Paul Leduc

Paul Leduc Rosenzweig (11 March 1942 – 21 October 2020) was a Mexican film director.

One of Leduc's most acclaimed works is Frida, naturaleza viva (1983 – marketed as Frida in the U.S.), a tribute to the indomitable spirit and determination of the painter Frida Kahlo.

Overview Paul Leduc Rosenzweig studied architecture and theatre, at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; attended a French film school, Institut des hautes études cinématographiques (IDHEHC).

Leduc was able to launch his career due to a unique situation. During the reign of President Luis Echeverría (1970–76) the Mexican government actively intervened as a producer of cinema. Under this new policy the government paid for the amplification of Reed: Insurgent Mexico to 35 mm. This was the only time the Mexican government intervened in one of Leduc's films. For the rest of his career he funded his films independently, through universities and unions, and with collective efforts. Leduc's works reflects a person's concern for certainty. Etnocidio: notas sobre el Mezquital is a powerful documentary on the extermination of the native peoples in Latin America. This documentary shows how the Otomi Indians of the Mezquital region in Mexico relate to their experiences with “civilized” society. The creation of the film was through a collaborative effort, the “script” was written by Roger Bartra, Mexico's top leading rural sociologist. This film was based on Bartra's years of research in the Mezquital region. This film kept words to a minimum whether spoken or written. This style was highly experimental. Leduc breaks from traditional cinematographic styles, the absence of dialogue, to reduce the famous figures of history and culture such as Frida Kahlo to cartoons of themselves. He uses the film to develop these characters in a way that allows them to remain at the lowest common denominator of the popular stereotypes fomented in mass culture. What makes this film unique is the sense of time. “The director observes no sense of chronology, moving forwards and backwards in time as Frida grows younger or older, scene by scene.” Etnocidio: notas sobre el Mezquital; Estudios para un retrato ( Francis Bacon ) (1978) Puebla hoy (1978) Monjas coronadas (1978) ABC del etnocidio: notas sobre el Mezquital (1976), and Puebla hoy (1979).

Films Leduc also produced films about historical events, such as: Comunicados del comité nacional de huelga (1968) Reed: México insurgente (1973), a dramatization based on the firsthand reports of the Mexican Revolution by journalist John Reed. Sur, sureste 2604; El mar (1974) Historias prohibidas de Pulgarcito (1979) Complót petróleo: la cabeza de la hidra (1981). ¿Cómo ves? (Whaddya Think?) (1982) Frida Still Life (Frida: Naturaleza viva) (1983) Barroco (Baroque) (1989) Dólar mambo (1993). Latino Bar (1995) Los Animales 1850–1950 (1995)

Work cited "Film Reference." Paul Leduc. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2015. Pick, Zuzana (1993). The New Latin America Cinema, Austin: University of Texas Press, p. 36 Schwartz, Ronald (1997), Latin American Film, 1932-1994, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarlad & Company, Inc., p. 102