Essay About Non-Future Cities

Based on an observation exercise carried out in 2008 on how public space is used to rest in the city of Barcelona, a subsequent study was carried out in Mexican cities to analyze, from the perspective of their equipment, the current crisis of urban space in many cities.

Between 2008 and 2024, the period of this study, urban inhabitants have changed their relationship with the exterior of their homes.
The “domiciliation” and confinement of life - driven in part by delivery applications -, the crisis of urban transportation systems, and additionally the social aftermath of Covid 19, impose the challenge of recovering public space as a means of recreation and socialization.

  • Miguel Méndez Díaz
    Director
  • Miguel Méndez Díaz
    Writer
  • Miguel Méndez Díaz
    Producer
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    ENSAYO SOBRE LAS CIUDADES DEL NO-FUTURO
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 45 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 30, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    10,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Mexico
  • Country of Filming:
    Mexico
  • Language:
    Spanish
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • Cinetekton
    Puebla
    Mexico
    November 12, 2025
    México Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Istanbul International Architecture and Urban Films Festival
    Istanbul
    Turkey
    October 7, 2024
    Oficial Selection
  • Stockholm City Film Festival
    Stockholm
    Sweden
    September 28, 2024
    Oficial Selection
  • Kodaikanal International Film festival
    Kodaikanal
    India
    November 4, 2024
    Asia Premiere
    Award Winner
  • Dialog Film festival
    Köln
    Germany
Director Biography - Miguel Méndez Díaz

Miguel Méndez Díaz is a native of Mexico City.
His activity as a documentary maker began in 2002 with scripts for television documentaries about the painter Rodolfo Morales and the winning architect of the Pritzker Prize Luis Barragán (México, Canal Once TV).

Since then he has combined the production of documentaries with research on documentary film and teaching. He has made 13 documentaries about Architecture, Art and Design mainly, and on some sustainability issues, among which stand out Collecting Operation about the recycling of garbage in Mexico City (2014) and Living Walls (2017) on the problem of urban deforestation.

In 2016 he founded the documentary production company Filmandocs. His training as a documentary maker includes courses with Patricio Guzmán, and with the Universities Autonomous of Barcelona, Carlos III of Madrid and the University of Copenhagen. He graduated from the Writers School of SOGEM.

The spiritual needs (Mexico, 2017) is his first documentary feature film, and obtained the following distinctions:
Finalist Los Angeles Cinefest January 2018.
Official Selection Roma Prisma Film Festival 2019. Semifinalist Fest Pro Film Festival, Russia 2019.
Oficial Selection Budapest Film Festival 2023.

His most recent documentaries have obtained the following distinctions:

The Black Gold of Oaxaca (2024), it´s november finalist in Rome Prisma Film Festival, and candidate for annual prize.

Essay about Non-Future Cities (2024) have these recognitions:
· Kodaikanal International Film festival, Award winner in documentary in november 2024
· Stockholm City Film festival, finalist in 2024
· Istanbul International Architecture and urban Films Festival, Oficial selection in 2024

The Evolution of a Style (2023) official selection at 4 festivals and winner at 6 documentary film festivals.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

From an observation exercise carried out in 2008, on how people use public space to rest in the city of Barcelona, a subsequent study in Mexico and a deepening of the current crisis of space in many cities emerges.
Between 2008 and 2024, city dwellers have changed, almost without realizing it, their relationship with the space outside their homes.

On the one hand, the domiciliation of urban life, the transformation of cities to reduce the vehicle fleet, and the social consequences of confinement due to COVID19, have modified social behaviors, and on the other hand, the need to re-inhabit and re- Conditioning public space for use, enjoyment and socialization have become current challenges.