The highest house of studies in the nation announced at the end of August that it would grant this recognition to 12 persons “With exceptional merits, those who have contributed to the development and aggrandizement of the sciences, humanities, art, pedagogy, letters and culture”, detailed the house of the pumas.
It is a place where discursively and practically, the spirit belongs to the country and articulates the spirit of the country.
At the ceremony, the Oscar-winning filmmaker wore a cap and gown in the UNAM colors and sang part of the university cry. “It’s the first Goya I’ve done in my life and I’ve heard them but it’s the first time I’ve thrown one,” he commented during an interview.
“I had never worn a cape or hat and the truth is that my fear was that they would not fit me but they fit me well, that’s why I didn’t have breakfast now, I said, so I can close the cape,” he jokingly mentioned.
Del Toro confessed to having experienced a “very beautiful” emotion upon receiving a doctorate from a university that he considers an integral part of the soul of Mexican culture and assured that he receives “with great pleasure” the moments he shares with the institution. “I have always been at UNAM,” he added. “It is a place where, discursively and in practice, the spirit belongs to the country and articulates the spirit of the country”, pointed out the film director.
The reality is that the risk of a country without culture is like existing in a world without reflection
Del Toro recognized the work of the institution, with this the one from Jalisco took the opportunity to underline the importance of UNAM in the historical moment that the nation is going through.
“We are in a very dark moment for science, knowledge and culturewe deny science, we do not want knowledge and we believe that culture is something accessory and superficial, and the reality is that the risk of a country without culture is like existing in a world without reflection. Whether they come from water or from a mirror, it is the reflection that makes you have an identity”, emphasized the Oscar winner for the shape of water.
The filmmaker joined other men and women who were awarded this honorary degree by UNAM.