City streets: Inside a Colonia Roma apartment

Inside México: What do you do?

Image:Luz Montero

Stunning wood floors reflect the space's natural light

Óscar Cedillo: I’m the head of the Community and Culture sections at the daily newspaper Excelsior.

IM: How did you get your start in journalism?

OC: Print journalism was never my passion; I had always wanted to work in film. But I started working at the newspaper El Financiero in ‘96-’97, after leaving school. I started writing articles, then I went from there to Reforma, where I worked in the Justice section, then to Metro (Reforma’s daily tabloid). That’s when I really fell in love with what I was doing. I love the popular aspect of the job. I love seeing the sordid side of life: the kidnappers, the thieves, the prostitutes, the gangsters… I’ve interviewed them all. In the streets I meet all kinds of people. I’m energized by the theatre of the street.

IM: Your walls are covered with art and images from film. Where did this interest come from?

OC: Actually, I’ve always been interested in film. My father is a real cinephile. Before I was even old enough to read, my dad and I would go to the movies together. We’d watch the films and eat a roast chicken. I learned everything about film and saw the great icons like El Indio Fernández. We’d go to all kinds of theatres, from the piojitos (popular cinemas) to the nicest ones. We saw classic films, Mexican films, international films, good ones, bad ones, everything. I even remember seeing these horrible Russian films.

IM: What are your favorite films?

OC: The Godfather, Scarface, and Taxi Driver. I love Martin Scorcese’s sensibility.

IM: Why did you choose to live in Colonia Roma?

OC: I lived in Condesa for a long time, before it was fashionable. It’s a great neighborhood but I got tired of the traffic and all the people. A friend of mine was living in this building, and he told me about this apartment. I’ve been here for three years now.

I grew up in [nearby Colonia] Doctores, so Roma for me is like the same old familiar barrio. It’s great to be with the people, to be in the streets, to convivir. I have a good relationship with the people around the neighborhood, like the zapatero and the señora down the street who sells quesadillas. I’m completely at home in Mexico City… I can’t get enough of the luchas, the cantinas and the popular markets. I go the beach for a few days and I get antsy to be back here.

IM: Do you think the gentrification of neighborhoods like Roma is a bad thing?

OC: I don’t think so. The neighborhoods aren’t losing something, they’re getting better. The aesthetics are improving. I can have my comfortable apartment here, and still have the life on the street. Like a lot of formerly popular areas – Escandón, Condesa, Navarte – in Roma you get the neighborhood, but now you get the services too. It’s the best of both.

Mexico is a very visual place, the language of the barrio is visual. People come from outside and find value in the popular way of life, which we ourselves don’t always do, since we’re in it every day and can’t see it.

But I’m very proud to be from the barrio. It used to annoy me when intellectuals would come here and consume the culture, but now I want them to have it and understand it. The way I see it, they can come and get inspiration and write about it, but I’ve already lived it.