Bringing woman filmmakers from archives to screens
INVISIBLE WOMEN PRESENT
Stronger Than Love:
¡Too Much Mexican Melodrama!
A touring season of Mexican melodrama that revels in heightened emotions, lush visuals, and unruly passions, celebrating women’s voices both on screen and behind the camera.
Stronger Than Love: ¡Too Much Mexican Melodrama! celebrates the lavish, emotionally charged world of 1930s–50s Mexican cinema with four restored classics that put women’s stories front and centre. From tempestuous romances to daring acts of defiance, these films showcase melodrama as a space where female desire, ambition, and artistry take the spotlight.
Presented by Invisible Women, this season highlights the extraordinary contributions of women both on screen and behind the camera: From the star power of Miroslava Stern and Ninón Sevilla, to the innovative direction of Adela Sequeyro and Matilde Landeta, and the masterful editing of Gloria Schoemann. Often dismissed as “women’s pictures,” these films reveal melodrama as a subversive, feminist space brimming with passion, ingenuity, and defiance.
Join us to rediscover these forgotten classics, experience the brilliance of Mexico’s Golden Age, and witness women claiming the screen like never before.
FILMS & TOUR DATES
Nobody's Wife (La Mujer de Nadie)
(Adela Sequeyro, 1937)
This dazzlingly bold melodrama marks the first sound film in Mexico directed by a woman. Adela Sequeyro writes, directs, and stars as Ana María, who flees her oppressive hacienda for a bohemian life of romance and intrigue. With wit, style, and daring, she reclaims her freedom, ensuring Nobody’s Wife remains a pioneering tale of female autonomy on screen.
Pictureville, Bradford: 8 November
Filmhouse, Edinburgh: 22 November
Showroom Cinema, Sheffield: 25 November
Streetwalker (Trotacalles)
(Matilde Landeta, 1951)
This gripping melodrama follows two sisters whose lives diverge; Maria (Miroslava Stern) into privilege, Elena (Elda Peralta) into the city’s underworld, before colliding in a storm of passion, envy and betrayal. Here trailblazing director Matilde Landeta turns to the harsh realities of prostitution and power, crafting a daring critique of gender and class in Golden Age Mexican cinema.
Filmhouse, Edinburgh: 25 November
Showroom Cinema Sheffield: 2 December
Pictureville, Bradford: 9 November
Victims of Sin (Víctimas del Pecado)
(Emilio Fernández, 1951)
This electrifying rumbera classic stars Ninón Sevilla as Violeta, a cabaret dancer whose act of compassion entangles her in a violent gangster’s revenge. Swept between danger, sacrifice, and the lure of redemption, her story unfolds in a world where noir grit collides with musical splendour. A titilating showcase for Sevilla, it also highlights the artistry of editor Gloria Schoemann, a driving force of Mexico’s Golden Age cinema.
DCA, Dundee: 26 November
Filmhouse, Edinburgh: 29 November
Hyde Park, Leeds: TBC
CinemaAttic, Edinburgh: TBC
Stronger Than Love (Mas Fuerte que el Amor)
(Tulio Demicheli, 1955)
This intoxicating melodrama stars Miroslava Stern as Barbara, a wealthy industrialist’s daughter whose desire for Carlos (Jorge Mistral), a former worker turned business partner, defies social codes and patriarchal control. With torrential storms, moonlit beaches and sweeping Cuban backdrops, Stronger than Love ignites with passion, situating female lust and agency at the heart of its fiery drama.
Filmhouse, Edinburgh: 2 December
Filmoteca UNAM
Filmoteca UNAM
Permanencia Voluntaria
Film Noir UK
Permanencia Voluntaria
Stronger Than Love ¡Too Much Mexican Melodrama! is delivered with the support of BFI FAN, awarding funds from The National Lottery.
With special thanks to Viviana García Besné, Filmoteca UNAM and Film Noir UK.