Film Screening:

Victimas del Pecado
         shown with
The Fireman of the Folies Bergère
(short film featuring Josephine Baker)
 

Victimas del Pecado
(Emilio Fernandez, 1951, 90 min, Mexico, in Spanish w/ English subtitles, B/W, DVD)

Hailed by critics as one of the best Mexican films ever made, Victimas del Pecado explores the mysterious, exotic underworld of postwar Mexico City. Cuban Cabaret dancer Violeta (Ninón Sevilla) rescues an abandoned baby from a garbage can in Mexico City's red-light district. She decides to raise the child, a decision that puts her at odds with cabaret owner Rodolfo (Rodolfo Acosta). Santiago (Tito Junco), a rival club owner, falls in love with Violeta and offers to help. Powerfully told, the story unfolds amidst nocturnal ambiance with musical numbers by mambo king Dámaso Pérez Prado and Pedro Vargas, one of Mexico's most popular singers of the era. Featuring the impressive direction of Emilio "Indio" Fernández and the stunning cinematography of Academy Award nominee Gabriel Figueroa, Victimas del Pecado is an international classic, full of Rumberas, zoot suits and dizzying dance sequences.

"One of the most famous post-war Mexican films." -- Detroit Institute of Arts

The Fireman of the Folies Bergère
(1920, 8 min, France, Silent, B/W, DVD) - featuring Josephine Baker!

After watching the dancers at the Folies Bergère, a fireman stops for a drink. As he becomes intoxicated, his thoughts return to the dancers, and he begins to see images of nude dancers all around him. Whether he goes into the subway, rides on a streetcar, or returns to the fire station, he continues to see the same imaginary sights.

For information about the Archibald Motley: Jazz Age Modernist exhibition at the Nasher Museum of Art, see: http://nasher.duke.edu/motley/

Cost: Free and Open to the Public

Sponsors: The Nasher Museum of Art and the Program in the Arts of the Moving Image (AMI)