Viviana García Besné
Writer, Archivist, and Filmmaker, Viviana has spent years collecting and preserving her family’s film legacy while reinterpreting the overlooked corners of Mexican popular cinema. As the granddaughter of producer Jorge García Besné and heir to the Calderón film dynasty, she is the door through which the vault of Cinematográfica Calderón and its sister companies has been opened to the world. Viviana is the only person with access to these personal archives — reels, letters, contracts, and photographs that reveal the hidden pulse of Mexico’s popular film industry. Through her work with the Permanencia Voluntaria Film Archive, she brings to light the wild, the weird, and the wonderful stories of lucha-cine with both devotion and wit, while sharing the personal stories entrusted to her by the people who made this cinematic universe come alive.
SEE WHAT IS BETWEEN THE COVERS!
DOZENS OF LUCHA LIBRE FILMS Explored including:
EL VAMPIRO Y EL SEXO • LA HORRIPILANTE BESTIA HUMANA ENIGMA DE MUERTE • LAS MUJERES PANTERAS • EL SANTO & BLUE DEMON VS. DRÁCULA & EL HOMBRE LOBO • SANTO EN LA VENGANZA DE LAS MUJERES VAMPIRO • LAS LUCHADORAS CONTRA LA MOMIA • LA MUJER MURCIÉLAGO • SANTO VS. LA HIJA DEL DR. FRANKESTEIN AND MANY MORE!
Learn the hidden history of lucha libre films including:
The only Western movie Santo ever made!
The only known “sexy” versions with Santo!
Santo’s first ever movies shot in Cuba!
The first time a real voodoo ceremony was shot for a film!
The only time Santo became a FILM producer!
The only luchadoras LEAD films ever made!
BE FOREWARNED!
FOREWORD BY
Jorge R. Gutiérrez
Creator/Director of The Book of Life, El Tigre, Maya and The Three, and Son of Jaguar
INCLUDING INTERVIEWS WITH
René Cardona III • Axel Nieto del Santo • Sasha Montenegro • Guillermo Calderón • Aldo Monti • Maura Monti • Joaquín Cordero • Armando Silvestre
AND CONTRIBUTIONS FROM
David Wilt • Christian Cymet • Estrellita • Joselo from Café Tacuba • Ítala Schmelz • Alejandra Pérez Grobet • Carlos Villasana • Killer Films • Trash Mex • Brian Price • Edna Campos • Keith J. Rainville • Jorge Tovalín • Peter Conheim • José Luis Aparicio • "Professor Latin X" Frederik Luis Aldama • Jesús Chavarría Cabrera • Cinema Tropical • Ignacio Sánchez • José Luis Ortega • Carlos Belmont • Álvaro Fernández • Alex Hammond • Ian Markiewicz • Sibylle Hayem • Camilla Baier • Karina Solórzano • Charles Horak • Abram Castillo Flores • Raúl Benítez and The Roxie and more to come!
Imuriz Díaz • El Terrorifico Dr. Napalm • Portaveritas • Diego Simone • Leo Colapietro • Scott Sugiuchi • Alex Fine • Rafael Navarro • Javier Hernandez • Lauren Moran • Gregg Deal • Juan Of The Dead • Julio Guerra • Mathias Valdez • Nick Clark • Salvador Verano Calderon • Bruce Arthurs • Rick Knox • José D. Hernandez • Raymond Morua • Hector Rodriguez III • José Esquivel • Diego Valenzuela • Alex Eckman-Lawn • Lee Moriarty • Joshua Philips • Miguel Angel Hernández Cedillo • Paloma Campo and more!