A bridge between Mexico and Western Sahara

Mexican artist and filmmaker Mario Brondo has announced the completion of the theatrical version of
Villa Cisneros, a series of short experimental documentaries shot in the Western Sahara desert, both in
mined camps; and refugee camps near Tindouf, Algeria.
The very hard to classify film / artwork will be showing in the next few months.
When I arrived in the Saharaui refugee camps, I knew that I needed to shoot something experimental.
The nature of the place and the big hearts of people living there, immediatly led me to structure the
piece in 8 independent chapters, each with different narrative and rhetoric style. I wanted to push the
boundaries of the viewers mind beyond cinematic clichs.
The film analyzes how History is built by humans. In this case Brondo takes very random resources to
build coherence. With free-licenced texts and music and even a robot narrator, an uncanny feeling of
how contemporary information works, and how texts are produced, adopted, and misinterpreted is
acheived.
Its a work about Historiography: the way History is made up. Some resources include poems,
testimonials, and even lies. Music is used to intentionally generate artificial feelings over the images
and texts.
Villa Cisneros is both a film, AND a series of video artworks. In the gallery version, it can ideally
become an installation with 8 simultaneous video channels, but videos can also be shown
independently. Parts are: Fresco, Mise en Abme, Arqueologa, Ouroboros, Sirocco, Lo Inspido, La
Guerra, and Tiempos Muertos.
I think Villa Cisneros is a phenomenon of globalization, where people from very different
backgrounds can meet and share ideas. Art in this case is the way to make a bridge between
civilizations, and cultural integration is always an engine for peace and tolerance.
Brondos work has recently been seen in the exhibition Wunderkammer (Halle, Paris, Sinop), along
with work by Lars Von Trier, David Lynch, and Alghiero Boetti. Villa Cisneros, 66 min, 2016 is Mario
Brondos first feature length experimental documentary. He is preparing the release of the 4 deaths of
Mara Desiderio, which is an essay about death and magic. Among other projects, The Gold Comes To
You is programed for showing at art venues in Mexico.
Some of the episodes of Villa Cisneros and some other artworks and videos can be seen at Brondos
personal website http://brondo.co
Mario Brondo (Mexico City, 1982) is a Mexican artist and filmmaker. He finished his masters degree
in Le Fresnoy, Studio National in France in 2009. His work has been shown in film festivals and art
exhibitions in Mexico and Europe.
Villa Cisneros
Contact Person: Mario Brondo
Website: http://brondo.co
Email: mario.brondo@gmail.com
Phone: 5510817897
Mexico City, Mexico