Manuel Michel

(1928 - 1983)

Manuel Michel (December 23th, 1928 – July 1st, 1983) was a Mexican film director, documentarian, screenwriter, and critic. He trained in cinema at the Institut des hautes études cinématographiques (IDHEC) and, after returning to Mexico in 1960, worked in newsreel production before directing award-winning shorts such as Un millón de niños (1961) and UNAM-produced documentaries. He directed the segment “Tarde de agosto” for the anthology feature Viento distante (Los niños) (1965) and made his only feature, Patsy, mi amor (released 1969), adapted from a story by Gabriel García Márquez and noted for introducing Ofelia Medina. In 1969 he also directed the “Yvonne” episode of Trampas de amor. From the late 1960s he focused on documentary and commissioned work—authoring, directing, and producing about 43 documentaries and more than 300 commercials—and co-founded the Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica, later teaching film language and screenwriting at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.