The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures’ newest exhibition, “Cinelandia: Celebrating Mexican American Cinema,” is set to open in the fourth-floor Marilyn and Jeffrey Katzenberg Gallery on Sept. 25, 2027.
“Cinelandia” celebrates Mexican American, Chicano, and Mexican contributions to American filmmaking throughout cinema history and its impact on identity and belonging within these communities. Presented within broader cultural and historical contexts, the exhibition will also examine how Mexican American filmmakers engage with other forms of artistic expression, including painting, literature, poetry, theater, and music, and how these influences shaped global filmmaking.
“‘Cinelandia’ reveals the richness, range, and resilience of Mexican American and Mexican experiences, while encouraging new conversations through the enduring power of cinema,” said Amy Homma, director and president of the Academy Museum and the Academy Collection. “We are thrilled to present an exhibition that aims to build community while celebrating a beautiful history of cinematic achievement.”
“This exhibition celebrates the extraordinary and vast contributions of filmmakers, artists, and audiences to cinematic history while also acknowledging the complexities of representation on screen,” said Associate Curator Sophia Serrano. “By bringing together films that span more than a century—from the silent era to contemporary works—we invite visitors to see how cinema has served as a space for cultural expression, resistance, creativity, and community.”
Organized into five thematic galleries, “Cinelandia” explores the relationship between Hollywood and Mexico in the silent and classical eras; filmmaking during the Chicano Movement of the 1960s; the rise of popular Chicano narrative films during the 1980s and 1990s, and the influence of New Mexican Cinema in the 1990s and 2000s; the fandom and popularity surrounding genre films from the 1960s to today; and present-day animated, sci-fi, and fantasy films that draw from Mexican culture to reimagine identity and history.
The exhibition will feature hundreds of original, rarely-seen costumes, props, posters, photographs, and more. Key works include “Babel” (2006), “The Book of Life” (2014), “Coco” (2017), “Cronos” (1992), the Spanish-language “Dracula” (1931), “El Norte” (1982), “Enamoreda” (1946), “From Dusk Till Dawn” (1996), “La Bamba” (1987), “Mexican Spitfire” (1940), “My Family/Mi Familia” (1995), “Salt of the Earth” (1954), “Santa” (1932), “Selena” (1997), “Sleep Dealer “(2008), “Yo Soy Joaquín” (1969), “Y Tu Mamá También” (2001), and “Zoot Suit” (1981), among many more.
On view from Sept. 25, 2027, to July 23, 2028, “Cinelandia” is the museum’s seventh large-scale exhibition in its Marilyn and Jeffrey Katzenberg Gallery.
“Cinelandia” is guided by a 12-person advisory panel that includes Lalo Alcaraz, cartoonist and writer-producer; Rosa-Linda Fregoso, professor emeritus, UC Santa Cruz; Rita Gonzalez, curator and head of contemporary art, LACMA; Jorge Gutiérrez, animator-director; Cristina Ibarra, writer-director; Jesse Lerner, filmmaker and professor, Pitzer College; Carlos López Estrada, director-writer; Orquidea Morales, assistant professor, University of Arizona; Gregory Nava, writer-director; Chon Noriega, professor, UCLA; Charles Ramirez Berg, professor, University of Texas at Austin; Laura Isabel Serna, professor, USC.
