Film Festivals – Page 3 – Chicana from Chicago

Cochiloco, frijoleros, mezcal y mas at the 2013 HOLA MEXICO FILM FESTIVAL

May 15, 2013May 15, 2013Christine DavilaLeave a comment

I remember five years ago hearing something about a Mexican Film Festival in LA called Hola Mexico. I was intrigued to hear it was part of an ambitious tour in which a different selection of contemporary Mexican films would be brought to Chicago, New York, San Francisco and LA. But more than intrigued, I was astounded to realize, is it possible that this was the first time a film festival devoted entirely to Mexican films was taking root in LA? The city with the largest population of Mexicans only second to Mexico City? Surely there have been several attempts over the years, some diplomatic consulate affair type of mini-events. I myself was courted by a well meaning producer to program a weekend festival in collaboration with the US-Mexico Chamber of Commerce which quickly turned into some kind of high brow gallery and A-star event at a trendy Hollywood bar. Like that noble effort, I imagine others similarly weren’t able to bridge mission and execution and therefore failed to make an imprint. For fifteen years LALIFF has been (was?) our uncontested Los Angeles Latino Film Festival to reign on such grand scale and visibility. Edward James Olmos’s festival always showed more than a couple films from Mexico within its all-encompassing “Latino” label. Even so, Mexico was but one country represented within the wide and far-reaching program of films from all over the Spanish language countries. Although Hola Mexico has done away with its NY/SF/Chicago branches, today I am especially pleased and give big props to Samuel Douek the founder, for valiantly plowing through the much treaded Los Angeles terrain to plant the seed of which we can now see its nopalitos bud and flower. Demonstrating his foresight for acknowledging the renaissance of Mexican cinema and that there was a void to fill, not to mention for showing off his bold taste and pulse on the diverse content of the festival’s programming, I congratulate him and his team’s herculean efforts for dedicating a platform specific to this underserved majority community hungry to experience the rich mestizo jewels from our Lindo y Querido motherland.

I’m excited to celebrate the festival’s continued success at tonight’s Opening Night Fiesta at the lovely Los Angeles Theater inaugurating the fifth edition of the Hola Mexico Film Festival which will run from the 15-22. As proof of its growing stability, it’s awesome to see that it has a new venue. Many of the films will screen at the state of the art projection houses of the Regal Live Downtown Theater. Last year’s Montalban theater venue, while meaningful in name and spirit, left a lot to be desired with the picture and sound.

La_Vida_Precoz_y_Breve_de_Sabina_Rivas — Go: Mandoki is a damn fine filmmaker in his element here

The festivities will commence by bestowing a Career Achievement Award to the prolific actor, Joaquin Cosio, whose wickedly empathetic portrayal in Luis Estrada’s El Infierno has endeared us to calling him by his wild, everyman narco role, El Cochiloco. Along with Damian Alcazar (who will also be present!) these two are Mexico’s most esteemed and exceptional actors who have embodied an impressive number of indelible character and leading roles throughout the course of their careers. Nominated for the Ariel Award (Mexico’s Oscar) three times, Cosio’s talent will be seen in the upcoming, A Night in Old Mexico with Robert Duvall, Disney’s The Lone Ranger and can be seen in the festival’s selections, The Brief and Precocious Life of Sabina Rivas by Luis Mandoki as well as tonight’s Opening Night film, Ciudadano Buelna. Directed by established director, Felipe Vazals whose first feature screened at the 1968 Cannes Film Festival and who in recent years has filmed a series of films about the Mexican Revolution, Ciudadano Buelna is a handsome period piece about an idealist revolutionary whose closely held integrity clashes when caught in the quagmire of the nascent political factions of the Mexican Revolution era. A somewhat prescient and relevant theme mirroring the crossfire in which today’s political activist youth find themselves. After the screening, la fiesta will get underway with the groovy sounds of Chicano Batman and of course cerveza and mezcal will be had (Obvio).

For you foodies out there, as part of the food festival, five renowned chefs will be sharing their gastronomical delights at the Viva Mezcal event in which expert mescaleros will be unveiling the art of the Mezcal (I’ll let the experts educate us on its distinct distillation compared to Tequila but basically it’s a smoother and smokier spirit derived from an Agave plant called Maguey) at LA’s Oaxacan cuisine landmark, La Guelaguetza on May 16, and La Gran Parillada at La Plaza de Culturas y Artes complete with a wine tasting will take place May 19. The music showcase will feature artists like the prodigal sons of the venerable Los Tigres del Norte, Raul y Mexia, La Misa Negra, an electro cumbia band and the Closing Night film, a documentary about Celso Pina will be followed by a performance by the extraordinary and ‘rebel’ accordionist.

Among the Festival’s 13 narrative and 6 documentary features there is a diverse range of seminal moments in Mexico’s history record, personal stories grappling and reacting to the various facets of the social ills affecting Mexico (kidnapping, immigration), narratives reflecting the amalgamated identity in crisis of a country reacting. There is also ‘lighter’ fare with dark twists; The black comedy Fecha de Caducidad, Mexican revolutionary satire La Cebra. Easily the two most celebrated films this year, heralded for their masterful aesthetics at last year’s Cannes, Carlos Reygadas lyrical puzzle Post Tenebras Lux, and Despues Lucia the staggeringly heartbreaking adolescent bullying film by Michel Franco will also be screening. Other picks I recommend; the cool, existential zombie film, Halley by Sebastian Hoffman, a personal favorite from Sundance which has captivated audiences worldwide at numerous international film festivals since its world premiere in Morelia last fall. There is La Demora by Rodrigo Pla, a subtle yet powerful film about a moment of doubt in a woman’s life concerning her aging father (See my interview with the filmmaker here). There is the startling Errol Morris like documentary, El Alcalde, about an effusive and dangerously candid mayor in the richest and safest municipal in Monterrey, which is subversively brilliant in unleashing the outlaw mayor who credits himself with reigning control over the narco threat, ultimately a revealing psyche portrait. For you punk rock en Espanol fans, Molotov music doc, Gimme the Power gives us background to the formation and suppressed climate and era in which they came up, along with some behind the scenes inspiration of certain classic songs like Frijolero. But if you only get one film to get your Mexican rocks off, you must see the documentary Hecho en Mexico produced by the renowned film music supervisor Lynn Fainchtein (currently working on Diego Luna’s Chavez biopic). More than a ‘what its like to be Mexican’ audiovisual soundtrack, it is an infectious, hyper-energetic cinematic cultural musical in which artists evoke and connect with the indigenous history of the country and what that identity means today and in the future. Fierce musical talents like Amandititita, Carla Morrison, original rebels Café Tacuba, la loca de Gloria Trevi, and many many more rap, sing in folk, hip hop, regional, corridos and a fusion of rock all completely original as part of this grossly enriching example of the modern Mexican identity and sacred mestizo spirit. Here’s the trailer:

Tickets are a cool $10 per screening. It’s not to late to come on down tonight for the Opening Night Fiesta, or make plans now for next week’s Closing Awards – either night is just $30 for screening and after party. Tickets here.

Not bad for movie, mezcal, music and a chance to shake hands and hips with some sexy brown people. Nos vemos alli!

TRAILER WATCH: Mexican film, HELI by Amat Escalante

Video May 9, 2013May 9, 2013Christine DavilaLeave a comment

http://vimeo.com/65794852

Amat Escalante is now three for three as he will be taking his third film, HELI to next week’s Cannes, but this is his first time in Official Competition. The screenplay for Heli was developed at the Sundance Screenwriters lab 2010 where it won the NHK Filmmaker Award. At that stage the logline was described: “In a small Mexican town, where most citizens work for an automobile assembly plant or the local drug cartel, Heli is confronted with police corruption, drug trafficking, sexual exploitation, love, guilt and revenge in the search for his father who has mysteriously disappeared.” Escalante is a Carlos Reygadas protege of sorts, he worked as Assistant Director on Battle of Heaven and they are boutique powerhouse collective through producer, Jaime Romandia’s Mantarraya Films. A die hard, impactful formalistic filmmaker, the weight of his films comes from audaciously rigid framing, startling compositions, and magnetic usually non pro actor performances.

WTF is Latino at the 2013 LA Film Festival?

May 1, 2013June 18, 2013Christine Davila2 Comments

The summertime, downtown set, glitzy yet ‘cashz’ LA Film Festival, presented by Film Independent has announced their film lineup today. The verdict on the Latino rep? Compared to the last three festivals I’ve examined this year, Sundance, SXSW and Tribeca, LA Film Festival comes through with arguably the most valuable representation; there are three films representing American Latino in the narrative competition and one in documentary competition.

The lineup consists of a handful of new American indies mixed in with many favorited international films from last year’s Toronto, Venice, London and Berlin film festivals, and seven Sundance films screening out of competition including Ryan Coogler’s Fruitvale Station, which won both the Audience and Jury Awards in Park City. Starring Boricua Melonie Diaz as Oakland police murder victim Oscar Grant’s girlfriend, Fruitvale will be given the gala treatment (like last year’s Sundance awarded, Black film, Middle of Nowhere), alongside the direct-from-Cannes, Only God Forgives, the reteaming of director Nicolas Winding Refyn and GQ sensitive alpha hero Ryan Gosling (Drive).

But I’m not here to comb and recycle through the ‘high profile’ films that come armed with buzz. As always I’m spotlighting U.S. films in which the writer/director/cast are native born whose ethnic/cultural roots originates from the Caribbean Islands, Mexico, Central or South America. In addition, films by filmmakers who may not be Latino, but whose narratives explore and relate to the relevant bi-cultural experience/subjects. And finally I also like to mention the Latin films (international).

