Alejandro G. Iñárritu: Sueño Perro

“Sueño Perro: Instalación Celuloide de Alejandro G. Iñárritu” is a multisensory exhibition at Fondazione Prada that explores the intersection of cinema and the visual arts. Conceived by the Academy Award-winning Mexican filmmaker, it marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of his landmark debut film Amores Perros (2000).

The project reveals previously unseen footage cut during editing and stored for a quarter of a century in the archives of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. These raw sequences revisit universal themes of love, betrayal and violence while capturing the sociopolitical realities of Mexico City—still resonant today. At its heart lies a deep reverence for the materiality of 35mm film, whose grain, flicker and warmth evoke nostalgia.

Iñárritu describes the work not as homage but as resurrection: an invitation to perceive what was never seen, like meeting an old friend for the first time. Over 300 kilometres of film—around sixteen million frames—have been rediscovered and reanimated as a mosaic of image and sound.

This exhibition continues the artist’s collaboration with Fondazione Prada, following the film programme “Flesh, Mind and Spirit” (2009, 2016) and the VR installation “Carne y Arena” (2017), which premiered at Cannes and received a special Oscar.

On the upper floor of the Podium, Mexican writer and journalist Juan Villoro presents “Mexico 2000: The Moment that Exploded”, a complementary installation mapping the political, familial and economic conditions shaping Amores Perros. Villoro situates the film at a transitional moment in Mexican history: the 2000 election that ended decades of PRI dominance, amid persistent inequality and violence. The narratives of the film, he argues, remain disturbingly relevant, their explosion still ongoing.