Programmer, Ambulante, Black Canvas, Reykjavik International Film Festival
Pedro Emilio Segura Bernal has wanted to be a programmer for as long as he can remember, working for the itinerant Ambulante Documentary Film Festival, Black Canvas Contemporary Film Festival in Mexico and Reykjavik International Film Festival in Iceland.
Segura Bernal divides his time between Mexico and Romania, where his partner lives. Festivals took notice after he and a friend launched La Ole Cine to distribute arthouse cinema in Mexico. “Black Canvas called me eight years ago,” he says.
Segura Bernal’s broad purview demands the juggling skills of a multitasker. For Black Canvas, it is about risky films that “expand the language of cinema for a niche audience”, while Reykjavik serves a nationwide crowd with “films everyone’s talking about”.
He participated in the Mexico City leg of his first Ambulante, which will visit four cities through June, and was struck by the emotional connection. “People around the country who aren’t necessarily cinephiles are looking to see what we offer,” Segura Bernal says. One film that popped was Valeria Sarmiento’s Huellas, a meditation on the regime of Augusto Pinochet.
Scouting trips take in Visions du Réel, FIDMarseille, IndieLisboa and Jeonju. The north stars of his career include Claudio Zilleruelo from Black Canvas, Itzel Martinez from Ambulante and Frédéric Boyer, Hronn Marinosdottir and Ana Catala at Reykjavik.
Segura Bernal worries about programmers’ mental health. “Everyone is overworked,” he says. But he would not change much. “To be able to see cinema, travel and discuss the work with friends — it’s the most privileged thing.”
Contact: Pedro Emilio Segura Bernal
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