While I’m happy to acknowledge and give it up for LA, it’s still painful for this blogger/programmer to know there are so many more fresh American Latino films out there ready to be discovered. Game-changing films offering such fresh and original perspectives, which have by and large been dismissed by most of the major US Film Festivals. With the futures of the two highest profile Latino niche festivals in limbo, The Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival and HBO’s NY International Latino Film Festival, it’s especially crushing to know that these films might also be robbed of their only community platform. It’s cause for alarm and high time to address this void. But wait, lets save that for another post. For now, lets get back to the Latino stories coming at you at this year’s LA Film Festival. For official synopsis and pics check the Film Guide here.

NARRATIVE COMPETITION – Notably 9 of the 12 are US, hopefully giving the scrappy indies a better chance to compete and win the cash prize against the healthy subsidized production value of foreign movies. Five are first features and only one female narrative director.

40 YEARS FROM YESTERDAY written and directed by Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck and Robert Machoian

This is the first feature from the writing/directing team who got a lot of attention with their 2010 short Charlie and The Rabbit. Ojeda-Beck (whose parents are from Peru) and Machoian who is from the heavily Mexican populated King City, met at Cal State, Monterey Bay where they forged a tight artistic collaboration. Forty Years from Yesterday is described as Machoian’s imagination of how his mother’s death would unfold for his own family, capturing the loss his siblings would feel in losing a parent and his father’s pain in facing the death of his partner.

The duo have their way with documentary, fiction and experimental form, instilling an aura of temporality in an anchored realism. This unique evocative alchemy is found in Machoian’s doc short, Movies Made from Home #16, a 4 minute existential moment which screened at Sundance this year. The cosmic life themes they tend to broach are treated in such a down to earth and sensitive way, which is further made relatable by the natural non-pro performances they employ. Robert’s father, Bill Graham has starred in a few of his films and in Forty Years from Yesterday, both Robert’s parents and siblings play themselves. See this endearing behind the scenes clip of the making of the film:

THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT written by Joseph B. Vasquez and directed by Henry Barrial

Written by the late Joseph B. Vasquez (d 1995) whose 1991 movie, Hanging with the Homeboys, was a groundbreaking urban comedy when it came out, now very much a classic, albeit sadly forgotten gem. The only one of Vasquez’s five movies that was distributed (by New Line), Hanging with the Homeboys was shot in the South Bronx where he was born and raised. About four homeys, two Puerto Rican (one of them played by a baby-faced Johnny Leguizamo) and two Black, the movie, available on dvd from Amazon (or, I found it in 6 parts on Youtube) screened at the Sundance Film Festival at its indie darling peak. Its good-natured humor is derived from neighborhood beefs, trying to rap to ladies, and the racial tensions of the day delivered with unapologetic commentary. A slice of barrio life, the film is clearly an early influence for the Ice Cube Friday series.

The House that Jack Built similarly has that raw and authentic Nuyorican energy but pushed into a rollercoaster of a dysfunctional family drama with warmth, affection and intensity. The director, born from Cuban parents and raised in Washington Heights, Henry Barrial, is also an alumni of Sundance (Somebody 2001). The film stars E.J. Bonilla as the hot-blooded self-imposed king of his family who buys an apartment building to keep his family close, only to start dictating everybody’s life since he’s letting them live rent free. Bonilla is a fiercely charismatic up and coming actor who has been turning heads in the indie world. This is his third consecutive time at the festival (Four, Mamitas) and he was in Don’t Let Me Drown (Sundance 2009). An uproarious and high-edged Harlem set chamber piece, the heavy conflict of gravity that besets Jack is from being pulled in opposite directions by his street values on one side and deeply rooted family values on the other. See the trailer on their Kickstarter page.

MY SISTER’S QUINCEANERA written and directed by Aaron Douglas Johnston

This was reportedly one of the most talked about American films in the experimental leaning Rotterdam Film Festival this year. The filmmaker who was born and raised in Iowa, Aaron Douglas Johnston, has an impressive academic pedigree having attended world prestigious universities, Oxford and Yale. His first feature, the small town, gay life set, Bumblefuck, USA screened at Outfest 2011. In My Sister’s Quinceanera, he uses the local Mexican-American Iowa residents as his non-pro actors with whom he collaborated with on the story. It’s a gentle and earnest portrayal of a young man named Silas who is convinced he has to leave town to become independent and start his life but must first see his sister’s Quinceanera take place.

WORKERS written and directed by Jose Luis Valle (Mexico/Germany) – A quietly simmering artful drama about a retiring factory worker and housemaid in Tijuana circumstantially reunited and trying to compensate for their spent lives. An accomplished and arresting feature debut, the film premiered at the Berlin Film Festival’s Panorama section and won Best Mexican Film at the Guadalajara film Festival. A full investment into the contemplative tone and rhythm yields an appreciation for the film’s visceral and dry humor undertones. Born in El Salvador, Jose Luis Valle previously made a documentary short called Milagro del Papa.

DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION: 7 out 10 are US, 4 first features, six female directors (incl. 2 co-directors)

TAPIA directed by Eddie Alcazar

The 5 time world boxing champion and emotionally damaged blue-eyed Chicano from the 505, Johnny Lee Tapia, survived a series of near deaths before his turbulent life ended at the young age of 45 last year. The sheer volume of tragedy and coping afflictions Johnny endured in his Vida Loca, as he openly shares in his autobiography, includes the scarring experience of seeing his mother’s kidnapping and violent murder at the tender age of eight. Tapia funneled this heartbreaking formative incident and many other painfully grueling experiences to fuel a successful professional boxing career. Tapia’s confrontation to such tumult is so impressive, it’s no wonder that former EA video game designer Eddie Alcazar decided to both dramatize and document his harrowing real life story. Originally announced as a biopic, subsequently the documentary was born of it, in which Eddie captures final interviews and archival footage with the haunted boxer. This is actually the first feature out of the gate for filmmaker Eddie Alcazar whose radical sci-fi film 0000 has been curiously tracked as in production for a couple years now and the ambitious looking trailer only piqued mad interest. Watching the clip below of Johnny, there is a poignant sadness yet slight zeal and spirit, however low key and worn, that emanates from the towering rumble of his battered lifetime – unquestionably his refusal to be knocked out.

PURGATORIO directed by Rodrigo Reyes (Mexico) – An elegiac and cinematically shot poem filled with emotional narration and iconography, this border film is told by way of a tapestry of stories that culminates into a strong cry for human compassion. Imagining the border as if purgatory, where migrants must suffer in order to get through to the other side, the dangerous plight in crossing the US/Mexico border is viewed outside political context but rather a metaphysical prism. This is the fourth film from Reyes, a talented young documentarian from Mexico.

INTERNATIONAL SHOWCASE

EUROPA REPORT directed by Sebastian Cordero and written by Philip Gelatt – From award winning Ecuador born filmmaker Sebastian Cordero (Rabia, Cronicas, Pescador) Europa Report marks his first film in English. Somewhat shrouded in mystery, the story is written by Philip Gelatt, an adult comic book author, and is set aboard the first manned mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa. The genre bending sounding sci-fi thriller was recently picked up by Magnolia’s Magnet division and will go straight to VOD on June 27 after its LA Film Festival premiere. Cordero, who is a UCLA grad, has a well-controlled gritty realism to his aesthetic, which might inhabit and distinguish this deep space thriller among the genre’s canon.

CRYSTAL FAIRY written and directed by Sebastian Silva (Chile) – From the crafty young Chilean filmmaker whose first first film, The Maid put him on the international map, this is one of two films he screened at Sundance this year. A road trip of self-discovery featuring the charming free spirited Gaby Hoffman pitted against a smarmy American tourist Michael Cera in the long and vast Chilean coast side, the film explores their unusual and fluid character dynamic and opposing auras.

THE WOMEN AND THE PASSENGER directed by Valentina Mac-Pherson, Patricia Correra (Chile) – A 45 minute version of this screened at the prestigious documentary film festival in Amsterdam IDFA. An unobtrusive camera follows four maids as they clean the rooms of one of those clandestine by-the-hour motels. Amid the moans behind doors and bed aftermaths of torrid love affairs, the women reveal their own perspectives about life, love and sex in some kind of visual love letter to the special place. I don’t believe the title is translated to interpret its full meaning, its more like, “The Transients’ women”.

SHORTS

I WAS BORN IN MEXICO BUT…. written and directed by Corey OHama – 12min (US) – Per the IMDB description, “using found footage to tell the story of an undocumented young woman who grew up thinking she was American, only to find out as a teenager that she didn’t have papers because she was brought to the U.S. as a young child. “ Sounds like the thousands of Dreamers plights whose stories are being suppressed.

MISTERIO written and directed by Chema Garcia Ibarra (Spain) 12min – So even though this is from Spain (not the Americas), I mention it if because I’m a huge fan of Chema’s shorts, Protoparticles and The Attack of the Robots from Nebula-5. I have no doubt this will share that similar strange, whimsical vibe.

AL LADO DE NORMA written and directed by Camila Luna, Gabriela Maturana 14min (Chile) – 49 year-old Jorge is a silent, tired man, whose life seems to revolve around Norma, his elderly mother who has Alzheimer’s. But Antonio, who rents a small room in their home, will provide him with the chance to examine himself and question his monotonous life, which might just make for a radical change.

PAPEL PICADO – written and directed by Javier Barboza – From a 2007 Cal Arts Alumnus, and independent animation teacher and filmmaker, this looks wild! Check out his vimeo works here.

SAINT JOHN, THE LONGEST NIGHT, written and directed by Claudia Huaiquimilla (Chile) 18 min – The filmmaker is of the indigenous Mapuche tribe of Southern Chile. Set amid the happy Saints celebration of June 24, a young boy must wrestle with the reappearance of his violent father.

TOO MUCH WATER (DEMASIADA AGUA) written and directed by Nicolas Botana, Gonzalo Torrens (Uruguay) 14 min – A young woman fills her backyard pool every night and finds it empty in the morning. Strange neighbors and even stranger circumstances stir her paranoia.

