At FICG40, four women with Mayahuel de Plata met in one afternoon to share their authenticity with the public. From different trenches of filmmaking -acting, production, teaching and activism- these women did not speak from the podium, but from the heart.
The panel began at the point where the paths of these four wonderful women cross: Dolores Heredia, Bertha Navarro, Ofelia Medina and Arcelia Ramirez. Laughing, the conversation took flight as they recounted how they met.
"I've known Bertha all my life," commented Ofelia Medina as she captured the attention of the audience, which oscillated between laughter and expectant attention. Firmly, she reaffirmed the place of art as a form of struggle: "The cinema we make is the one that reflects our society".
Arcelia Ramírez, for her part, stressed the importance of defending the spaces in festivals to dialogue with the public, sharing that receiving the Mayahuel Award was like an embrace from the Guadalajara International Film Festival (FICG), which has been her home and has accompanied her along the way.
Dolores Heredia, honored with the Mayahuel 2025 Award, provoked laughter when she declared that she felt amayahuelada: "It is beautiful the gesture of recognizing and seeing the other, it generates memory and leaves a precedent".
She also stated that, for her, social causes have been the most natural part of her essence given her ability to not mess with her thoughts: "I come from a very big family, I learned to think in community, not to think for my own benefit".
Later, moderator Roberto Fiesco opened the conversation to the beginnings, asking about the first work of each of them. Between anecdotes and laughter, Dolores filled the room as she recalled her training at the Centro Universitario de Teatro (CUT) of the UNAM and her first productions.
The panel was full of reflections from these creators who, with presence, use their voice with congruence and social conscience to weave a future through a cinema that humanizes.
Bertha summed it up as follows: "We all participate in the quality of a film, we all do our bit. She also shared that receiving the Mayahuel was a deeply personal experience, emphasizing that the work of a production company is not limited to money, but involves walking together towards the creation of a work of art.
The connection and sisterhood among those present was evident. When talking about filmmaking, they mentioned the path taken by women as filmmakers in the seventh art. Ofelia, evoking her first film, said: "When I made that film, there were no women behind the cameras, and today, what a pleasure to say that Mexican cinema is a women's cinema.
Four women. Four Mayahueles. Forty editions of a festival that has become a witness to powerful trajectories, collective struggles and a history that continues to be written with a woman's voice. Bertha Navarro, recognized with the Silver Mayahuel in 2008; Ofelia Medina, honored in 2017; Arcelia Ramírez, awarded in 2023; and Dolores Heredia, who received the recognition in this fortieth edition.