Gerardo Naranjo, Sin Nombre by Cary Fukunaga and Sólo Quiero Caminar by Agustin Diaz are part of this company’s productions.”

Well done Gael, but given that he is being commended for many of the initiatives he has done jointly with pal Diego Luna, it’s hard to see why Luna isn’t getting the prize too.

Former recipients of the Guadalajara prize include Mexican director Guillermo del Toro (2007) and musical composer Gustavo Santaolalla (2008).

Image: Gael Garcia Bernal at the opening of this years Ambulant documentary film festival in February. Deborah Bonello / Los Angeles Times.

– Written for La Plaza

Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna, two of Mexico’s most bankable movie stars, launched the fourth annual Ambulante documentary film festival Friday morning in a packed cinema screening room on Mexico City’s Paseo de la Reforma.

Garcia Bernal, star of films such as The Motorcycle Diaries and the current Mexico hit movie Rudo y Cursi (in which he stars with Luna), urged people to have some low-cost fun in the light of the global economic crisis, which is being felt in Mexico.

“We’re at a critical moment, not wanting to spend money, and Ambulante is a free or cheap option to see films in the cinema,” said Garcia Bernal.

Speaking at the launch, Luna said that he and Garcia Bernal founded Ambulante in 2006 (read our report about the launch of the festival here) out of a sense of “responsibility” to do something with all the attention they were receiving because of their acting work.

Since the festival’s humble beginnings when it featured just 19 documentaries, the number of films now has doubled. And it has expanded its reach by traveling to more Mexican cities as well as a number of international locations including the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Cuba.

“The one word that you can’t associate with Ambulante is ‘elitist’, ” Luna told the crowd Friday, responding to accusations from a member of the press that the festival was created as a way for the actors to make more money.

The contrary would seem to be true — many of the films in the festival will be free, and for those screenings that have entrance fees, students will get discounts.

Ambulante helps distribute films by upcoming documentary filmmakers, and also gives grants to help producers and directors get films made.

The actors and the director of the festival, Elena Fortes, said they wanted to challenge the assumption that documentaries are boring, and they hope to appeal to young viewers as much as possible.

Ambulante (a Spanish word referring to a street vendor or a temporary market stall) is supported by Canana Films (the production company owned by Garcia Bernal and Luna), the Mexican cinema chain Cinepolis and the Morelia International Film Festival. It will run from Feb. 6 until April 9 in more than 70 venues including public plazas, cultural centers and museums as well as Cinepolis screens in 16 Mexican cities.

Of the 44 documentaries featured in the festival, nine are Mexican. The festival will also feature a special section on Swedish documentaries.

You can find information about screenings, a full list of the documentaries in the festival and related events here on the official website.

– This post was written for La Plaza.

Image: Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna at the launch of the Ambulante documentary film festival Friday. Deborah Bonello / Los Angeles Times. For more photos of the launch, go to our Flickr page.

Gael Garcia Bernal, the Mexican actor and heart throb, has responded to the bombings in the Mexican state of Michoacan last week with a column for the newspaper El Universal.

The article, written from Europe in complicated Spanish, is a poetic tribute to the eight people who died in last week’s bombings in Morelia, and a lamentation of the state of affairs in Mexico. Garcia Bernal’s father was born in Michoacan.

“It hurts me not to be close. To be so far – now more than ever. Instead of feeling relieved for being so far, I feel sad and vulnerable,” writes Bernal.

“Why, when I see so much violence, do I feel like the aggression was against my memories, and my identity? Each death robs me of my freedom to remember, an attempt against the future… ”

Garcia Bernal, the star of films including “The Motorcycle Diaries” and “Amores Perros”, revisits his childhood memories and remembers breakfast into the local markets and the smell of tamales – a traditional corncake.

But this morning, another national newspaper, Milenio, published a criticism of Bernal’s piece, lambasting him for having written something in such complicated language using words that “three dictionaries and two encyclopedias” were needed to decipher.

Jairo Calixto’s column treats the actor’s reaction to events in the country in sarcastic tones, and mocks his level of understanding of Mexico’s problems:

“Relax, Gael. Insead of asking, from a very nice place, ‘Why, when I see so much violence, do I feel like the aggression was against my memories, and my identity?,’ we should celebrate the fact that Mexico, for the third year running, has maintained its position as the 72nd most corrupt country in the world.

“You say, Gael, that it hurts you to be far away. Don’t you worry – they also say that to be far away is to forget.”

This post was written for La Plaza.

Image: Tom Wagner / For The Times