Cineteca Nacional restores early Mexican animated shorts in 4K

The Cineteca Nacional has completed a 4K digital restoration of six Mexican animated short films made between 1935 and 1938 by the pioneering AVA studio, founded by physician‑animator Alfonso Vergar​a Andrade. The collection – Paco Perico, La cucaracha, Una noche de posada, Chema y Juana, Los cinco cabritos and Mi viaje a Moctezuma – was assembled after about a year of research, material location, scanning, colour recovery and stabilization, a process led by restoration specialist Jania Alarcón with support from FOCINE, IMCINE and the laboratory of Elena Sánchez Valenzuela.

The restored shorts premiered as the opening program of the 45th International Film Forum, which runs from 13 August to 10 September 2026 across three Cineteca venues. The screening marks the first time the complete early Mexican animation catalogue is shown together in high‑definition, and the films will also be added to the Cineteca’s video archive for future access.