Alberto Isaac Biography
Alberto Isaac Ahumada was born in Mexico City in 1925. He studied to be a teacher, but taught only for a short time. He returned to Mexico City, where he wrote for the sports section of a newspaper and soon became a cartoonist for the OEM group's Esto magazine. He subsequently became editor-in-chief of the entertainment section, simultaneously collaborating on the newspapers El Universal, El Sol de México and Novedades.
In the 1950s Isaac sought other means of expression. While maintaining his roles as editor, editor-in-chief and designer, he practiced ceramics in particular. It was certainly in this profession that he met the ceramist Hugo Velásquez, who will appear in two of his films.
In 1964, the STPC opened the First Experimental Film Competition to the public, which aimed to give new talent the opportunity to enter the then very closed Mexican film industry. Isaac saw the perfect opportunity to try his luck. Thirty amateur directors participated, twelve films were submitted and Isaac won second prize with En este pueblo no hay ladrones.
By the end of the 1960s, Isaac had reconciled his two passions, cinema and sport, directing two documentaries about two major events taking place in Mexico City: the 1968 Summer Olympics and the 1970 World Cup. Also this second film, presented as fiction, was distributed under the name The world at their feet.
In 1980 Isaac was a member of the Berlinale jury. In March 1983 he was appointed director of the brand new Mexican Institute of Cinematography (IMCINE), until his resignation in 1986. There he organized a new experimental film competition, in homage to the man who had opened the doors to the profession twenty years earlier.
In 1986, Isaac returned to success with Mariana, Mariana, based on a novel by José Emilio Pacheco. In 1993, Alberto Isaac published a book of interviews with cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa. She directed her last feature film, the comedy Mujeres insumisas, in 1994. The film received sixteen Ariel nominations and won two awards: best supporting actress and best editing.
During his lifetime, his name was given to a street in the city of Colima and the Olympic-sized swimming pool of the Morelos Sports Complex is located in the Gustavo A. Madero Delegation of Mexico City.
