1938 Shows a People Taking Control of Their Economy
The new Mexican film 1938 tells the story of the nation’s historic expropriation of the oil industry. Jacobin sat down with director Sergio Olhovich to talk about the long-awaited project — finally realized with the support of the AMLO administration.
Still from 1938. (Sociedad Cooperativa 1938 Cinematográfica)
Twenty years in the making, Sergio Olhovich’s new movie, 1938: When Mexico Recovered Its Oil, about the expropriation of the Mexican oil industry under President Lázaro Cárdenas, has finally seen the light of day.
With some fifteen feature films under his belt, Olhovich has been a fixture in Mexican auteur cinema for some five decades, with a body of work focusing on social, critical, and psychological themes.
Jacobin sat down with the director to discuss how he managed to see through such a long-postponed project, and the relevance of Mexico’s oil nationalization for the present day.
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