Showing Friday, January 30 at 7:00 PM in the Cineteca Carlos Monsiváis at CECUT and featuring a special appearance here by director Tufic Mahklouf Akl, is the premiere of "Misterio y revelación" (Mystery and Revelation), the award-winning 2013 documentary about the life of surrealist painter Remedios Varo.

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An artist of singular vision and style, Remedios Varo was a member of the famous Paris surrealist circle but pushed back against limitations. With her magical, haunting images, Remedios Varo transcends classification. Born in Spain in 1908, Remedios Varo fled the horrors of the Spanish Civil War and moved to France with her first husband to join the surrealists in Paris. Uprooted again when the Nazis occupied France, Varo found refuge and peace in Mexico, where she lived and enjoyed her first genuine success as an artist. Her untimely death of heart failure in 1963 cut short her promising career.

VIDEO: Trailer for "Misterio y revelación"

For his work on the film, director Tufic Makhlouf won the award for Best Documentary on Art "Enrique Grau" in the 31st annual Film Festival of Bogotá and the Mezcal Prize at the 29th Guadalajara International Film Festival last year.

The documentary brings to life the complex character and interior life of the artist through interviews with those who knew her: Leonora Carrington and Walter Gruen, and Alan Grass and Aube Elléouët Breton (the daughter of André Bretón) and Alberto Blanco. Narrated by a woman's voice to better represent the artist's own, the film also features animation and original music by Carlos Millán, Emiliano Motta and Deborah Silberer.

In an interview with Proceso, director Makhlouf noted that Remedios Varo is not well-known in Europe and for this reason, he traveled to France and Spain to include these perspectives in the film. And he chose a playful style to maximize the appeal: "We show the artist in a fun and modern way, to draw the interest of young people as well. New technologies helped us a lot: we used animation to show her work in another way, and it is she who interprets her paintings because she wrote to her brother Rodrigo to explain her work. This is how we integrated her into the documentary, to give life to Remedios, and the animations helped us tell a story of the paintings."

Appearing in the documentary is Walter Gruen, husband of the artist, along with his the second wife Alexandra Varsoviano. The couple were present at the opening of the exhibition of Varo's work on December 6 at CECUT. They lovingly collected and cared for Varo's work, and donated 39 of these works to the Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City, to be treasured as the cultural patrimony of Mexico.

The film will play for five selected dates in February: February 1, 3, 4, 21 and 22. The January 30 screening of the film is free of charge.

Also continuing at CECUT in El Cubo Gallery, a stunning exhibition of the paintings and personal books and papers of Remedios Varo, continuing until March 15.

jill.holslin@sandiegored.com