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Sunday, October 5, 2008

Dispatches from Morelia

By Jeremy Schwartz | Sunday, October 5, 2008, 10:25 AM

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The more time you spend in this city, the more you realize what a crime the Independence Day grenade attack was. This is truly an amazing, overlooked city: block after block of finely preserved colonial buildings made of stately cantera stone, intricate carvings and dramatic arches. It’s a vibrant place as well: centuries-old mansions and government buildings that are now boutique hotels, hip restaurants and atmospheric bars. It’s a city of mystery and grace and it deserves far better than to be linked forever with what some are calling Mexico’s version of 9/11.

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We are here for the Morelia Film Festival, Mexico’s most important film festival, and people like Steven Soderbergh and Maya Zapata and Ximena Sarinana are wandering around the cobblestone streets. Juan Carlos Rulfo, Mexico’s pre-eminent documentary filmmaker, is giving interviews in leafy corners of out-of-the-way plazas. Film buffs from all over the continent are poring over programs at outdoor cafes. The downtown is bustling with people, and for the first time since the attacks two weeks ago, Morelia may be getting back to normal. Squint, and it’s like it never happened.

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But take a stroll around Morelia’s magnificent cathedral (it’s got to be in Mexico’s top three, which is saying something), and you come face to face with the tragedy. The first grenade was lobbed just a few feet from the church, in prime viewing location for the traditional Grito. The people there must have gotten their spots early. Discolored stone is now covered by dozens of candles, statues of the Virgen de Guadalupe and handwritten signs. A steady crowd filters past, silently taking it in. “Children don’t want war…” reads one sign. “Let’s end the fear, come out and fight - with peace as our weapon,” reads another. There are calls for unity in the face of the grotesque, unprecedented attack on Mexican civilians, most likely by drug traffickers.

Morelia depends on tourism for a good deal of its income, and taxi drivers and hotel workers say the last few weeks have been wretched, marked by mass cancelations of nervous tourists. Many are hoping the film festival will spark a resurgence. A city press release insists that much more to the city than the theme of security. So far, the city feels as safe as any in Mexico, and probably safer, given the reinforcements that have been sent here by President Felipe Calderon. My advice: if you have a trip planned to Morelia, you should come.

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