On 1 November 2016, weeks before principal photography officially began, the Roma crew reported a violent, chaotic confrontation while arriving to set up a day of shooting in Mexico City. According to studio statements and crew accounts preserved in contemporary reports, a group of municipal workers approached the crew insisting filming be shut down despite the production’s assertion that it had permission. The encounter escalated into a brawl: two women were struck, five crew members required hospital treatment, and personal effects — cellphones, wallets and jewelry — were stolen in the melee. The incident was widely reported at the time as an alarming example of how location shooting in Mexico City can become volatile when local labor, city authorities, or informal groups contest permits or access.
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AI concept artworkArchive Record · 2010s
Crew ambushed and beaten while trying to set up Roma’s Mexico City shoot on 1 November 2016
Roma (2018 film) production crew / 2010s
On 1 November 2016, weeks before principal photography officially began, the Roma crew reported a violent, chaotic confrontation while arriving to set up a day of shooting in Mexico City. According to studio statements and crew accounts preserved in contemporary reports, a group of municipal workers approached the crew insisting filming be shut down despite the production’s assertion that it had permission. The encounter escalated into a brawl: two women were struck, five crew members required hospital treatment, and personal effects — cellphones, wallets and jewelry — were stolen in the melee. The incident was widely reported at the time as an alarming example of how location shooting in Mexico City can become volatile when local labor, city authorities, or informal groups contest permits or access.
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