Alejandro G. Iñárritu Marks 25 Years of ‘Amores Perros’ with a Special Exhibition at LACMA
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is set to unveil Sueño Perro: A Film Installation by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, a unique multisensory experience that reinterprets the filmmaker’s 2000 debut feature, this Sunday.
This exhibition marks the 25th anniversary of Amores perros, a film that solidified Iñárritu’s reputation as a leading voice in modern cinema. The original film captures a fragmented narrative of life in Mexico City’s underbelly, weaving together three intertwined stories that examine themes of hope, betrayal, and revenge.
Located on Level 1 of the BCAM building, the installation features never-before-seen footage that had been kept on the cutting-room floor for 25 years. Iñárritu described discovering a million feet of discarded film—approximately 300 kilometers of 35mm celluloid—as a transformative experience. “It was like the placenta,” he said, characterizing the unused footage as a frozen life-source for a quarter-century-old film now revitalized with new energy.
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Visitors will navigate through a dimly lit industrial space that unfolds into a surreal landscape. Iñárritu expressed initial concerns about LACMA’s compact layout, fearing that the projection and audio might overwhelm the senses, leading to what he humorously referred to as a “mega guacamole.” However, embracing the dense environment allowed for a “paranoiac version” of the exhibit, where multiple screens engage viewers simultaneously, reflecting the fragmented nature of memory, inspired by Latin American writers like Julio Cortázar.
To create an immersive experience, Iñárritu opted against conventional hanging fabric. Instead, he designed a vacuum-like atmosphere where vintage 35mm projectors, sourced from a Regal cinema in Los Angeles, project through water-based smoke, crafting literal sculptures of light. The exhibit culminates with a focus on the film’s iconic car crash, originally filmed in one perilous take utilizing nine cameras.
Accompanying the exhibition is the release of a commemorative 25th-anniversary book, also titled Amores Perros, published by MACK. This 336-page bilingual work provides an in-depth exploration of the film’s production, including storyboards by Fernando Llanos, handwritten notes, and a trove of unseen on-set photographs discovered from a forgotten blue storage box. Such revelations prompted Iñárritu to expand his initial three-page introduction into a reflective 20-page essay. The book features contributions from prominent filmmakers, including Denis Villeneuve and Walter Salles.
The anniversary festivities will also feature a special screening of Amores perros this Sunday evening, followed by a discussion between Iñárritu and LACMA CEO Michael Govan at the Academy Museum’s David Geffen Theater.
Reflecting on this milestone, Iñárritu recalled being 36 years old at the Cannes Film Festival, watching Bernardo Bertolucci present a 25th-anniversary screening of 1900, and contemplating the feelings that accompany such a moment. Now in a similar position, Iñárritu acknowledges that while the retrospective celebrates his groundbreaking early work, his focus remains on future endeavors, including the theatrical release of his next film, Digger, starring Tom Cruise, scheduled for October 2, 2026.
Sueño Perro will be on view at LACMA through July 26.
