''El estudiante'' ( en, The Student) is a 2009

Mexican film Mexican cinema dates to the late nineteenth century during the rule of President Porfirio Díaz. Seeing a demonstration of short films in 1896, Díaz immediately saw the importance of documenting his presidency in order to present an ideal ...

written and directed by Roberto Girault, and starring

Jorge Lavat Jorge Lavat Bayona (3 August 1933 − 14 September 2011) was a Mexican film and television actor. Life and work Born in Mexico City, Mexico, he appeared in more than 25 serialized ''telenovelas'' over the decades between 1958 and 2001, includi ...

, Norma Lazareno, José Carlos Ruiz, Jeannine Derbez,

Siouzana Melikián Siouzana Melikian () is a Ukrainian- Mexican actress of Armenian descent. Biography Melikian was born on 14 August 1986, into a family of circus performers in Donetsk, Ukrainian SSR, USSR. Before moving to Mexico with her family, she spent the ...

and Cristina Obregón. The film depicts the story of a 70-year-old man called Chano, who decides to go to university despite his age.

Plot

The story takes place in the city of

Guanajuato Guanajuato (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato), is one of the 32 states that make up the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 46 municipalities and its capital city i ...

. The story is about a 70-year-old man called Chano who decides to enroll in a university course in order to study literature. Chano tries to break the generation gap using his passion for

Don Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of Wester ...

. He clashes with the different traditions and they all share their dreams and experiences.

Cast

as Chano *

Norma Lazareno Norma Lazareno (born 5 November 1943) is a Mexican film and television actress.Greene, p. 176. Filmography Televisión * ''La mexicana y el güero'' (2021) - Doña Crucita Rojas * '' Simplemente María'' (2015-2016) - Olivia Aparicio Vda. de ...

as Alicia * Cristina Obregón as Carmen *

Pablo Cruz Guerrero Pablo Cruz Guerrero (born 2 February 1984) is a Mexican actor. Filmography Film roles Television roles References External links * 1984 births Mexican male telenovela actors Living people 21st-century Mexican male actor ...

as Santiago *

as Alejandra * Jorge Luiz Moreno as Marcelo * Cuauhtémoc Duque as Eduardo * Daniel Martínez as Héctor * Jeannine Derbez as Sofía * Silvia Santoyo as Lucía * Raúl Adalid as Jorge * Sofía Toache as Matilde * Fernando Estrada as Álvaro *

José Carlos Ruiz José Carlos Ruiz (born 17 November 1936) is a Mexican film and television actor. He starred in telenovelas such as ''María Isabel'', '' Soñadoras'', ''Mariana de la noche'', '' Sortilegio'', ''Soy Tu Dueña'', ''Un Refugio para el Amor'', '' ...

as Don Pedro

Production

Filming

The film was shot in well-known locations in

city where they worked for 6 weeks. The scenes inside the university were shot at

Universidad de Guanajuato The Universidad de Guanajuato (in English, the University of Guanajuato) is a university based in the Mexican state of Guanajuato, made up of about 33,828 students in programs ranging from high school level to the doctorate level. Over 17,046 of ...

Release

The limited release of this film happened gradually in 100 locations in Mexico. It was also screened in various film festivals, including the

Chicago Latino Film Festival The Chicago Latino Film Festival is a U.S. film festival, focusing on Latin America and Latinos. Held annually in Chicago since 1985, it is organized by the International Latino Cultural Center International is an adjective (also used as a noun) m ...

and Latin American Film Festival of

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...

Reception

The film won the Mexican film critics award "Diosa de Plata", despite not being nominated in any category by the Academy.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Estudiante 2009 films 2000s Spanish-language films 2000s avant-garde and experimental films Mexican coming-of-age drama films Mexican avant-garde and experimental films 2000s coming-of-age drama films 2009 directorial debut films 2009 drama films 2000s Mexican films