Téo Hernandez had studied architecture at the national university in Mexico City before settling in Paris in 1966. He shot more than a hundred films in Super 8, outside any industry, and founded in 1980, with Michel Nedjar and Gaël Badaud, the MétroBarbèsRochechou Art collective. A plaque here quotes a film title the way one would quote a line of verse, which is seldom seen.
The story
The plaque on the grave states the title of a film: “Trois gouttes de Mezcal dans une coupe de Champagne, un film de Teo Hernandez, 1983” — three drops of mezcal in a glass of champagne. That is rare at Père-Lachaise, where epitaphs seldom name a work. The stone itself carries the name on the register — Teodoro HERNANDEZ, 1939-1992.
Teodoro Hernandez was born in 1939 at Ciudad Hidalgo, in Mexico, and had studied architecture at the national university in Mexico City. He settled in Paris in 1966 and shot, from the end of the 1960s until his death, more than a hundred films in Super 8 — outside any industry, with no producer and no cinema.
With Michel Nedjar and Gaël Badaud he founded, in 1980, the MétroBarbèsRochechou Art collective, which filmed with many hands. He had signed Salomé before that, in 1976. He died on 22 August 1992 and lies in Division 42, on the chemin des Anglais — a plaque for an epitaph, a film title for a signature.
The grave
A plain stone with his civil name — “Teodoro HERNANDEZ 1939-1992” — accompanied by a plaque that quotes one of his films: “Trois gouttes de Mezcal dans une coupe de Champagne, un film de Teo Hernandez 1983” — three drops of mezcal in a glass of champagne, a film by Teo Hernandez, 1983. Few graves at Père-Lachaise bear the title of a work by way of epitaph. The underground film-maker, who shot in Super 8 outside any industry, has for his last mention the name of one of his films.
On site, do not miss
The plaque quotes a film the way one quotes a line of verse: “Trois gouttes de Mezcal dans une coupe de Champagne, un film de Teo Hernandez, 1983” — three drops of mezcal in a glass of champagne, a film by Teo Hernandez, 1983. The stone bears his civil name: Teodoro HERNANDEZ.
Visitors' questions
Where is Téo Hernandez's grave?
In Division 42, chemin des Anglais, first row. The stone carries the name he was registered under, “Teodoro HERNANDEZ 1939-1992”, and a plaque quotes one of his films — a rare thing at Père-Lachaise, where epitaphs seldom name a work.
MouloudjiWhat does the plaque on his grave say?
It gives a film title and its date: “Trois gouttes de Mezcal dans une coupe de Champagne, un film de Teo Hernandez, 1983” — three drops of mezcal in a glass of champagne. Few epitaphs at Père-Lachaise name a work as though it were an address.
Gérard FromangerWhy did he film in Super 8?
Because it was the lightest camera there was: from the end of the 1960s until his death he shot more than a hundred films that way. He had studied architecture at the national university in Mexico City before settling in Paris in 1966.
Chantal AkermanWho did he work with?
With Gaël Badaud, for years, and with Michel Nedjar, with whom he travelled six years in India, Nepal and Greece. He was one of the figures of the Paris underground, the experimental cinema he settled into in 1966.
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