Lastly, I have to mention dance beat rapper Kid Cudi’s feature film acting debut in GOODBYE WORLD directed by Denis Hennelly (Rock the Bells doc about Wu Tang Clan) and written by Sarah Adina Smith. Essentially, the film is about a group of friends hanging out when some kind of apocalypse hits. Hijinks ensue. (There’s a trend here after It’s A Disaster and the upcoming “look-we’re-so-cool-we-play-ourselves celeb cast partying of This is The End). Although he’s one of seven players, including Adrian Grenier, Mark Webber and Gaby Hoffman, it is one a few films Kid Cudi is in that are coming through the pipeline. Born Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi in Cleveland Ohio, he is a beautiful brown mestizo blend of African American on his mother’s side and Native/Mexican mix on his father’s side.

The LA Film Festival kicks off with Pedro Almodovar’s, I’m So Excited on June 13 and runs until the 23. Tickets and info here.

Mexi-Cannes pt. Deux, er Dos

April 18, 2013April 18, 2013Christine DavilaLeave a comment

Today’s kind of a big deal as the royal highness of world cinema, Festival de Cannes announced their Official Competition and Un Certain Regard film lineups. At the press conference Director General, Theirry Fremaux shared that 1850 feature films were submitted to this edition. Parallel sections, Critics Week and Directors Fortnight are yet to be announced. A through and through competition of auteurs, once in a while, the more relevant Official and Regard programs takes a chance on a well connected newbie. About Mexico, Fremaux said, “We are very glad to go on attracting and welcoming this country which has a strong revitalized cinematography”. And representing Mexico (South & Central America shut out so far):

Amat Escalante is now three for three as he will be taking his third film, HELI to La Croisette, but this is his first time in Official Competition. Los Bastardos and Sangre screened in Un Certain Regard. The screenplay for Heli was developed at the Sundance Screenwriters lab 2010 where it won the NHK Filmmaker Award. At that stage the logline was described: “In a small Mexican town, where most citizens work for an automobile assembly plant or the local drug cartel, Heli is confronted with police corruption, drug trafficking, sexual exploitation, love, guilt and revenge in the search for his father who has mysteriously disappeared.” A die hard and impactful formalistic filmmaker, the weight of his films comes from framing, compositions and magnetic usually non pro actor performances.

La Jaula de Oro (refers to a popular Los Tigres del Norte song about a family who crosses over to the states only to feel ‘trapped in the golden cage) directed by Spanish filmmaker Diego Quemada Diez is screening in Un Certain Regard. Quemada Diez is an AFI grad who has worked as camera assistant/operator with Cannes alums Ken Loach, Oliver Stone, Isabel Coixet, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Spike Lee and Fernando Meirelles. This first feature project was developed at Cannes incubators L’Atelier and Cinefondation residence. Quemada Diez has spent ten years in Mexico and this story is described as a visceral migration story from Guatemala towards the United States. That it is shot in Panoramic (2:40) format will no doubt heighten the cinematic odyssey. Notably the filmmaker used over 600 real life undocumented immigrants to personify the story. A Machete production (Leap Year, Cannes 2010).

And in the CineFondation section – a program created in 1998 to inspire and support the next generation of international filmmakers, the short film program will feature Alejandro Iglesias Mendizábal (Abracadabra) with the wicked Grimm Bros sounding title, Contrafabula de una Nina Disecada (Fable of a Blood-Drained girl). A graduate of the CCC film school (think UCLA or NYU for film in Mexico City). The short film screened at last fall’s Morelia Film Festival – furthering the Morelia – Cannes relationship. Check out the FILM trailer below. And I take back my previous comment of the shut out of South America; this film school slate includes the short films, Asuncion by Camila Luna Toledo from Chile, and Mañana Todas Las Cosas by Sebastian Schjaer from Argentina.

A couple other interesting observations is that Valeria Golino, the sultry Italian Greek goddess of such classic films like Rain Main (and Hot Shots pt. Deux) is making her feature directorial debut with Miele (honey). Sofia Coppola is also three for three with her Bev Hills cat burglar themed movie, The Bling Ring.

All in all I feel it’s the usual elitist exclusive Cannes society club with new films by regulars Takashi Miike, Johnnie To, Paolo Sorrentino, Hirokazu Kore-eda and the Coen brothers. I can’t say the list on the whole excites me. I have never had the opportunity to go to Cannes so by the time I see the films, the hype that accompanies their bow is all but gone. However I am looking forward to seeing Nicolas Wending Refn’s latest, Only God Forgives. I’ve loved him since the pugilistic criminally twisted Bronson where I first met and fell in love with the brawny but sensitive Tom Hardy (who played Bane in Dark Knight Rises) I also enjoyed the oddly toned Drive with Ryan Gosling with whom he teams up with again here. As if there was any doubt that Polanski is safely ensconced and a respected member of the international arthouse club, he has two films showing; Venus in Fur in Official Competition, and Weekend of A Champion, a documentary about Formula 1 race car driver icon Jackie Stewart which Brett Ratner has picked up for distribution. It’s almost as if Ratner knew the aristocratic vintage Monte Carlo Grand Prix slice of history would tickle the french folks nostalgia they couldn’t help but to special screen it and give him a chance to rub on some high brow.

SNL has a five time member club. Gimmie a hot sec to google which one of these folks on the list have been to Cannes the most…….update: So far, The Coen brothers take the honors with their latest Inside Llewyn Davis marking their 8th appearance, and Johnnie To is close behind as his Blind Detective will mark his 6th time at Cannes.

All eyes on Hispanicize – Film lineup announced

April 2, 2013April 2, 2013Christine DavilaLeave a comment

Next week in Miami, hundreds of bloggers, marketers, corporate brand reps, music and film artists will be checking in at the Eden Roc Hotel to attend Hispanicize, a social media platform for today’s Latino innovators. Now in its 4^th year, the marketing, interactive, film and music conference was founded by Manny Ruiz, a PR businessman who adopted the term Hispanicize to signify the transformation and growing impact of Latino culture into traditional American mainstream, and who created this convergence to amplify the success of diverse voices in social media.

In part modeled after SXSW and Ted Talks, Hispanicize aims to be a digital multi-media launchpad and idea stimulating conference tailored towards Latinos. The event’s journalistic DNA is confirmed by guest co-chair, Soledad O Brien, who just signed off on her morning CNN show capping off a decade of reporting for the news outlet. For the second year the South Beach setting will host yacht parties, beachside receptions, breakfast and lunch networking, and 100 plus talks, featuring such entrepreneurs in social media like the Latina Mom Bloggers, panels like How Brands and Agencies are Engaging and Collaborating with Latino Bloggers and Getting on Corporate Boards. The heavily sponsored event, (Procter & Gamble is the presenting sponsor) will include a Diversity Tech Leaders Summit presented by Sprint in which the lesser-known business stories of diverse tech and social media entrepreneurs who are making their marks in digital media will be highlighted.

I have to admit I knew nothing of Hispanicize up until a couple months ago. Curious, I went on the website and I found the lingo a tad superfluous and hyperbolic. Words like iconic and mighty are used to describe the relatively young event. Then again, this kind of grandiose speak is typical in the field of Public Relations so it makes sense given it is a partnership with Hispanic Public Relations Association (HPRA) and the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA).

I reached out to the founder Manny Ruiz to find out more about the mission of the event and found his enthusiasm and excitement for what he considers a pioneering movement infectious. It’s hard to argue that this tech and entertainment crossroads gathering makes for an incredible networking opportunity. Manny called it a “Uniting of these industries to create a symphony” and went on to note it is much more powerful for bloggers to converge at the same place with journalists, marketers, digital, music and film innovators then if you had them out there individually. Before I knew it I was put in touch with with Roman Morales, the Film Showcase Organizer and I came onboard as Programmer for the film component. A big reason I stepped in was because I was particularly attracted to presenting US independent Latino films to an audience heavy with social media influence and bloggers, to see if it would indeed create a higher level of buzz, publicity and exposure from the community.

Along with a special screening of Filly Brown days before its national theatrical release, this year Hispanicize will screen six features including the high profile grab of The Weinstein Company sneak preview, Aftershock, the horror comedy produced and starring Eli Roth, directed by Chilean filmmaker Nicolas Lopez. Also, straight from SXSW the character driven music industry documentary Los Wild Ones about the Wild Records label and family of Mexican American rockabilly acts. With the exception of Aftershock, all the films reflect a taste of the diaspora of unique, bi-cultural US narratives, and notably are all first features. Three of the films, Blaze You Out, Filly Brown and Mission Park are being distributed by Lionsgate labels Pantelion and Grindstone. Meanwhile seeking distribution is Dreamer written and directed by the young Salvador-born Jesse Salmeron, which is a poignant and timely story starring and produced by Jeremy Ray Valdez about an upwardly mobile American whose paralyzed by the fear of being deported. Los Wild Ones is also seeking distribution and should find considerable traction and fans inside the hard core music fan world.

I’m most excited however, my personal pride and joy has to be the shorts film showcase. Portraying visionary quests for identity, love, truth and legacy and created by multicultural emergent voices from San Antonio, Miami, LA, NYC, Oaxaca and Puerto Rico. This is the medium in which to find the most provocative, daring and versatile young generation of fresh and uncompromising voices. To name just a few, the short film filmmakers include Jillian Mayer and Lucas Leyva of the Borscht corporation, Zoé Salicrup Junco, the filmmaker of Gabi who workshopped her feature script of the short at San Antonio’s CineFestival’s Latino Screenwriters Project, Victor Hugo Duran, the Columbia MFA student whose short, Fireworks played at the LA Film Festival last year and is currently shooting his first feature in Mexico called La Victoria, and Steve Acevedo, the director of El Cocodrilo which is a powerful and urgent film about a journalist played by Jacob Vargas on the run from a narco, who participated in NBCU Directing Fellowship.

