Entertainment · Books & Arts · 13 hrs ago
Memoirs revisit Emilio García Riera’s work documenting Mexican cinema
A new book in Spain brings together two memoirs by Emilio García Riera, a Spanish-born scholar who became one of the leading historians of Mexican cinema.
Born in Ibiza in 1931, he fled the Spanish Civil War with his family, travelling through France and the Dominican Republic before settling in Mexico.
Movies became a refuge during his family’s years of exile, and he devoted his life to studying cinema.
His 18-volume *Documentary History of Mexican Cinema*, published from 1992 to 1997, catalogues films made between 1929 and 1976.
The work provides a detailed record of a major American film tradition and reflects García Riera’s focus on historical facts and documentation.
He also helped make *En el balcón vacío*, a film about childhood memories of war and the loss of home, made with fellow Spanish exiles Jomí García Ascot and María Luisa Elío.
The new edition revisits his life and his role in that film, though no further plans for the book are stated.
A new Spanish volume brings together Emilio García Riera’s two memoirs, revisiting the life of the scholar who documented Mexican cinema.
García Riera’s 18-volume documentary history of Mexican cinema covers films made from 1929 to 1976.
Born in Ibiza in 1931, he fled Spain with his family during the Civil War and eventually settled in Mexico.
He also worked on the film En el balcón vacío, made with Jomí García Ascot and María Luisa Elío.
The memoir volume is titled El cine es mejor que la vida / 70 años de ser yo and was published by Athenaica.
- Who
- Emilio García Riera, a film historian and memoirist.
- What
- A new volume brings together his two memoirs and revisits his work documenting Mexican cinema.
- When
- Published in Spain; the article was published on 8 November 2026.
- Where
- Spain and Mexico. García Riera was born in Ibiza and died in Zapopan, Mexico.
- Why
- The volume revisits his life and his work documenting the cinema of the country that welcomed his family in exile.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Emilio García Riera was born in Ibiza.
He fled with his family, first to France, then the Dominican Republic, and finally Mexico.
En el balcón vacío, involving García Riera, Jomí García Ascot and María Luisa Elío, was made.
The 18 volumes of García Riera’s Historia documental del cine mexicano were published.
A volume bringing together his two memoirs was published in Spain.
- Birth
- Ibiza, 1931
- Death
- Zapopan, Mexico, aged 70
- Documentary history
- 18 volumes, published from 1992 to 1997
- Films covered
- Mexican cinema from 1929 to 1976
- Memoir volume
- El cine es mejor que la vida / 70 años de ser yo
- Film
- En el balcón vacío, made in 1962
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