Introduction
Fifteen years after its first edition, the Mexican Cinema Statistical Annual 2024, published by the Mexican Institute of Cinematography (IMCINE, led by Daniela Elena Alatorre Benitez), presents a diverse and contrasting picture of the national cinema situation. The compendium documents figures and has become an essential tool to understand the evolution and historical challenges of an industry that, post-pandemic, seeks its definitive reconfiguration between large screens and digital platforms, while cinema halls lose relevance and film festivals, champions of author cinema, face a concerning decline in public influence.
Production and Funding
In 2024, a total of 240 Mexican feature films were recorded across various production phases: 36 in production or already completed, 47 in post-production, and 157 finished. This data reflects an encouraging production dynamism but also highlights a strong dependence on public funding: 41% (99 films) received some form of state support.
Genre Distribution
In terms of genres, 59% were fiction films, 39% documentaries, and only 2% were split between animation and experimental cinema. Mexico boasts diverse narratives, making it concerning that animation and experimentation remain marginal despite their artistic and commercial potential.
Gender Participation
Female participation presents uneven progress. Of the 58 films directed by women, 57% were directorial debuts, suggesting significant generational renewal. However, only 17% correspond to filmmakers with more than four feature-length films. Most of these female productions (62%) were made possible by state support, highlighting the urgency for private funding mechanisms with gender perspective.
Exhibition and Public Engagement
In 2024, 112 Mexican films were released in commercial theaters. They managed to sell 9.4 million tickets, accounting for 4.5% of the total tickets sold (208 million). Despite a slight recovery, national cinema fails to reconnect with the audience. Attendance figures remain low compared to pre-pandemic levels: in 2019, Mexican films sold nearly 30 million tickets.
The average ticket price was 70.8 pesos, while total box office revenue reached 14,790 million pesos. This gap between production and consumption raises uncomfortable questions about distribution, promotion, and the Mexican cinema’s ability to compete against international blockbusters.
Digital Platforms
The digital platforms chapter in the Annual is particularly revealing. In 2024, 32 platforms offered Mexican cinema content, with 4,090 films available in digital catalogs. Of the national releases in theaters, 40 (36%) were also available on streaming, and 15 films and 53 series premiered exclusively on platforms. This figure marks a clear fracture in the traditional window model: the audience is being shaped (and distorted) based on what algorithms decide to show.
Streaming has moved beyond being a complement to become a central actor. Digital platforms expand the reach of Mexican cinema and alter production, promotion, and exhibition dynamics. The challenge lies in ensuring fair conditions for creators and producers while preserving cultural diversity in a globalized algorithm-dominated environment.
Television and Festivals
In 2024, there were 7,417 transmissions of Mexican cinema on public television, a crucial channel for non-commercial exhibition. However, many of these broadcasts respond to repetitive catalogs and poorly articulated policies with contemporary audiences.
Digital growth has also changed communication strategies. More Mexican films are planning their launches digitally, betting on segmented campaigns in social networks, ephemeral content, and influencers. This shift brings risks: films compete for visibility in a hyper-saturated offer where Mexican cinema is a minority compared to Anglo-Saxon content and franchises.
Mexico hosted 253 film festivals and events in 2024. However, their cultural impact is in crisis. Many festivals have lost attendance and media visibility. Coexistence with platforms has left them in a position where they fail to position national films on the marquee or generate conversation in media. Nevertheless, festivals remain key spaces for showcasing documentary films, directorial debuts, and women-made cinema. Their survival depends on their ability to adapt: less red carpet, more curation, innovation, and community activation.
Economic Impact
The Mexican cinema’s GDP in 2023 was 20,722 million pesos, a mere 0.07% of the national GDP, an 18.6% growth compared to the previous year, confirming a post-pandemic recovery. The sector’s gross production value was 37,687 million pesos, with Mexican households spending 35,663 million on cinema (more than the spending on books and concerts).
In terms of employment, the cinematographic industry generated 21,579 jobs and paid 6,741 million pesos in wages. Although these numbers are positive, they remain below pre-pandemic employment levels.
Conclusion and Future Outlook
Since 2010, the Annual has documented three decades of structural changes. Digitalization, the pandemic, budget cuts, and the transformation of audiovisual consumption have painted a constantly changing picture. In 2025, the Annual celebrates its longevity and public utility. Critical reading of it demands more than numbers; it obliges rethinking public policies, decentralizing support, and building an integral sustainability model for Mexican cinema as both industry and art.
The challenge is monumental: consolidate digital presence without losing the theater experience; ensure gender equity without symbolic quotas, and most importantly, make Mexican cinema not just produced but also seen, valued, and remembered: strengthen its distribution and exhibition.
Facing infinite screens, what remains in the spectator’s memory is still what moves them. Mexican cinema, with all its tribulations and difficulties, has a lot to tell.