I’ll try not to go all Spring Breaker debauchery on Miami but immerse myself in the Hispanicize program to cover the dialogue and scrutinize the impact so stay tuned for my report.

See below to check out full film list and links. Hispanicize will take place April 9 – 13. For information on how to attend and the schedule click here.

BLAZE YOU OUT
(USA, 2013, 90 min)
Writers/Directors: Mateo Frazier, Diego Joaquin Lopez
Cast: Veronica Diaz Carranza, Elizabeth Pena, Q’orianka Kilcher, Mark Adair Rios, Elizabeth Pena
Logline: An unyielding young woman ventures into the ruthless underworld of the town’s heroin trade in order to save her younger sister’s life.

DREAMER
(USA, 2013)
Writer/Director: Jesse Salmeron
Cast: Jeremy Ray Valdez, Isabella Hofmann, Cory Knauf
Logline: Joe Rodriguez is an All American young man. He’s amiable, well educated and attractive. He’s graduated from college and is working and excelling in his field. He’s on his way to achieving the American Dream. That is until his employer discovers his undocumented status and the life he’s worked so hard for begins to crumble around him. He must face the possibility of losing his livelihood, his family and even himself.

LOS WILD ONES
(USA, 2013, 95 min)
Director: Elise Salomon  Writers: Ryan Brown, Elise Salomon
Featuring Luis Arriaga, Gizzelle, the Rhythm Shakers and more
Logline: Wild Records is an LA indie music label comprised of young Hispanic musicians, it is run by Irishman, Reb Kennedy. Wild is an unconventional family, reminiscent of the early days of Sun Records, all of its musicians write and perform 50s Rock ‘n Roll. If Wild is going to continue to grow and reach broader audiences, its current business model will cease to work.

AFTERSHOCK
(USA, 2012, 90 min)
Director: Nicolás López
Writers: Guillermo Amoedo, Nicolás López and Eli Roth
Cast: Andrea Osvart, Ariel Levy, Eli Roth
Logline: In Chile, a group of travelers who are in an underground nightclub when a massive earthquake hits quickly learn that reaching the surface is just the beginning of their nightmare.

MISSION PARK
(USA, 2013, 120 min)
Writer/Director: Bryan Ramirez
Cast: Jeremy Ray Valdez, Walter Perez, Fenanda Romero, Joseph Julian Soria, William Rothaar, Jesse Borrego
Logline: Four friends from the rough side of town grow apart when two are consumed by a life of crime, and the other two become FBI agents sent deep undercover – to bring down those childhood friends.

SHORTS FILM SHOWCASE~

#POSTMODEM
(USA, 2012, 13 mins)
Writers/Directors: Lucas Leyva, Jillian Mayer
Cast: Jillian Mayer, Kayla Delacerda, Amy Seimetz, Arly Montes, Jesse Miller, Shivers Thedog
Logline: A comedic, satirical, sci-fi pop musical based on the theories of Ray Kurzweil and other futurists, #PostModem is the story of two Miami girls and how they deal with technological singularity, as told through a series of cinematic tweets.
@borschtcorp

FIREWORKS
(USA, 2012, 11 mins)
Director: Victor Hugo Duran
Writer: Kevin James McMuillin
Cast: Roger Cruz, Alberto Castañeda, Irene Sorto, Azucena Benitez, Edgar Vanegas, Julio Duran, Victor Hugo Duran, Kevin James McMullin
Logline: During the Fourth of July in South Los Angeles, a teenage boy and his brother scour the neighborhood for fireworks in order to win the admiration of a girl.
@victorhugoduran

CLARA COMO EL AGUA
(USA, 2012 10 min)
Writer/Director: Fernanda Rossi
Cast: Kathiria Bonilla León, Sixta Rivera, Rubén Andrés Medina, Alfonso Peña Ossoria, Stephanie Quiles Reyes, Eyra Aguero
Logline: Clara is the only light-skinned and clear-eyed girl in an all-black neighborhood. Teased incessantly, the children claim her unknown father is actually a “gringo” tourist. However, Clara was told a different story, and to find out the truth, she will venture into the magical waters of the bioluminescent bay all on her own.

ECHO BEAR
(USA, 2012 6min)
Writer/director: Yolanda Cruz
Cast: Joe Nunez, Hugo Medina, Tzina Carmel, Donato López, Lobo Manet
Logline: Bear, a single gay Latino man in L.A.’s Echo Park neighborhood, looks for love online. Fearing traffic, he searches locally, but soon discovers how geographic convenience can turn to heartache overnight.

VINCENT VALDEZ: EXCERPTS FOR JOHN
(2012, USA, 12 min)
Directed by Mark and Angela Walley
Logline: Two years in the making, this beautifully shot and perfectly paced short documentary captures the creative process of painter Vincent Valdez, as the artist works on a series of pieces dedicated to a childhood friend John Holt Jr. an Army combat medic who died in 2009 after serving in Iraq.

EL COCODRILO
(2012, 15 min)
Director: Steve Acevedo
Writer: Alfredo Barrios, Jr.
Cast: Jacob Vargas Hugo Medina Shannon Lucio Manuel Uriza
Logline: A Mexican journalist and a cartel assassin collide in a diner, with tragic consequences for both.

REINALDO ARENAS
(USA, 2012, 3:29min)
Writer/director Lucas Leyva
Shark: Alberto Ibarguen  Man: Epifanio Leyva
Logline: Told from the point of view of a dying shark, ‘Reinaldo Arenas’ metaphorically captures the current state of the aging Cuban-American exile community, many of whom have still not come to terms with the Communist Revolution that changed their lives forever. The film culls from various Cuban films and works of literature to create not a singular voice, but a feeling of a particular moment in time

GABI
(2012, USA 20 min)
Writer/Director: Zoe Junco
Cast: Marisé Alvarez , Dalia Davi , Roy Sanchez Vahamonde , Aris Mejias
Logline: A Puerto Rican saying haunts single women in their 30’s: “If such a woman is not married by this time, she must be a slut, a lesbian, or a prude.” This is the story of that woman…
@gabifilm

WTF is Latino at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival?

March 26, 2013March 31, 2013Christine Davila1 Comment

If you’ve read my last two WTF is Latino posts on Sundance and SXSW, you know I do my best to embody a manic optimist and find a silver lining when it comes to magnifying the limited representation of Latino stories and writer/directors at mainstream film festivals. I do that by expanding and deconstructing the broad term, hoping to educate myself and the masses on what ‘qualifies’ as Latino. However, the relative dearth of Latinos and Latin America at this year’s 2013 Tribeca Film Festival program has seriously challenged me to find a positive spin on this woeful slate of brown in the world’s most celluloid famous, multi-culti metropolis. It is especially stupefying considering the number of electrifying premiere film submissions there are to choose from at this moment.

Ballad_Poster_Web_800X1200-1 — The powerful investigation of the boy tragically killed by US border patrol was at the 2007 TFF.

I worked as an Industry Coordinator for the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival under Director of Programming David Kwok and Festival Director Nancy Schaefer. Back then Latin America was not only well represented in the program but Tribeca was at the forefront of showing bourgeoning film renaissances taking place in countries such as Panama, Peru and Colombia. No doubt this sensibility and charge came from the legendary jet-setting of one such Peter Scarlet, the cognoscente Artistic Director beloved by many Latin American festivals. At 8 years old, the Festival was fast outgrowing its post 9/11 birthmark and has since stubbornly and desperately struggled to position itself as a blank World Cinema festival. This is a strategy I find puzzling, given it is way out of league and under the heavy shadow cast from uptown by the auteur and discovery art house Lincoln Film Society. One would think it an ideal and very NY synergy thing to do would be to carve out your own identity in specializing in the kaleidoscopic, fertile microcosm of US immigrant odyssey found in every corner from Manhattan to the five boroughs. Not only is there a lack of US Latino stories this year, nowhere to be found are films from Latin America. Seriously. Click on the online film guide’s search by country scroll down menu and visibly absent are Chile, Mexico and Argentina – three of Latin America’s most renowned and heralded world cinema incubators. The closest we get is one feature from Brazil by veteran director, Bruno Baretto, and two shorts from Spain. Its plain to see that the Festival’s new Artistic Director, Fredric Boyer (who headed bougie prestige fests, Cannes’ Directors Fortnight and then Locarno Film Festival) is seriously ‘Euro-cizing’ the Triangle Below Canal.

DCF 1.0 — 2007 Tribeca Film Festival film, Fiestapatria, a film from Chile by Luis Vera. One of my favorites that year

So, what’s my silver lining? Well, its based on the Short Term 12 lesson I just experienced at SXSW. I did not target the indie film as a Latino film but being familiar and a fan of Hawaiian filmmaker, Destin Daniel Cretton’s work, I went to see it and was immediately absorbed by the effortless kid-adult social psychological narrative. A detail that resonated with me was that one of the main juvy instructors was a foster kid who was raised and adopted into a big loving home by Mexican parents. He’s as white as they come, yet he cooks a mean Mexican dish and expresses his emotions outwardly, attributes of Latino culture that informed his personhood. Maybe that’s how subtle, relative yet impactful Latino culture is seeping into all of our lives. Maybe my barely passing grade on the Latino at Tribeca diagnosis is premature having not seen all of the films. Maybe where we least expect it, beyond cast and loglines, there are films buried in here with deeper social undertones of brown representation. I’m willing to excavate. All that big picture, rant stuff aside, I am quite excited about the six films (out of some 168) I highlight here which offer a diverse, albeit thin, slice of Latino to discover at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival – whether it’s the narrative’s themes, up and coming actors, or real life Americans many times removed from their Latin roots and how cool that looks like.

Without further ado, here it is; WTF is Latino at Tribeca Film Festival.

