It was not entirely coincidental that En el balcón vacío (shot over the course of two years and around forty weekends), is considered to be the film manifesto of the Grupo Nuevo Cine. This was a civil organization founded in 1960 with the purpose of thematically and structurally innovating within the critical state of what had previously been the most powerful cultural industry of the Spanish-speaking world. Inspired by stories from his then wife, Maria Luisa Elío, García Ascot’s film is a story with Proustian ambitions about the trauma of Spanish exile in Mexico. The film never had the privilege of being commercially shown in theatres, but the recognition it obtained in festivals in Locarno (FIPRESCI award) and Sestri Levante in Italy (Golden Janus award) were a clear sign of its aesthetic and formal achievements, as well as its narrative audacity, aspects that were widely praised by both European and Mexican critics. In hindsight, there is no doubt that En el balcón vacío a turning point in Mexican cinema made outside the usual industry. In addition, it began to attract audiences in cinema clubs and other alternative exhibition spaces.

Eduardo de la Vega Alfaro