The Malaga Festival has removed the film The Day is Long and Dark, directed by the American director of Mexican origin, Julio Hernández Cordón, from its programming after having received complaints against the filmmaker “relating to acts of gender violence,” according to reports. the contest in a statement.
The Day is Long and Dark had been chosen to participate in the official ZonaZine section of the Malaga Festival, which starts next Friday. The organization has indicated that the film will no longer be present in the competition to avoid “situations that may threaten the vulnerability of the people affected” and “in line with the firm commitment of this Festival against any type of violence against women and “in favor of full equality of rights, guaranteeing protection to victims in any context and circumstance.”
The digital Zoom F7 published in May 2022 that several women had accused Hernández Cordón of sexist violence. According to this medium, “there are four women who accuse the director of inappropriate behavior both in the professional and private environment.” One of the alleged victims, also a filmmaker, claims that the filmmaker “besieged and harassed her to such an extent that she received support from the embassy of the country where she was working.”
The consultant against gender violence Lentes Púrpura assures, according to this same publication, that “Hernández Cordón has a long history of aggression and violence against women for more than 20 years, among which are film directors and simultaneous cases.”
And he adds that the director “proceeds with a behavioral pattern that involves establishing links, mostly in Mexican territory, with women who are not native to the country, who have their families and support circle far away, who are easy to isolate and control.” . Furthermore, according to these complaints, Hernández Cordón “applies all phases of psychological abuse: love bombing, devaluation, discarding and re-engagement.”