The great Russian director Sergei Eisenstein is without doubt one of the most influential pioneers of modern cinema. His films Battleship Potemkin, Alexander Nevsky, Ivan the Terrible and others are still highly respected throughout the world and feature at the top of the list of the all-time greats of the history of cinema. One of his films is still missing: The Mexican epic ¡Que viva México! shot in 1931. Unfortunately due to Stalin's intrigues it had to remain unedited and incomplete. In Eisenstein Mexico has found one of the greatest film visionaries. His images of Mexico are unique; this project of reconstruction is of inestimable importance to world-cinema and should become a cultural event at least as significant as that of Abel Gance's Napoleon.
The director Lutz Becker's ability as film historian and filmmaker makes him particularly suited to undertake that complex and highly prestigious reconstruction of Eisenstein's original concept. Mexican Picture Partnership Ltd. has acquired the exclusive rights to Eisenstein's concept and all film materials from the Estate of the original producer of the film, the famous American writer Upton Sinclair. The film's final length will be approximately 1 hour 40 minutes. This period covers editing, digital film restoration and production of the sound track. It is important to note that the reconstructed and restored film will be an entirely new film, a unique masterpiece completed in the new century.
