Voices of the Dead: Adapting the Unadaptable Pedro Páramo

Concordia University, in collaboration with the Mexican Consulate in Montreal and Mexican Cultural Institute in Montreal, is pleased to invite you to a special screening and discussion of Juan Rulfo’s Pedro Páramo. The film will be screened at DeSève Cinema followed by a round table discussion at 4thSpace.

This event will examine the challenges and creative choices involved in bringing a Latin American literary classic to film and digital media. The discussion will reflect on how the depth, symbolism, and cultural resonance of Pedro Páramo are conveyed on screen, the opportunities and limitations of platforms like Netflix, and what is gained or lost in the adaptation process.

How can a literary masterpiece be reimagined for today’s global streaming platforms?

This event brings together scholars, filmmakers, and cultural representatives to explore the adaptation of Juan Rulfo’s Pedro Páramo—a cornerstone of Latin American literature—into Netflix’s cinematic format. Through the screening of the new film and a round table discussion, participants will reflect on the opportunities and challenges of translating the depth, symbolism, and cultural resonance of the novel into visual storytelling for an international audience.

The discussion will highlight the creative and technical tools filmmakers use to capture the richness of Rulfo’s narrative, as well as the broader implications for how Latin American cultural heritage is represented on global streaming platforms. Can the profound spirit of a literary classic be faithfully conveyed in the Netflix age? What is gained, what is lost, and what future awaits these crossovers between literature and digital media?

This unique event is organized in collaboration between Concordia University’s Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema, 4TH Space, and the Mexican Cultural Institute in Montreal.

The round table discussion will be moderated by Dr. Martin Lefebvre, Chair of the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. Panelists include:

• Dr. Masha Salazkina, Professor of Film Studies, Concordia University
• Dr. Marc Steinberg, Professor of Film Studies, Concordia University
• Dr. Katia Andrea Morales Gaitán, Université de Montréal / Université Sorbonne Nouvelle
• Dr. Douglas j. Weatherford Brigham Young University
• Mr. Juan Carlos Rulfo, Independent producer and filmmaker

Special remarks will be offered by Ambassador Victor Treviño Escudero, Consul General of Mexico in Montreal.

How can you participate? Join us in person or online by registering for the Zoom Meeting or watching live on YouTube.

Have questions? Send them to info.4@concordia.ca

Dr. Martin Lefebvre
Professor and Concordia University Research Chair in Film Studies, Cinema

Dr. Martin Lefebvre is Chair of the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema at Concordia University and holds the Concordia University Research Chair in Film Studies (Hon.). His research explores film theory, semiotics, and aesthetics, with particular attention to narrative, representation, and cinema’s relationship with other arts. He is the founding editor of Recherches sémiotiques / Semiotic Inquiry and has published widely on film theory, visual culture, and the philosophy of cinema.

Dr. Masha Salazkina
Professor, Film and Moving Image Studies, Cinema, Concordia University

Masha Salazkina's work incorporates transnational approaches to film theory and cultural history with a focus on the historical relationship between the Socialist bloc and countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America. She has published essays in Cinema Journal, Film History, October, Screen, Framework, Canadian Journal of Film Studies, and many edited collections on such topics as the geopolitics of film and media theory production; theorizations of World Cinema; history of film education; cinemas of solidarity and internationalism; non-professional cinema, and global circulation of popular culture.

Dr. Marc Steinberg
Professor, Film Studies, Cinema; Dirctor, The Platform Lab, Cinema, Concordia University

Marc Steinberg's research focuses explores the impact of streaming platforms on media industries and viewer experience today, particularly focusing on the role of streaming platforms like Netflix in mediating cultural production and "on-demand" viewing and global Internet history. His prior research is in animation studies, focusing on anime and the "media mix," as well as media and management. He welcomes MA and PhD students interested in working on platforms, anime, video streaming, and media in Asia; East Asian Film and media, or other topics.

Katia Morales Gaitán
PhD in Film Studies, University of Montreal, and PhD in Information and Communication Sciences, Sorbonne Nouvelle University, Paris

PhD candidate in film studies at the University of Montreal and PhD candidate in information and communication sciences at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University, Paris, under the direction of Dr. André Gaudreault and Dr. Laurent Creton. Katia holds an MA in documentary cinema for which she was awarded a distinction as the programme's best student by Mexico's National University. She's got postgraduate studies in production and film management. Katia's BA in sociology had a focus on information and communication technologies. She has worked as content coordinator for the VOD platform of Mexico's Film Institute. She has taught, among other institutions, at Cineteca Nacional, Universidad Nacional and Universidad Iberoamericana. Katia has worked at Cineteca Nacional's gallery, Latin Side of the Doc, DocsMx, and other film festivals and international organisations.

Juan Carlos Rulfo
Independent producer and filmmaker
Juan Carlos Rulfo studied a B.A. in Communication Sciences at the UAM specializing in cinema, with a thesis on the work of Andrei Tarkovsky. He studied film at the Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica (CCC). His thesis project, El abuelo Cheno y otras historias (1995), participated in many national and international festivals and received numerous awards, among them the Danzante de Plata for Best Documentary Short Film in the 23rd Huesca Film Festival in Spain and the Best Documentary Prize at the International Film School Festivals, both in Buenos Aires, Argentina and in Mexico City at the CCC. He directed his first feature, Del olvido al no me acuerdo, with the support of the FONCA, IMCINE, and the Rockefeller and MacArthur Foundations. This film also participated in various festivals around the world: in 1999 it was awarded the Best First Feature Prize at the Festival des Films du Monde in Montreal, Canada and at the Biarritz International Film Festival in France. He has also received four Ariel prizes from the Mexican Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Best First Feature, Editing, Photography, and Sound. He is a member of the FONCA’s Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte and was recently awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship for his next feature film El sonidero.

Doug Weatherford
Professor Spanish and Portuguese, Brigham Young University
Doug was born in Salt Lake City but grew up in Statesboro, Georgia, where his father taught German at Georgia Southern University. Doug served a mission in northern Mexico (Torreón: 1984–85) that included assignments in the Mormon Colonies and the Mennonite Camps of the state of Chihuahua. Doug married Terri L. Jackson in 1986 and the two have five children and one granddaughter. Doug loves to read, travel, and ride bicycles and motorcycles. He graduated from BYU in 1988 (BA Spanish) and the Pennsylvania State University in 1997 (PhD Latin American Literature). He has been a professor at BYU since 1995. Doug’s research and teaching emphases include Latin American literature and film, representations of the period of Discovery and Conquest, and Mexico at mid-Century (1920–1968, with particular focus on Rosario Castellanos and Juan Rulfo).