Expat Living

Ambulante

Billed as Mexico’s most important documentary film forum, the Ambulante tour has arrived in Guadalajara. Over 80 documentaries will be screened in eight locations across the city: the University of Guadalajara’s Cine Foro, the Museo de Arte de Zapopan, the Centro de Medios Audiovisuales, the Museo de la Ciudad, the Casa Clavijero, ITESO, the Cinepolis in Centro Magno, and an open-air stage at the Explanada Mexicaltzingo. The festival ends Wednesday, April 18. For more information visit www.ambulante.com.mx.

Being Jack Unterweger

John Malkovich is coming to the Pearl of the West to star in “The Infernal Comedy,” a play about Jack Unterweger. Unterweger was an Austrian serial killer whose autobiography and plays written in prison earned him the admiration of Austria’s intellectuals, who, convinced of his rehabilitation, successfully petitioned for his early release in 1990. Unterweger traveled the world in his new career as a star journalist, but a new trail of dead women soon caught up with him. Malkovich and playwright Michael Sturminger focus on the dichotomies in the charming writer and murderer of women.

Rorschach art exhibit

A peculiar exhibition of “Rorschach heads” by José Manuel Ciria that goes by the name “Miradas Especulares” has opened at the Museo de Arte Raul Anguiano (MURA). Ciria based his collection of expressive faces on psychology, hoping to hold a mirror up to the viewer.

AIDS prevention

Organized by the State Council for the Prevention of AIDS (Coesida), the ninth AIDS Prevention Fair takes place in the Plaza de la Liberacion on Saturday, March 24 from 2-8 p.m. There will be music, games and theater, with the aim of teaching children in a creative manner about protection against sexual abuse and discrimination. According to Coesida, 184 children in Jalisco have contracted HIV since 1983. Up until October 2011, there have been 12,364 cases of HIV or AIDS in Jalisco.

National holiday

On Monday, March 16, Mexico marks the birth of Benito Juarez, one of the nation’s most respected presidents.

Jazz

Former Guadalajara Reporter staffer Hector Mendieta has opened a new cafe/bar with live music, reasonably priced Mexican beer (including Cerveza Minerva) and wine and hearty food. Altazar/Diagonal is Mendieta’s second venture, having run the successful Altazar cafe for more than 10 years in Mazatlan’s downtown cultural zone. Now back in Guadalajara, he offers no-cover jazz featuring the Chen Quintero Quartet playing classic and contemporary jazz standards from 9 p.m. every Friday. On Thursdays there is a film club and live music and Saturdays local bands play classic rock. Stop in to this friendly renovated house just off the beaten path with a multitude of spaces to relax in and enjoy 15-peso cerveza Leon until 6 p.m. and free Mexican snacks with your beer. Comida corrida is only 40 pesos. A 32-inch screen is available to watch movies and two private rooms lend to meetings or poker games, free wifi. Open noon to after midnight, Tuesday to Saturday. Guadalupe Zuno 1961. (1/2 block off Av. Chapultepec, in front of the entrance to LAMAR university). Tel. 3826-0601.