Sergio García Michel


Sergio García Michel was a Mexican film director and professor, considered one of the key figures of Super 8 cinema and part of the counterculture movements of La Onda and Rupestre.

Early life, studies and influences

Born as Sergio Arturo García Michel in July 28, 1945, he began his enthusiasm for cinema as a teenager spending entire afternoons watching films at the Tlalpan theatre. In 1966 he bought his first Super 8 camera and shot his first short film named Un dia.
By 1968 and already working as a publicist he enrolled at the Centro Universitario de Estudios Cinematográficos of the UNAM, quitting a year later only to reenter in 1971 but quitting again in 1972 as he already had a professional career in film making. His influences were Richard Lester, Michael Lindsay-Hogg, Kenneth Anger, Michael Wadleigh, Pino Solanas, and counterculture intellectuals like Abbie Hoffman, Timothy Leary and Ken Kesey.

Works and awards

His better known works include: El Fin, Ah, verdá?, Hacia el hombre nuevo, La Venida del Papa, Una Larga experiencia, ¿Por qué no me las prestas? and Un Toke de Roc: Fable in three acts.
He was the founder of the Tlalpan Forum in 1980, an artistic hub in Mexico City, and professor/coordinator of film creation workshop at the Carrillo Gil Museum ; in the School of writers from the General society of Mexican writers and at the Union of Cinematographers.

Death

On September 19, 2010, Garcia Michel was found dead in his house as a result of a heart attack.

Filmography

Un Toke de Roc DVD includes the aforementioned movie, La venida del papa, El fin, Ah verdá? and an in-depth interview.
Superocheros. Antología del Súper 8 en México includes the Agustin's short-film Luz Externa. Garcia Michel made the restoration.

Literary works