Cineteca Nacional: 40 years after the great fire that consumed the site and part of its collection disappeared

In Mexico City there are all kinds of venues for fans of different activities. And for moviegoers, of course it's not lacking. This is the Cineteca Nacional, the highest venue dedicated to the preservation and dissemination of cinema. It is a meeting point with national and diverse latitudes cinematography, located in the south of the capital.

Its current modernist design is already an image that is part of the configuration of the country's capital, and with it, its 10 rooms, gardens, its outdoor screen, its film collection and its research center. Likewise, its cafes, restaurants, and shops are the essence of the current National Cinematheque, but as many know, this is not its original design, because throughout its 48 years of existence, if counted since the opening of its first headquarters, on January 17, 1974, it has changed its place and structure architectural on some occasions.

Just on a day like today, March 24, but in the year of 1982, that is, 40 years ago, a tragedy occurred in the venue that housed some of the most important films in the country. That day, a great fire occurred that consumed the National Cinematheque of Mexico, when the facilities were located in Calzada de Tlalpan and Rio Churubusco.

At that time, the complex had three rooms, the largest being the Fernando de Fuentes room, and had a capacity for 590 spectators. It had a vaulted area, for the preservation of the films and all the archives that were part of the collection.

In this first venue, its famous exhibition cycles were born: the International Film Festival of the National Cinematheque and the International Forum of the Cinematheque, which to date continue to take place. But there was also the Mobile Cinema project, which consisted of vehicles adapted with projectors and sound with which they projected films in communities outside Mexico City, in outdoor spaces.

The tragic and fateful fire of 1982 destroyed the halls and part of the collection disappeared. What is known is that day the film The Land of the Great Promise was screened, and that after 18:00, the flames began in the place.

It was documented in some newspapers that outbreaks began around 18:50 hours in the wineries located on the south side of the cinematheque building, and immediately, the eviction of the public who was in the Fernando de Fuentes and Salón Rojo rooms began.

Reports in print media of the time indicated that the apparent causes of the accident was a short circuit in the development laboratories, where various chemicals were stored, including silver nitrate, which is used in the production of films, and that it is highly explosive, which would have caused the chain explosions.

It is known that the magnitude of the rumbles reached more than 5 kilometers around, and that shops, private buildings, and the birthplace of the DIF, which at that time was on Calzada de Tlalpan, suffered damage to its structure.

Traffic was paralyzed on several nearby roads, such as the Tlalpan and Río Churubusco roadways, and even the Metro Collective Transport System suspended service on line 2 for more than three hours.

More than 300 firefighters belonging to the Tlalpan, Saavedra, Tacubaya, Tacuba and Fire Station substations worked to control the fire. More than 20 ambulances from the Red Cross, 15 from ERUM, 12 from ISSSTE and 15 from IMSS also arrived at the scene. They transferred the wounded to different hospitals, such as El Xoco, Rubén Leñero, Balbuena and November 20. In addition, there was a strong police presence.

After almost 16 hours of work, firefighters controlled the fire. The result was 5 dead, 3 missing and at least 50 injured, including 5 children. There was panic among the people who were there and among inhabitants of the neighboring colonies. To date, the exact number of deaths and the actual damage to the collection of the National Cinematheque is unknown.

The building was practically completely consumed, and it is estimated that more than 6,506 films were lost; 2,300 scripts; 9,000 books; as well as negatives of films by Juan Orolo and Manuel Álvarez Bravo; the film archive of the presidency of Plutarco Elías Calles, and even original drawings by Mexican muralist Diego Diego Rivera, Spain.

It was until two years later, on January 27, 1984, that the Cineteca reopened its doors in a new venue, in the Xoco neighborhood, in the center of what was the Plaza de los Compositors, which already had four cinemas. The work was the result of a governmental and social effort, grouped in the Pro-Reconstruction and Reconstruction Board of the site.

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