Short film

America Tropical

1971 · 30 min

A thoughtful, quietly indignant art-history documentary that feels like a detective story about a lost masterpiece and the politics that erased it.

Overview: This video tells the story of a controversial mural painted on a Los Angeles building in 1932 by Mexican artist David Alfaro Siqueiros. Depicting a Mexican crucified on a double cross, the mural represented Siqueiros' strong statement against U.S. imperialism in Mexico and the treatment of Mexicans in the U.S. Shortly after Siqueiros returned to Mexico, the mural was whitewashed by Los Angeles authorities. Nearly forty years later, two Mexican art restorers investigate the now faded mural and discuss the possibility of its restoration (the Getty Museum has announced that it will refurbish the mural in 2005-2006). The video also includes interviews with a then 74-year-old Siqueiros and other artists who worked with the great Mexican muralist.
How it feels: Earnest, melancholic and satirical. Measured and needs your attention.
About: Art, politics, power, corruption
Content: No violence, gore, sexual content or swearing.
Note: Written by AI, so it can be wrong. Full breakdown

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