WORLD NARRATIVE COMPETITION

Stand Clear of the Closing Doors directed by Sam Fleischner and written by Rose Lichter-Marck, Micah Bloomberg

Logline: When autistic teen Ricky is scolded for skipping class, he escapes into the subway for a days-long odyssey among the subway’s disparate denizens. Meanwhile, his mother wages an escalating search effort above ground. Based on a true story and set in Far Rockaway, Queens, in the days leading up to Hurricane Sandy, these parallel stories of mother and son take the viewer on a touching journey of community and connection in and below New York City. Cast Andrea Suarez, Jesus Valez, Azul Rodriguez, Tenoch Huerta Mejía, Marsha Stephanie Blake

Sam Fleischner’s first film, Wah Do Dem was about a broken hearted hipster who goes on a cruise and gets stuck in the dangerous wild of Jamaica – just as President Obama is being sworn into office for the first time. The filmmaking felt so fresh, real, tense and engrossing. Just like you were on the adventure with him. Sam and his co-director Ben Chase won the $50,000 Target Filmmaker Award for Best Narrative at the 2009 Los Angeles Film Festival. I’m so happy he is premiering this NY based film which features a Latino cast including Tenoch Huerta (Dias de Gracia), and half of the film is spoken in Spanish. No, Sam is not a Latino but a native New Yorker and I love his take and thematic weaving in this story. His statement and inspiration behind the film demonstrates his sensibility and vision, surpassing and waiving any requirement or notion that says you have to be Latino to tell authentic Latino stories. This is what Sam was able to tell me over email:

“I am not Latino but this story is inspired by true events that happened to a Mexican family. I was attracted to the parallel between people on the autism spectrum and people living as illegal immigrants in the US. Both instances are people wading through systems that aren’t designed for them, interesting to think about the term ‘alien’. “

NARRATIVE SPOTLIGHT

The Pretty One, written and directed by Jenee LaMarque

Logline: Audrey has all of the qualities that her twin sister Laurel wishes she possessed: confidence, style, independence. When tragedy strikes, Laurel has the opportunity to reinvent herself. In a complex performance, Zoe Kazan poignantly captures Laurel’s complex mix of loss and awakening, especially as she begins a new relationship with her neighbor (Jake Johnson). Jenée LaMarque’s first feature film is a quirky, lovely tale of identity and the eternal bond between two sisters. Cast Zoe Kazan, Jake Johnson, John Carroll Lynch, Shae D’lyn, Frankie Shaw, Ron Livingston

I first met Jenee with her edgy girls short film Spoonful, a ridiculous real life scenario in which friends help out their lactating friend, which played the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. She was also kind enough to email me amid the crunch of finishing her first feature for its world premiere. I’m so grateful she responded because she truly personifies what I’m trying to convey about Latino identity (its American and expansive and our creativity relates to it vastly different ways). She says, “As for my Latina origin: my dad is Mexican, born and raised in Chino, California. His mother’s family is Mexican and has been in California for a long time. His father’s family is from Mexico City and has a French last name (presumably because of the French who came to Mexico during the 19th century but I really don’t know anything about my French-Mexican origins). My grandfather came to California during WWII with the Bracero program. My Mom is Danish, Norwegian and French. I do identify as Mexican, as Latina, but I also identify as American, and as white. I really wish that I had more of a connection to my Mexican heritage but unfortunately, my dad didn’t speak Spanish to us growing up (even though he’s fluent) and he really identifies as American. It’s funny, because I’m mixed, I don’t feel I’m fully one thing or another, I feel like my identity is sort of slippery because of it. I think that my mixed heritage plays a central role in my voice as a storyteller; one of the themes of The Pretty One is identity (a struggle with identity) and I also find myself drawn to this theme again in again in my other work.

DOCUMENTARY SPOTLIGHT

The Motivation by Adam Bhala Lough

733884_352214464884307_443837307_n — Huston

Logline: Go inside the lives and training regimes of eight of the world’s gutsiest professional skateboarders. These fearless stars face unique obstacles on the way to the Street League Championship and the coveted title of best street skateboarder in the world. Adam Bhala Lough, creator of the independent hit Bomb the System (TFF 2003), directs this fresh, energetic documentary search for that elusive quality that separates winners from the pack.

This skateboarding shred competish doc about the sheer intensity and will to defy the terror of cracked bones features some of the youngest, most successfully branded and competitive skaters in the game like Nyjah Huston (Puerto Rican father), Paul Rodriguez known as P-Rod, and Chaz Ortiz. I can’t wait to meet these guys and get to know them. Adam is good like that. His last film, The Carter, about autodidactic and auto-real voiced rapper Lil Wayne impressed me for its gloss and floss but also by its covert way of infiltrating the hyped up insular world and mind of a subculture pop king. His flashy aesthetic and sneak transparency is bound to capture the badass jaw dropping leaps and outrageous rail tricks along with distilling the high intensity pressure and rush of winning in The Motivation.

MIDNIGHT

Frankenstein’s Army (Netherlands, Czech Republic) directed by Richard Raaphorst and written by Miguel Tejada Flores

Logline: In the waning days of World War II, a team of Russian soldiers finds itself on a mysterious mission to the lab of one Dr. Victor Frankenstein. They unearth a terrifying Nazi plan to resurrect fallen soldiers as an army of unstoppable freaks and are soon trapped in a veritable haunted house of cobbled-together monstrosities. Frankenstein’s Army is the wild steampunk Nazi found-footage zombie mad scientist film you’ve always wanted.

Veteran Hollywood screenwriter, Miguel Tejada Flores has written such horror reboots as Beyond Reanimator and family classics as The Lion King but notably this is the guy who gets story credit for Revenge of the Nerds back in ’84. His next film is the upcoming I Brake for Gringos starring Camilla Belle directed by Mexican filmmaker Fernando Lebrija. A frequent mentor over the years at NALIP’s screenwriting and producing labs, it sounds like this guy is accessible and interested in nurturing the younger generation of Latino talent. A California native, his family is from Bolivia. Read his wordpress blog here.

V/H/S/2 – Eduardo Sanchez is one of the seven filmmakers of the second found footage horror anthology which has screened at Sundance, SXSW and now Tribeca (that might be a record) and most famously director of Blair Witch Project. Cuban born filmmaker.

886243_10151548290732082_2019505605_o — Kimberly Lora as Imani Cortes

SHORT FILM COMPETITION

Close Your Eyes written and directed by Sonia Malfa

Logline: Thirteen-year-old Imani Cortes is a gifted photographer longing to experience her first kiss. She has a crush on a quiet artist, Junito, with whom she has a natural connection, but she also faces an enormous challenge: she is slowly losing her sight to retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic eye disease. Will Imani let her disease stop her or be the path to independence? Cast Kimberly Lora, Julian Fernandez-Kemp, Sara Contreras, Victor Cruz, Rhina Valentina, Mia Ysabel

I’m looking forward to seeing this short set in Spanish Harlem. I don’t know much about the filmmaker except that she raised 10k off Kickstarter for this, her directorial debut. And she looks Boricua. Check out her website which shows a number of her photos and videos that show off her ‘eye’.

The Tribeca Film Festival starts April 17-28. Ticket info here

SXSW 2013 Raves, Reviews and Rants (Recap Pt. 2)

March 19, 2013March 20, 2013Christine Davila1 Comment

Read Pt.1 of my recap here!

Screen Shot 2013-03-17 at 9.36.06 AM — 2fer winners of Jury and Audience – narrative competition film, Short Term 12 at Closing Night from left, LaKeith Stanfield, Brie Larson, Destin Cretton

PARTIES & SHENANIGANS
Any festival in which I don’t lose my phone, coat, hoop earring etc. is a success. I have to say I was relatively well behaved this SXSW edition. Spreading out my drinking and cavorting throughout the day in between screenings at the Intercontinental Hotel’s Stephen F’s Happy Hour rather than staying downtown late nights. I missed out on the Converse party which was the most debauchery I partook in last year . My biggest party night was probably the Closing Film party. I blame it on the mezcal I had earlier that day. I made my way over to the RVIP Lounge, a tricked out RV with karaoke and free booze, always the illest and loudest after after spot when it makes the rounds at SXSW, Sundance and LA Film Festival. I was having a blast until I thought I lost my laptop bag and freaked out. Somehow my ass got into a taxi and made it home safe and sound. Again, thanks to the Party Gods er in this case Kestrin and the rest of the RVIP folks.

Screen Shot 2013-03-18 at 1.43.54 PM — Party on wheels! If there was one night I got tipsy, it was on this bad boy. Luckily they take care of you. Photo by Lauren Lemon

The Branson doc party at Malverde was a great Modern Mexican restaurant and bar which I discovered made delicious Palomas, my drink of choice. From there a girlfriend and I took the preferred and popular SXSW mode of transportation to the next party, hopping into a pedicab, in this case motored by a real hunk (her word not mine). I fell in love with the Ranchero music he had on blast as we headed to the East side to Cheer Up Charlie’s which was hosting a bunch of parties including Short Term 12 and the launch of Elevision, an online visionary short film distribution platform, which founder Malcolm Pullinger reminded me was still in Beta beta beta. The Sundance reception on Sunday at Clive’s Bar, a good ol whisky joint was happening and far better than last year’s rendezvous. I mostly hung out with Loves Her Gun posse including rising Mexican actor, Francisco Barreiro who Indiewire highlighted as hot talent to watch. I also caught up with Charlie Reff, the newest Programmer at Sundance, who is keeping the slate hip and fresh. We talked about the recent Sundance announcement of the Next Weekend film festival program in LA this summer. This is an invite only selection of films, something the press release did not clarify which caused a flood of people to get excited about submitting for a Summer Sundance. The scoop is the program will consist of four of the Next films which screened in this year’s 2013 Festival, a couple from other festivals (like maybe SXSW) and two other world premieres for a total of 8 features. Along with the annual Shorts Lab, the weekend (Aug 8-11) will be a significant and exciting extension of the annual Park City festival. Save the date!

