Salma Hayek, top Mexican filmmakers pitch in to aid industry workers

Salma Hayek/picture courtesy: Salma Hayeks Instagram account

Actress Salma Hayek along with Oscar-winning Mexican directors Guillermo del Toro, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and Alfonso Cuaron, has joined hands with industry colleagues to set up a fund to support Mexican industry workers who lost their jobs amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The audiovisual emergency fund is called Sifonoforo, reports variety.com.

"Those of us who make films are a fragile tribe, with many people who carry out ordinary jobs that are, in turn, extraordinary in their specificity and the years of preparation it takes to learn them. This pause that we are experiencing endangers this tribe of gypsies who are all of us who make cinema," Inarritu said at the launch of the initiative.

According to the Mexican Academy of Film Arts and Sciences AMACC, over 30,000 families have lost their source of income. Sifonoforo is made up of filmmakers and actors and intends to join forces with the AMACC and assist people. According to indiewire.com, the initiative currently has accumulated around 445,000, which will be distributed based on need.

"What-s unique about this fund is that it was born out of the enthusiasm of each of the individuals in this community, without expecting any governmental support or from any corporation, to contribute as much money as each of us can," Inarritu told Indiewire, adding: "While we have all been affected, this is a way to create a safety net for our most vulnerable colleagues who are most at risk of hitting the ground face first. It-s about protecting those people who are most fragile. This unique willingness as civilians and collaborators that comes from the solidarity in the Mexican film industry is very particular. I don-t think it happens everywhere in the world."