Midaq Alley (film)

El Callejón de los Milagros
El Callejón de los Milagros DVD cover
Directed byJorge Fons
Written byVicente Leñero (screenplay)
Naguib Mahfouz (novel)
Produced byAlfredo Ripstein hijo
StarringErnesto Gómez Cruz
María Rojo
Salma Hayek
Bruno Bichir
Delia Casanova
Margarita Sanz
Claudio Obregón
CinematographyCarlos Marcovich
Edited byCarlos Savage hijo
Music byLucía Álvarez
Distributed byVIDEOVISA (Mexico) (Spain)
IFC Films (USA) (Australia)
Release date
  • 5 May 1995 (1995-05-05)
Running time
140 minutes
CountryMexico
LanguageSpanish

Midaq Alley (Spanish: El callejón de los milagros, also released as The Alley of Miracles) is a 1995 Mexican film adapted from the novel by Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz, written by Vicente Leñero and directed by Jorge Fons. The film deals with complex issues such as gay and lesbian related topics, the lower-middle class of Mexico City, and the lives of many people.

The story is told from three perspectives: Don Ru (Ernesto Gómez Cruz), the owner of a cantina where most of the men in the story gather to drink and play dominoes, Alma (Salma Hayek), the beautiful girl of the neighborhood who dreams of passion, and Susanita (Margarita Sanz who won an Ariel Award for this role), the owner of the apartment complex where Alma and many of the other characters live.

The film was critically acclaimed by international critics. It earned 11 Ariel Awards, including Best Picture at the 37th Ariel Awards and more than 49 international awards and nominations. Pan's Labyrinth and El Callejón de los Milagros were named as the best Mexican films by IMDb and Entertainment Weekly. The film was selected as the Mexican entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 68th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.[1][2]

  1. ^ Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
  2. ^ "41 to Compete for Foreign Language Oscar Nominations". FilmFestivals.com. Archived from the original on 7 April 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)