LATINOS DON’T GO TO SXSW FILM
Flipping on the amorphous Latino lens; First, I’d be lying if I said I’m not disappointed about the handful of exciting new Latino writer/director films I thought were suitably edgy and commercial for SXSW that were passed on. Why such resistance? Once a festival has established itself a can’t miss cache and brand trust, the programming has even more freedom to build on their tastemaker rep and bigger responsibility to films that need the exposure. It’s a lot of pressure for LA Film Festival as the next one on the calendar year to offer a high profile festival platform for these films (look out for my WTF Tribeca piece) – especially since Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival has left a gaping hole. I believe the films would have been embraced here because I feel the Latino impact and culture all around. I get the sense it is deeply underlined in the way of life, rather than traditional heritage, as evident by the food, drink and style of Austin.

That’s why I want to use the term Latino as a starting place on this blog. It’s expansive. I won’t mind the re-appropriation of Latino culture as long as there is parity with writers, directors, producers, and execs who actually walk that bicultural narrative to get their shot at putting out the story. I certainly appreciate the influence of Latinos onscreen as much as behind the camera – in that sense SXSW totally represented. I whole heartedly understand the mainstream popularity Latinos have when they aren’t sidelined for the Latino label, like the young Selena Gomez who stars as the cross necklace wearing, bikini clad, good girl gone bad, Faith in Spring Breakers. She embodies one of the more memorable roles of Harmony Korine’s film, and one that reflects Latino Catholics’ tempestuous relationship with God, sin and guilt. Its important to recognize and respect the mass scale impact she has on young Latinos. She is an American star who looks like us and has the same last name. I highlighted her in my WTF is Latino at SXSW – (btw I missed Gimme the Power, an awesome tribute doc to the Mexican punk band Molotov, for all you frijolero lovers out there).

Over at Interactive, there were panels like the eerie wolf hunting sounding Latinos y Silver Mobile Bullet, and blatant corporate brand chasing Why Hispanics Love Toyota. These panels were by and for marketing and media entrepreneurs looking to get that stack of paper from Latinos’ trillion dollar purchasing power market. Boring old pies, graphs, stockpiles of data research were shared, all to figure out consumer habits, manipulate cultural customs and find ways to exploit and capitalize in reaching the elusive Latino market – reminded me of a laboratory with white coats searching for the formula. Corporations are practically salivating at this young-skewing, smart phone mobile going, disposable income population (disposable if only because the income is not going towards accessible medical/insurance etc). My immediate reaction is to question the sample data and how they are identifying Latino? The census reports 53 million and Pew data further breaks down foreign and native born’s online presence. What about the rising population of Latinos who are checking other on that outdated race and ethnicity form? It’s all convoluted to say the least. The data might get all sophisticated and from a million different entry points, but the biggest flaw in the foundation is the label. That said some of the more savvy marketing media are slowly coming around to acknowledging “Hispanics” are not a monolithic block.

Toyota did exactly that with their mega successful 2010 ad campaign, Somos Muchos Latinos, Somos Muchos Toyotas, a now much lauded case study in which they took advantage of our loud and proud ties to our ancestors’ roots i.e, “We are Many Mexicans, We are Many Toyotas”. They made the template and attracted Latino consumers to go online and order personalized decals according to their family’s origin. Going back to film – I think the missing ingredient in all of this research into figuring out who we are is supporting independent Latino films because they represent the authentic American mestizo culture.

I dropped by “The” Latino event at SXSW, The Social Revolución party, a Latino social media awards party. The best part of it was the complimentary anejo mezcal. The food was a joke and I wouldnt even mention it if the expectations had not been set high from the invites. Nopalitos (cactus) tostadas, chips and stuffed mushrooms – come on. I found out the real comida was in the VIP room. Yes, there was a VIP room – against everything that SXSW stands for. I’m not trying to commit brown on brown hate, and really I don’t care that I wasn’t voted best Latina blogger 😉 But I have noticed in going to more of these strictly Latino affairs the tendency to over-celebrate everything and anything, takes precedent over a strategic how to discussion of ways to develop our voices and agenda. I expected this kind of exchange here given its tagline.

I’m happy to have talked shop with some of my most esteemed professional amigas like Cristina Garza, the head of acquisitions of Canana and newly launched international sales company, Mundial. Partnering up with IM Global, they will pick up 8-10 Latin American commercial movies. Key word= commercial. All anybody thinks of when it comes to Latin American films are the gorgeously shot art house slow burn dramas – and there is an extraordinary canon of them, but there is a wave of emerging filmmakers who are making artful, resonant and more accessible films. Mundial will represent Paraiso, the next film by Mariana Chenillo who became the first female to win Best Director at the Ariel Awards for her opera prima Five Days Without Nora. I also caught up with Tonantzin Esparza who headed up acquisitions at her father’s company Maya Entertaiment for years before she moved to New York. She is currently finishing up her Masters at NYU and planning to get back into the game, in the film packaging agenting world so recruiters take note and holler at my girl.

DEEP THOUGHTS
Going in I was going to write up a daily Festival dispatch but this kind of an immersive marathon makes it extremely difficult to stay sane, sober and fresh. The advantage of looking back over the week, catching up with emails and looking at the biz cards I collected is making thematic connections. Film is not an isolated medium, so much is a fluid, biochemical reaction and reflection of the world around us.

The only criticism I would give the fine folks of SXSW Film was a reverberating observation I made at the screenings. I know as moderators we are suppose to stay within the time allotted for Q&As. I do my best to defer to the theater managers so their team has time to turn over and make sure the next movie starts in time. But I also know that I’ll risk their wrath if the audience is so enthralled with hearing the filmmaker confess his creative process, we are going to run a few minutes late for the next show. I liked the programmers keeping the intros short and sweet to get the movie started right away. If they said anything at all it was to remind us of the high volume of submissions they received so therefore this film was special for its inclusion. I found the emphasizing on this unnecessary. For comparison this year SXSW received 2,096 features – of that 1,482 US, and Sundance counted 4,044 features, of that 2,070 US. When it wasn’t a core programmer introducing and moderating, the festival invited alumni filmmakers to do the honors which didn’t always work. There is nothing better than someone on the programming team who has a connection to the film and filmmaker. Obviously it is impossible for the small group of programmers to do all the presentations. What about the screeners? Chances are they would die for the chance to feel like a bigger part of the festivals.

That said, in the grand scheme of things this is minor stuff but I wouldn’t be real if I had nothing but good things to say about a festival which is a living and breathing organism that can always be optimized.

Thanks for the memories South by Southwest. To cap it all off, I’d like to quote from the hedonistic, blazing, neon flash, glorified American wet dream by Harmony Korine who brought another kind of D2F (not Direct 2 Fan) to SXSW with the US premiere of Spring Breakers.

“We came down here to find ourselves….. Spring Break for eva bitches!”

Spring break 4-EVA.

SXSW 2013 – Raves, Reviews and Rants (Recap Pt. 1)

March 17, 2013March 20, 2013Christine Davila1 Comment

THE SCENE AND PEEPS
Starting with their signature pre-screening violent yet comical threats to the audience to shut the hell up and power down during the movies, the hilarious, non-sequitur trailer bumpers (to celebrate 20 years, a slew of previous years’ bumpers were shown), the invaluable taco graphic map resource (thanks Taco Journalism!) to the climactic progression of the downtown block party vibe as Interactive and Film gets tossed aside to make way for the festival’s explosive origin: Music, SXSW inhabits a radical American cultural vortex among international festivals. Needless to say, I had a blast this year, even if I didn’t stick around to get destroyed by the Music.

20130310_003531#1 — Loves Her Gun Q&A
Director, Geoff Marslett and his actors Trieste Kelly Dunn and Francisco Barreiro

What I love here is the real and casual film junkie vibe (without the Telluride Film Festival pretense). It’s easier to have meaningful conversations with filmmakers over free libations in a crowded happening party. I’m so happy I got that chance to do just that with David Wilson about his excellent Branson doc, We Always Lie to Strangers, and Lauren Modery and Geoff Marslett about their Brooklyn-Austin odyssey, Loves Her Gun. Both films took home jury honors at the end of the week; Special Jury Prize for Directing to AJ Schnack and David Wilson, and the Lone Star Award, named after Louis Black, Austin’s stalwart king of the Arts – editor of Austin Chronicle and SXSW co-founder. It was awesome to catch up with the multi-media artist/advocate/revolutionary Ondi Timoner (Dig!, We Live in Public) who was there on the jury, doing her awesome doc interview show, BYOD and promoting A Total Disruption, a wildly innovative and online community to guide young startups and inventors. Does this woman sleep?

Of the cool new people I met and connected with was Emily Best, the enthusiastic no nonsense founder of crowdsourcing/building/distribution platform Seed & Spark. Taking it one step further in capitalizing the public’s desire to be part of the filmmaking process, Emily has found a way for potential funders to take away ‘stories’ from their contributions. Like a wedding registry, you can donate for certain items. We both agreed the concept of ‘windows’ should be killed, or at least restructured (referring to the confined first theatrical, then dvd then online life of a film). Indeed, for all the social media buzz and rave reviews that will whet the public’s appetite and craving to see the films that premiered at SXSW last week, the public won’t be able to see them for at least another six months. You can argue this essentially squashes that high awareness apex and momentum in its tracks. Why wouldn’t a filmmaker slap their film online after a great festival premiere? Because as the archaic model stands, it means no more exhibition or traditional print publicity opportunities – no more festivals, theatrical distribution, forget about that pipeline dream of Oscar qualifying run. I certainly don’t have the background or numbers to make the grand argument of which scenario would bring the filmmaker more money in the end – but I would venture to say that monetizing immediate online access of your film post- a high profile festival like SXSW is certainly a viable way to sustain your filmmaking. Vision = brand.

