AN ALBUQUERQUE LATIN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL SPECIAL, A U.S. PREMIERE SCREENING!  THANKS TO THE OPENING ACT SPONSORS UMB BANK, THE UNM-LATIN AMERICAN  AND IBERIAN INSTITUTE  AS WELL AS SUPPORTING SPONSOR ROB DONNELLY!

BONUS -  There will be introductions by both guest speakers Richard Wood - the president of the Institute of Advanced Catholic Studies at USC and a former sociology of religion professor at UNM - and  Santiago Vaquera Vasquez, professor and former chair of the Dept of Spanish and Portuguese at UNM!

Comfortably established within the Mexican Catholic hierarchy, Bishop Sergio Méndez Arceo undergoes a profound spiritual transformation after an encounter with a poor laborer.  Embracing liberation theology, and secular humanism, he redefines his pastoral mission in solidarity with the oppressed—placing himself at odds with political authorities, conservative sectors of the Church, and even the Vatican’s highest theological offices.

In The Red Bishop, acclaimed Mexican filmmaker Francesco Taboada Tabone, a native of Méndez Arceo’s diocese of Cuernavaca, brings to life the dramatic story of one of Mexico’s most controversial religious leaders through a gripping documentary narrative. Beyond its historical significance, the film offers a powerful meditation on moral courage, conviction, and the personal cost of standing up for justice in the face of persecution and intolerance.

Francesco Taboada Tabone (Cuernavaca, May 25, 1973) is a Mexican film director specializing in documentary cinema who has received numerous international awards. He is the director of the feature-length documentaries The Last Zapatistas (2000), Pancho Villa: The Revolution Has Not Ended (2006), 13 Communities Defending Water, Air, and Land (2007), Tin Tan (2009), and Maguey (2013). His film, The Red Bishop (2024), on the life of politically controversial Mexican bishop Sergio Méndez Arceo, was released in theaters in Mexico on April 9, 2026. Its screening at The Guild marks its U.S. theatrical premiere.