Frankelda faces machismo

The brothers Arturo and Roy Ambriz are responsible for what they define as a “feminist story”: Yo soy Frankelda, the first Mexican stop motion film that also has the support of Guillermo del Toro.

In this story, now available in theaters and which began as a series for HBO, the founders of Cinema Fantasma portray Imelda, a woman ahead of her time who wants to shine as one of the best writers in the world.

Unfortunately and due to machismo, this is a distant dream for her. A situation that, according to one of the directors, is inspired by Mary Shelley. “As female artists, history has been even more cruel, not only in Mexico, but in the world. When Mary Shelley published her books, she had to do so under the name of her husband Percyval, and then we asked ourselves, how many Mary Shelleys would there have been in Mexico?” explains Roy.

Mireya Mendoza, producer and voice of the protagonist, also points out that the film created by her partner (Roy) and her brother-in-law addresses Mexico outside of the stereotype, as it portrays the country in a more real way. The film was made with more than 60 sets built over six months each. “He talks about Mexico without the ‘Mexican curious’. One of the first things that caught my attention in his set were the alcatrazes, that is a street in Mexico, because only on a street in Mexico do you find the typical alcatraz, like the very traditional paintings; so, I feel that they have a very elegant, subtle way of bringing Mexico into the conversation, of making it universal,” he says.