The stimulation overload at South By is perhaps akin to stumbling wasted into the Circus Circus casino in Vegas, but instead of sucking your mojo dry, here it seeps and fuses into your brain igniting new tech and film (and life) ideas. I certainly came away with lots of new opportunities and ideas I’m excited to put into action. This kind of festival is well worth the full 10 days-if you can handle it. I did 8 days and had to take one of them off. I had hoped to do more Interactive stuff but I have to admit Interactive intimidates me. I step onto the trade show floor and half expect to walk into a Teleporting Beta simulation gone wrong. But as evidence I tried, my very first happy hour I went to after getting my badge was Startup Village at the Hilton. There I ran into Todd Berger who was giddy at having his SXSW virginity popped. He co-stars in the Narrative Spotlight SXSW selection Good Night with Alex Karpovsky and Jonny Mars, directed by Sean H. A. Gallagher. Berger is also representing 99 Tigers, a creative commercial outfit. But most importantly, he is peddling his delightful relationship comedy/ Apocalypse Sunday brunch film, It’s a Disaster, currently available on iTunes. Starring America Ferrara, David Cross, Julia Stiles, it’s to die for. Recommend.

20130314_213209 — Milo by Jacob Vaughan starring Ken Marino who is plagued by a demon in his colon was the best movie to close out my festival Thurs night. So outrageous, hilarious and quite heartwarming.

MOTION PICTURE RECAP – SXSW IS THE NEW HOT DOCS

(Click on hyperlinked films for my thoughts/reviews). It was a pretty damn good program so it is hard to single out a top five. Out of the 20 new movies I saw at the Festival, the ones that stood out the most for me were rockabilly music label documentary, Los Wild Ones directed by Elise Solomon, We Always Lie to Strangers, Loves Her Gun, the Harry Dean Stanton documentary, Partly Fiction and Short Term 12 set in a mental juvy home about troubled adolescents and the troubled adults that care for them. Destin Daniel Cretton’s second feature ended up winning both Jury and Audience Awards. I’m not including anything from Sundance or the handful of films I saw in consideration for Sundance which premiered at SXSW. And I’m not done covering SXSW either. Thanks to Festival Scope, I’ll get a chance to see more of the films I missed. For 70 euros/year (I think thats about 100 bucks) you can sign up – if you are some kind of film professional – and watch a selection of movies from most of the big international film festivals. It’s an invaluable resource for film programmers.

62778_465562743516914_1998440440_n — Dennis Creamer, Ty Martin and Robert the “Mouth” pic the three souls of Before You Know It – pic courtesy of FB page

I had not previously thought of SXSW as a strong doc kind of space, outside the typical music docs of course which are plentiful. However I found myself being pulled into more documentary screenings and looking at my list, I loved more of the docs than fiction features. For instance, PJ Raval’s sensitive doc, Before you Know It, which follows three main elderly gay characters who you can’t help become utterly endeared to, moved me to tears and joy in witnessing their unconquerable spirit. The Act of Killing, a film about Indonesian paramilitary killers reenacting their crimes as Hollywood films which I’ve wanted to see since its Toronto International Film Festival debut. It was as disturbing as the hype that precedes it. Los Wild Ones, We Always Lie to Strangers and Partly Fiction I already mentioned – all speak to how the Festival has applied their edgy, offbeat artist sensibility to the makeup of the doc program. I couldn’t help notice however that two fantastic upcoming docs did NOT make their world premieres here. They are the highly anticipated performance protest punk band profile of Devo, Are We Not Men, and the cinephile’s wet dream of the almost glorious consummation of the heralded 1965 sci-fi novel, Dune and cult auteur Chilean director, Alejandro Jodorowsky (Santa Sangre is my all time favorite movie EVER). Take a look at the trailer and background on Jodorowsky’s Dune here on Geeks of Doom. I gave this heads up tip to Martijn te Pas, the IDFA programmer I met in the panelist green room. IDFA, the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam is THE most colossal and important festival for documentaries. This kind of info is currency and credibility in my network. Another sign that SXSW’s doc star is rising was the fact that my lovely friend and longtime programmer at Morelia Film Festival, Mara Fortes was there scouting docs for Ambulante, the traveling documentary film festival in Mexico founded by Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal (Mara’s twin sister Elena Fortes is the Executive Director). We went to a few screenings together and she gave me the latest Ambulante Program catalog – the first one in which I’m officially credited as Programming Correspondent (yay!). A couple films I am sad to have missed because I heard great things from trusted sources were Baltimore biking gang doc, 12 0’Clock Boys, and The Punk Singer – about Bikini Kill and Le Tigre’s Kathleen Hanna. For much more insightful and broader coverage of the festival’s documentaries go to my dear colleague Basil Tsiokos’s website, What not to Doc.

PANELS AND CONVOS
One of my panel highlights was actually a panel I was asked to participate in. Joe Beyer, Director, Digital Initiatives at Sundance asked me to join him in speaking to the class of Carnegie Mellon’s Master of Entertainment Industry Management, a very intrepid two year intensive class and field program geared towards aspiring producers and engineers in the film industry. Part of their curriculum includes ‘field trips’ to Sundance, SXSW and even Cannes. It was so exhilerating to see such ambitious and smart young men and women. I was particularly pleased to see a balanced group of women and men of color in the room (what the hell happens later in the workforce!!?). I encouraged folks to carve themselves out a specialty, giving as an example my own work as Latino film expert. Both Joe and I evoked our old boss Geoff Gilmore’s philosophy of articulating the POSITIVE merits of a film. Anyone can talk shit about a movie’s logline, characters and production value. Maybe they think its cooler to do so. It’s definitely a unique trait I’ve learned at Sundance; to always identify and celebrate the positive aspects of a filmmaker’s vision. Everywhere else seems to start with the negative first.

20130309_133652 — Studio vs Indie Producers Panel with Lisa Muskat (Prince Avalanche, All the Real Girls George Washington), and Adele (pronounced A-dey-la) Romanski (Milo, Black Rock, Freebie)

I went to Studio + Independent Producing panel in which Lisa Muskat, Adele Romanski and Scott Mosier exchanged horrible and hilarious situations faced while working with and outside the studio system. 50% of being a producer is about the relationships, Adele said. Mosier, who has produced most if not all of Kevin Smith’s movies pointed out that with studios, you are well aware you have a product, it is coming out, there is a release date, print and advertising but all of that comes at a creative price which influences your creative work. He remembered being shocked that a studio executive told him it’s not just about making movies with your friends (um, yes it is). They all chimed in about the ridiculousness of test screenings which seem as if they are purposely there to get slammed. On the other hand, Adele argued she’s felt that when screening in front of friends her concern is that they might hold back on criticism. I also went to Not So Short Story: panel with Calvin Lee Reeder (Rambler), Hannah Fidell (A Teacher) and initially I did not recognize the guy whose last name was Henry but when he talked about his film as “the gay bathroom gang rape comedy”, I immediately knew that must be Kyle Henry director of the short film trilogy Fourplay. All three had great nuggets of wisdom when it comes to expanding your short into a feature and about playing the Festival circuit.

For my own mentor sessions on Sunday I had the pleasure of meeting with Christina B who with a group of her peers founded and writes for this awesome How to Break into the Film business blog called Indies Unchained. She’s volunteered at Sundance and now SXSW and is getting out there as a filmmaker and working towards a career as film festival programmer. I also met a passionate documentary directing duo, Ahbra Perry and Taylor Higgins who have been working on their film Power of Pearl for the last three years. They had thoughtful questions, I was definitely intrigued by the macro and micro exploration of the world’s only living gem. I felt they were on the right track by taking the time out to watch other docs and taking advantage of the networking and mentor sessions the festival offers. Unfortunately not every meeting or networking introduction sparks a great connect. As a matter of fact, I do have an idea for a panel (or bumper) next year. It’d be geared towards the ‘professionals, filmmakers and panelists who will inevitably get cornered by a bright (crazy) eyed enthusiastic newbie ____ who wants to know if you would ___their ____ or if it has a shot of ___. Oh, by the way, the ___ in question has absolutely no rhyme or reason, and next to no potential. How do you not come off like a jerk? Start with the positive kids. We like weird. But it’s gotta be calibrated effectively.

Pt. 2, parties, shenanigans and deep thoughts

CineFestival 2013 recap – San Antonio’s West Side Joya

March 4, 2013March 4, 2013Christine DavilaLeave a comment

Lou Diamond Philips, Patty Ortiz, directof of Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, Godfather Jesse Borrego and Gina Rodriguez pre-screening

The 35th CineFestival drew to a close Saturday night with a jam packed screening of Filly Brown attended by its filmmakers Amir de Lara, Michael D. Olmos and actors’, Gina Rodriguez and Lou Diamond Philips. At the Q&A, a charming Lou Diamond serenaded the audience with an impromptu rendition of La Bamba, in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the seminal chicano rock film, and Gina aka Filly rocked the mike herself, demonstrating she’s got the rap skills down cold. Afterwards, filmmakers, friends and staff walked across the street to la Casita,the festival’s lounge that is a cute house with a huge Ice House backyard with benches and fire pits, fully stocked free Indio beer, (a nice break from the usual fest sponsor Stella), delicious sausage in tortillas and a rockin girl DJ spinning classic vinyl.

missionparkboys — Mission Park boys – Julio Cesar Cedillo, Jesse Borrego, Will Rothhar, Bryan Ramirez, Douglas Spain, David Philips and Jeremy Ray Valdez
Photo courtesy of Cedillo

All in all, it was a fun week of meeting young emerging filmmakers and getting to know the relatively nascent San Antonio film scene. It all started with Opening Night film, Mission Park, a film that was shot in San Antonio by native filmmaker Bryan Ramirez. The people came out in droves to see this home grown film – so much that there was demand for a second screening. It was a lovefest at the screening Q&A which was attended by the producers, Douglas Spain, Armando Montelongo (Flip this House real life real estate tycoon), and cast, Jeremy Ray Valdez, Will Rothhar, Julio Cesar Cedillo and David J. Phillips (also producer). Bryan Ramirez spoke about meeting Douglas Spain at CineFestival a few years ago and giving him the script back then which is how the Star Maps actor came on board as producer.

