Oscar-winning filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu held a Zoom conference call on Wednesday to announce the restoration, renovation and remastering of his breakout hit “Amores Perros” to coincide with the film’s 20th anniversary.
The classic film premiered 20 years ago today (May 13) at Cannes Critics Week during the festival. With the cooperation of the Mexican government, Iñárritu is hoping to premiere the restored film in December in The Zocalo in Mexico City. Composer Gustavo Santaolalla will score the film live at the Zocalo premiere. Additionally, there will be a live concert with the bands from the film’s original soundtrack.
When asked if there are plans to exhibit the restored print domestically, Iñárritu told TheWrap, “We think when the film is ready, we will be successful in finding the theaters and spaces to show the restored print.”
He continued, “I don’t know yet if there will be a valiant distributor to release the movie in Spanish in the United States 20 years later,” Iñárritu added. “But definitively we will find film festival avenues and places where the new version of ‘Amores Perros’ remastered will be screened. We will find ways for people to have an opportunity to see the film theatrically in select cities.”
Directed by Iñárritu and written by Guillermo Arriaga, “Amores Perros” told three distinct stories linked by a car accident in Mexico City that brings the characters briefly together. “Octavio y Susana” centered on a teenager in the slums who gets involved in dogfighting, “Daniel y Valeria” focused on a Spanish supermodel who seriously injured her leg, and “El Chivo y Maru” centered on a mysterious hitman named El Chivo. Gael Garcia Bernal launched his film career playing the teenager in the “Octavio y Susana” segment.
“Amores Perros” won the Prize of the Critic’s Week at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film.