Episode list

Zedillo was chosen as successor by Carlos Salinas de Gortari after the murder of Luis Donaldo Colosio, the original candidate for government, during one of his campaign tours. The son of a family of scarce means, participant in the student movement of 1968 and president almost by accident, he faced one of the greatest economic crises in Mexico's history. Throughout his term, Ernest Zedillo would grow as a leader and would become an important architect in Mexico's transition to truly democratic elections in 2000.

Based on an in-depth interview, carried out by the historian Enrique Krauze with the then-president of Mexico Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León, this documentary is a revelatory testimony of the personal, professional and political life of a man who had to dodge innumerable obstacles during his presidential term.

Veracruz is both richness and contrast. It is a state whose very name is abundance - a land that the work of man has turned into a veritable breadbasket. Veracruz is a state that has had to change its way of living in order to adapt to new times that the world is living. It is a state in which the local culture resists changing its huapangos and its zones (local songs with dance) for the rhythms that come from the north. It is a state that faces the new century without losing its history.

Since its foundation in 1928, the Bank of Mexico has been the only institution authorized to issue money in the country. And due to this, its collaboration in putting an end to the banking and financial chaos inherited from the Revolution was fundamental. Just as important have been its directives to control inflation and to fix a monetary policy that favors the progress of the economy. But it has not always been able to act in this way.

From turning on a lamp to making complex machinery work is now a simple and everyday action. Millions of people would not be able to imagine their daily activities without the presence of electric energy. If prehistoric man was able to produce fire and through this possess the first source of light, 5,000 years would have to pass so that this mysterious force generated by nature could be controlled by man and transformed into electricity.

The worker movement in Mexico has a long history of being held down by the corporate state through the enormous Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM). But organizations have existed, different groups and independent unions, that have seen a recent stage of growth, due to the development of a more and more democratic Mexico. The program presents a look at the colorful leaders, the elaborate processes of worker control and the independent strikes and future of unions in Mexico.

This program shows the world of Juan José Arreola, through the pages of his literature and considering his excellent talent as a conversationalist. From his childhood in Zapotlán el Grande, the program moves on to his start in the literary and theater scene, his vision of woman as an eternal storm, his ideas about death, the creation of his Bestiary, in which he plots a subtle association of animals with personalities and different forms of human conduct, and the countless amount of texts which he knew how to improvise.

This film presents the life and are of one of the greatest directors of Mexican cinema, an important figure in world cinema, and a colossal myth maker and excellent actor in Mexico and the United States. Tireless lover and violent enemy, ''the Indian'' Fernández is an obligatory reference toward understanding the creative power of Mexican cinema.

The Soler brothers created a new style of acting and played roles in hundreds of films. The most famous members of the family (Fernando, Domingo, Andrés) specialized in roles that portrayed authority figures, yet they also acted in comedies and other genres. This documentary looks at the family through the lens of their best and most typical roles.

The representation of the devil in Mexican cinema almost always comes in the from of parody. It is normal for Lucifer to appear in a comic way, trying to lead humanity astray from the right path. Villanis watch from the darkness, in order to find the way to stop the innocent ones' happiness. They are characters capable of ruining the life of the most decent woman. Melodrama is a genre that needs villains so that, after the tale's initial misfortune, the story can come to a happy ending. Perhaps the effectiveness of those old films is due to the fact that they recreated a world of dreams, where good knew how to triumph and evil was always defeated.

This program presents a view of some of the most important ''macho'' heroes from Mexico's classic national cinema, who are observed as thematic variations of the ''Mexican macho'' image in relation to the stereotype's history and different styles and modifications over the years.

This program is an examination of classical music in Mexico which looks at the European influences of the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century to nationalist movement, when serious Mexican music (particularly through the works of Chávez and Revueltas) began to take its place both in Mexico and the rest of the world. This documentary concludes when the nationalist school begins its decline and new directions in music are sought.

The focus of this program is on classical music and its protagonists from the 1960's to the present. It presents an explosive variety of techniques and innovations, the "death" of the avant garde for its later "renaissance" through the production of many new music forms.

The history and nature of the Mexican soap opera: its formulas, its audience, its conservative values, its national and international success, and its past, present and future, all presented with humor while maintaining a serious and analytic focus.

The formula of the Mexican soap opera, the formula of excellence, became the biggest economic success of the television industry. This episode deals with the fundamentals of creation of the soap opera through the experience of the greatest Mexican producer of this genre: Ernesto Alonso.

This documentary celebrates RCA's first centennial. It is a historical-musical tour through the diverse artistic expressions produced by the prestigious record company.

This program tells the story of 'The Voice of Latin America from Mexico', the broadcasting leader of this medium in our country. In commemoration of its 70th anniversary, we present its stars, its influence on national culture and strong presence aboard, as well as the story of its founder, the radio pioneer Emilio Azcárraga Vidaurreta.

This program presents a history of youth movements from the days of the Porfirio Díaz regime ('the Porfiriato') when youth was merely considered a short period between childhood and maturity, all the way up to the current day, where 'youth culture' has become an article of consumption. This documentary shows how, throughout time, youth movements have continued to have a powerful effect upon the construction of Mexican society.

Through testimonies taken from a large variety of young people, this documentary expresses the aspirations, frustrations, complaints and proposals for the future from a generation of young people who, despite skepticism and suffering, constitute the most extensive and vigorous group in Mexico.

In 1910 the long government of the old general Porfirio Díaz was reaching its end and with it came the arrival of a new generation of men who claimed their place in history. The whirlwind of the Mexican Revolution broached a wide range of issues from the democratic demands of Francisco I. Madero, the vindication of agrarian policies of Emiliano Zapata, the renegade Mexico of Francisco Villa and the spirit of building from the men from the north: Venustiano Carranza, Álvaro Obregón and Plutarco Elías Calles. This is not the biography of the men of the Revolution, it is Mexican history itself. This documentary narrates the participation of the principal protagonists who shaped the Mexican Revolution.

After two convulsive decades, Mexico was opening up to the future. First the revolutionary generals, and later the university students, impose the gigantic task of modernizing the country. The nationalized industries such as the petroleum and electric companies, as well as the nationalized health care system and the general peaceful nature of social relations put a new face on Mexico. But at the same time the figure of the president is strengthening along with the political discipline of the state's political party. In the Mexico of stabilizing development, there is no room for dissidence and all is permitted in the name of progress.

The word crisis would seem to characterize best the latest years of Mexican history. Economic crisis due to devaluations of the peso or the fall in world oil prices; crisis in the Mexican political system based on the state party; crisis in the ranks of the political class that, just like in old times, reverts to violence to settle its differences. It is true that these are years of crisis, but also years of the emergence of a different Mexico.

This portrait of the founder and dominant spirit of the Folkloric Ballet of Mexico is, at the same time, a look at the ephemeral qualities of dance and Mexican political culture. It is the story of a personal decision that wound up becoming a cultural institution.