After the film I tagged along with the crew to Brooklynite, a fancy chic parlor mixologist bar – the type you’d find in hipster Venice or WeHo. There I met and talked with Jesse Salmeron, a filmmaker from the bay area whose first feature, Dreamer is world premiering at CineQuest. Jeremy Ray Valdez produces and star’s as the film’s lead, Joe Rodriguez, a well educated young man who is unable to get ahead in life because of the lingering fear that he might be deported. Demonstrating a strong visual approach within a timely, compassionate story, I just added Jesse to my hot Latino writer/directors to watch out for.

ALAMO CITY FILMMAKERS & THE FILM SCENE

Among the bourgeoning SA filmmakers are Bryan Ramirez, Kerry Valderama, Bryan Ortiz (all three collaborated on the asylum anthology film Sanitarium with Malcolm McDowell), short filmmaker and beloved highschool film teacher, Sam Lerma, Steve Acevedo who directed the short film El Cocodrilo, a powerful story starring Jacob Vargas as a reporter on the run from narcos, Ralph Lopez, producer of Wolf which premiered at SXSW last year, Ray Santisteban, award winning documentarian who won Best doc short for the six minute Have You Seen Marie, a slice of celebrated Chicana author Sandra Cisneros’s new book. And if there were to be a Godfather to this crew coming up it is San Antonio’s querido, artist/activist/actor, Jesse Borrego (Mi Vida Loca) who moved back to to his hometown last year after spending 15 years in LA. I think he is the most generous, warm hearted and enthusiastic patron saint of the Guadalupe community.

So where my SA sisters at??? Well there are a lot more females working within the documentary medium. Filmmakers like Laura Varela whose films rescue forgotten American Latino heroes, Deborah S. Esquinazi, the director of The Recantation, a work in progress documentary about four Latina lesbians wrongfully accused of molestation, and Lindsey Villareal, whose short doc about a Mariachi family in East LA, Canto de Familia,was super moving in an enjoyable and Mexican pride way. She is currently attending USC’s MFA Film Production program. Another female documentarian I was impressed with is Angela Walley who with her husband Mark made this extraordinary doc profile short, Vincent Valdez, Excerpts for John. Watch the full short here.

Drew Mayer-Oakes, Director of the San Antonio Film Commission told me about the matching grant available to local filmmakers which launched just last year. Blessed by Julian Castro, the $25,000 grant will support local filmmakers who have at least $25,000 in funding commitments in place for a feature-length motion picture. Family movie Champion by Kevin Nations and Robin Nations, is the first to have been awarded the grant last year out of 8 applications. The program is funded and managed by the City of San Antonio Department for Culture & Creative Development (DCCD). The program is a collaboration with the San Antonio Film Commission, a division of the Convention & Visitors Bureau. This is but just one of the programs and resources Drew is putting together to ignite the local filmmaking scene

THE NEXT GENERATION

Winner of the highschool short film showcase, Nicolas Rodriguez for his film, The Exterminator.

The festival is instrumental in providing access, inspiration and platforms for aspiring filmmakers. I had been looking forward to Monday’s Youth Film showcase, a program of local highschool shorts, and it did not disappoint. Taking home two awards, Best Narrative and Emerging Filmmaker was Nicolas Rodriguez from Harlandale High, the director of the wacky and original comedy called The Exterminator. Upon accepting his award, he mentioned he looked up to filmmakers like Robert Rodriguez and Guillermo del Toro. I was also impressed with videographer/artist Daniela Riojas, who was working as the Festival’s official photographer and is a radical artist and performer who screened her music video Pop Physique in the shorts program. Check out her work here. I also got to meet Efrain-Abran Gutierrez, son of the pioneering filmmaker who made the very first Chicano film right here in San Antonio, Efrain Gutierrez (Please Don’t Bury Me Alive). Efrain Junior founded his own production company, Landmine Entertainment where he does everything from discovering and shooting underground hip hop music artists to currently developing a couple documentaries on forgotten Chicano activists.

I haven’t talked about The Crumbles on this blog yet so I want to give it a shout now as its become one of my favorites pieces of fresh and microbudget fimmaking; The Echo Park set slacker film completely captures the multi-culti indie hipster artist hood in an affecting way by focusing on the young persistent indie rock movement and spirit, come hell or high water. I loved the Latina rocker lead played by El Teatro Campesino performer Katie Hipoland the music (soundtrack by Grammy winner Quetzal). The director Akira Boch raised 10k on Kickstarter to take it out on the road himself and he’s out there doing it now. Check here for a list of the film’s DIY screening engagements.

THE SUNDANCE SUPPORT

Wednesday kicked off the first ever CineFestival Latino Writers Project lab, a collaboration with Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program. The four writers selected to participate met with filmmaker and creative advisors, Nancy Savoca (who made one of my all time favorite h.s. movies True Love), David Riker (The Girl) Cruz Angeles whas was the co-creator of the Latino Screenwriters Lab (Don’t Let me Drown), Mauricio Zacharias (co-writer of Keep the Lights On) and Hannah Weyer (Life Support, and novelist of upcoming book, On the Come Up). I wish I had had a chance to really talk with the screenwriters but they were too busy and immersed with their mentors. I did hear that they found the workshop and advisors incredibly valuable, and their only wish was that they had more time with them. It sounds like most of the advisors offered to stay in touch with them and make themselves available throughout their creative process ahead. Out of the four writers only Miguel Alvarez is from around these parts. Miguel is a well known filmmaker and trusty collaborator here in Austin whose fantastic project, La Perdida plays like an Eternal Sunshine meets Seven Monkeys set in Mexico City.

20130302_124011 — Ilyse McKimmie, Cruz Angeles, David Riker, Nancy Savoca and Richard Guay

On Saturday morning the enlightening Sundance panel, Essential Elements: Making your Vision a Reality, was moderated by Ilyse McKimmie, an incredibly generous and erudite creative guru. The conversations and questions ranged from, at what point does a writer share their working draft, to what is the next step after final draft, and a large discussion about how critical it is to find the right creative producer.

There were a number of interesting new filmmakers I had the pleasure of meeting like immigration lawyer and documentarian Sarah MacPherson whose Stable Life, a glimpse inside the undocumented immigrants who work and live in horse race tracks won the Documentary Prize. It was also nice to hang with filmmakers I’ve met before like David Riker. There was a good turnout for his film and a very affected audience afterwards at the Q&A. The Girl is being released by Brainstorm Media and The Film Collective, a new consulting company headed by Ruth Vitale, former head of Paramount Classics. This exciting and new partnership previously theatrically released Todd Solondz last film, the Ted Hope produced, Dark Horse. For a list of theater venues and times to see The Girl (LA/NY/Chicago/Phoenix/San Antonio and San Diego check here.

Like I reported here last year, CineFestival is such a rich and nuclear community festival that reflects the unique spectrum of its inhabitants and neighbors. There is a high level of chicano consciousness alive and well that is inspiring this young generation to tell their stories. San Antonio is becoming a really happening artist haven and this edition of CineFestival made important steps towards developing and tapping into this artistic filmic pulse. I hope to continue collaborating with this festival in the future and I want to thank the formidable organization, Patty Ortiz, Executive Director of Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, Jim Mendiola, Festival Director, Yvonne Montoya, Program Director of Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center and Orlando Bolanos, Education Director. Gracias por todo y hasta luego!

Colombian Film Festival coming to Nueva York!

Video February 19, 2013February 26, 2013Christine Davila2 Comments

Apparently this has been brewing since December but I am just taking notice today with the release of their Festival Trailer. Sponsored by Univision, Delta and presented by the Colombian Consulate, New York and Colombian embassy in Washington D.C, the inaugural Colombian Film Festival in New York will screen 16 feature films and 8 short films – all produced within the last two years, at the Tribeca Cinemas March 20 – 24.

This celebration of the dynamic offerings of contemporary Colombian cinema is very well deserved and timely. I have noticed through the film festival screeners I watch a shift in the type of films coming from Colombia. They are starting to eschew stereotypical drug crime gang stories. If a film does treat this real social ill, it is approached by far more novel and inventive ways. Definitely there is a nascent of singular conceptual and diverse genres bourgeoning. Among the films being screened in NYC, I highly recommend the surrealist Todos Tus Muertos written and directed by Carlos Moreno (Dog Eat Dog), Porifirio, an oddly sensual, deceptively quiet and powerful film written and directed by Alejandro Landes which screened in the illustrious Directors Fortnight in Cannes, and the quirky Sofia and the Stubborn written and directed by Andrés Burgos Vallejo – a type of Alice in Wonderland story about an older woman who finally makes her wish happen. All three of these demonstrate the type of imaginative conception I mention. Oddly missing from the lineup is the Colombian entry for the 2012 Oscars, Colors of the Mountain written and directed by Carlos César Arbeláez. The film may even be the most screened in world wide film festivals including San Sebastian and San Francisco International.

Colombia produces less than 25 features a year and that represents a substantial increase over the past 10 years. It’s noteworthy to mention that 18 home grown features were released in Colombian theaters. Hopefully this critical access will whet the local audience appetite and nurture a serious support system for filmmakers. Unlike the powerhouse independent and government fund agencies of Chile, Argentina and Brazil, Colombia has struggled to make steps towards consolidating its talent and building an organized film industry. The Cartagena Film Festival taking place later this week, is but another positive indicator of the rising interest in Colombian Cinema as both a location and Ibero American producer. Looking at their Made in Colombia section and you’ll find even more brand new 2013 releases.

Check out The Colombian Film Festival NYC’s website, twitter and face for the films, ticket info and film trailers.

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