Cultural groups eye future collaboration with Mexican counterparts after trade mission

A recent trade mission to Mexico that included 37 Canadian cultural organizations is being heralded as a success by participants. The delegation, which made the trip in February, was one of the largest parties Canada has ever sent abroad. Among the groups was the Indigenous Screen Office (ISO), whose CEO, Kerry Swanson, was happy with the outcome of the junket. “I found the trade mission to be very productive,” she tells The Wire Report. Like Canada, Mexico has a large Indigenous population, Swanson continues, which offers prospects of cooperation between the two nations. “One of the things that was really clear to me on this trade mission was how much of a priority Indigenous arts and culture is to the government of Mexico and we know that’s the case here in Canada,” Swanson states. “So, there are lots of opportunities there for collaboration because we share that priority.” Much of the discussion involved the Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografía, known as IMCINE. The ISO hopes to announce a memorandum of understanding with the Mexican film agency in the coming weeks. “We’re working on an MOU with IMCINE, the national funder in Mexico,” the CEO says. “They are hosting an Indigenous lab with filmmakers that they’re funding and we’re hoping to bring mentors from Canada over to participate in the lab.” Another cultural organization involved in the delegation was the Canada Media Fund (CMF), and its CEO is also hopeful for future collaboration with IMCINE. “Telefilm and the CMF, we talked with IMCINE, we talked about jointly doing a partnership . . . to focus on documentaries,” Valerie Creighton reports. “We’re not really too sure. You’re never sure until you get down to the brass tacks of figuring out how these things will work.” The CMF was part of an earlier delegation that visited Argentina, Colombia and Mexico in 2019. While agreements were signed with the first two nations, Mexico was a holdout. That changed with this trip, Creighton tells The Wire Report. “I was very interested to find out where things were at to meet the people again the regime’s all changed,” she notes. “It's fantastic what’s going on with this new president. There’s lots of possibilities for international co-productions.” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, the first woman to hold the country’s highest office, came into power in 2024. The CMF leader was impressed by the amount of work that got done on the voyage. There were over 1,900 business-to-business meetings, covering all sectors of the economy, she reports. Swanson points out that the ISO is a member of a committee instituted by the department of global affairs on Canada-Mexico culture, and she found great success in promoting Canadian content south of the border. “I think there’s a lot of interest in Mexico in Canadian art and culture writ large,” she offers. Creighton emphasizes the need for international cooperation. “We can’t afford to stand on the 49th parallel and look up,” she says. Meanwhile, Swanson promoted one Indigenous television show while on the trip. “I did encourage everyone in Mexico to watch North of North,” she laughs. ppark@thewirereport.ca

Cultural groups eye future collaboration with Mexican counterparts after trade mission

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By Paul Park
|March 3, 2026

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Cultural groups eye future collaboration with Mexican counterparts after trade mission

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