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Issue #19

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August 2026

Once a quarter, we offer an in-depth online class exploring a topic, filmmaker, or genre. Classes are taught by leading experts and professors from around the world. Join us for these multi-week sessions to dive deeper into movies you love or learn something new. For the first five years of this program, these classes were underwritten by a grant from the Vesta Fund. This grant has expired and we have had to raise prices a little to cover the costs of the program. To support education programs like these or to underwrite future classes, make a gift today.

The Global Cinema of Cuarón, González Iñárritu, and del Toro

Mondays, October 26 - Nov 16

This four-session fall course discusses the careers of the three Mexican filmmakers, whose work of the late 1990s and early 2000s took critics and audiences by storm. The “Three Amigos,” as they are affectionately called, have produced a rich body of films that have gained an international reputation for their imaginative rendering of film language and a baroque vision of what it means to be human in the 21st century.

The course will explore the cultural and historical context that has nurtured these Hispanic artists, explaining their global impact. It will also examine their work from an “auteur” perspective, including their unique creative “signatures”: the versatility and the use of genres by Alfonso Cuarón; the non-linear and interwoven narratives of Alejandro González Iñárritu (whose Digger opens October 2); and the potent fantasy world of monsters created by Guillermo del Toro, shaping it with emotions and thematic complexity, while challenging the rules of the genre.

The first session will introduce the Mexican film industry and culture that the “Amigos” were steeped in before and during the early years of their careers. Each remaining session will focus on an individual director, discussing a specific film, while bringing into the conversation other titles, film clips, and selected readings. Cuarón’s Gravity (2013), González Iñárritu’s Amores Perros (2000), and del Toro’s Frankenstein (2025) will be the cornerstones of the course.

Registration will open on Tuesday, September 22nd.

Course Details:
Over an four-week period, participants will attend four Zoom sessions, exploring the work of these three filmmakers. Since this is an online course, participants are expected to watch the films on their own, though there will be information on our website that suggests where to find them. Please note that the registration fee for this class will not include a ticket to any in-theater screenings.

Meeting 1: Mon, Oct 26, 7:30pm to 9pm
Meeting 2: Mon Nov 2, 7:30pm to 9pm
Meeting 3: Mon, Nov 9, 7:30pm to 9pm
Meeting 4: Mon, Nov 16, 7:30pm to 9pm

Instructor: María Elena de las Carreras, Ph.D.
A Fulbright scholar and film critic from Argentina, María Elena de las Carreras has a Ph.D. in film and television studies from UCLA. She is the editor, with Jan-Christopher Horak, of Hollywood Goes Latin (2019) and a lecturer in film history and aesthetics at California State University, Northridge, and UCLA. She has conducted research and interviews for the Visual History Program of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and is a regular collaborator of the Latin American Cinemateca of Los Angeles. Dr. de las Carreras has contributed interviews, commentary tracks, and essays to Flicker Alley DVD/Blu-ray releases of Argentine films and documentaries and has been a screener and juror for the Social Impact Media Awards since 2017.