When Victoria Villegas learned how her cousin had fled the Dominican Republic, and was gay like her, she was moved to chart his life
There have been experimental, freestyling essay films and memoiristic documentaries around for years, going back to Chris Marker’s Sans Soleil or Agnès Varda’s The Gleaners and I. But just lately it feels like the sprawling poetic-realist subgenre is flourishing, especially in the sunny uplands of film festivals. Like an extension of the creative-writing exhortation to “write about what you know” young documentary-makers are increasingly shooting movies about not just who they are but also their family history. Sometimes family members are even corralled into play themselves or others, like some cinematic family drama-therapy experiment.
If you want a few recent examples, check out Miryam Charles’s recent Cette Maison, or Moroccan director Asmae el Moudir’s The Mother of All Lies, both of which...
There have been experimental, freestyling essay films and memoiristic documentaries around for years, going back to Chris Marker’s Sans Soleil or Agnès Varda’s The Gleaners and I. But just lately it feels like the sprawling poetic-realist subgenre is flourishing, especially in the sunny uplands of film festivals. Like an extension of the creative-writing exhortation to “write about what you know” young documentary-makers are increasingly shooting movies about not just who they are but also their family history. Sometimes family members are even corralled into play themselves or others, like some cinematic family drama-therapy experiment.
If you want a few recent examples, check out Miryam Charles’s recent Cette Maison, or Moroccan director Asmae el Moudir’s The Mother of All Lies, both of which...
- 4/15/2024
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Guardian - Film News
When Variety talks to Zoe Saldaña and her husband, the artist and film director, Marco Perego, they’ve only just arrived at the Taormina Film Festival, and are in the process of unpacking. Room service arrives and Zoe apologizes about having to tuck into the salad straightaway. They’re here attending the world premiere of Perego’s debut film as a director, “The Absence of Eden,” a drama that takes place in the murky world of the U.S.’s southern border, a hellish landscape inhabited by Coyotes, Ice officers, desperate immigrants and refugees.
It’s a universe away from the Pandora of the “Avatar” pictures or the science fiction blockbusters “Star Trek” and “Guardians of the Galaxy” Saldaña is more usually associated with. “When I was picked for those films, I had no idea they were going to become franchises. I thought it was going to be a one and done kind of thing.
It’s a universe away from the Pandora of the “Avatar” pictures or the science fiction blockbusters “Star Trek” and “Guardians of the Galaxy” Saldaña is more usually associated with. “When I was picked for those films, I had no idea they were going to become franchises. I thought it was going to be a one and done kind of thing.
- 7/2/2023
- by John Bleasdale
- Variety Film + TV
Working through familial memory is often as complicated as it is difficult. Dominican filmmaker Victoria Linares embarks on this very process in her feature debut Lo que se hereda (It Runs in the Family), about the near-erasure of her cousin Oscar Torres’s existence in their native Dominican Republic. As the film unfolds, Linares learns how similar she is to Torres, despite the two being separated by an entire generation. Lo que se hereda is hinged upon Linares’s personal discovery of her cousin’s unproduced screenplays and film reviews he wrote in the ’50s during Rafael Trujillo’s dictatorship. From 1930 until his […]
The post “Nonfiction is the Most Successfully Explored Genre in the Dominican Republic”: Victoria Linares on Lo que se hereda (It Runs in the Family) first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Nonfiction is the Most Successfully Explored Genre in the Dominican Republic”: Victoria Linares on Lo que se hereda (It Runs in the Family) first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 11/21/2022
- by Michael Piantini
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Working through familial memory is often as complicated as it is difficult. Dominican filmmaker Victoria Linares embarks on this very process in her feature debut Lo que se hereda (It Runs in the Family), about the near-erasure of her cousin Oscar Torres’s existence in their native Dominican Republic. As the film unfolds, Linares learns how similar she is to Torres, despite the two being separated by an entire generation. Lo que se hereda is hinged upon Linares’s personal discovery of her cousin’s unproduced screenplays and film reviews he wrote in the ’50s during Rafael Trujillo’s dictatorship. From 1930 until his […]
The post “Nonfiction is the Most Successfully Explored Genre in the Dominican Republic”: Victoria Linares on Lo que se hereda (It Runs in the Family) first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Nonfiction is the Most Successfully Explored Genre in the Dominican Republic”: Victoria Linares on Lo que se hereda (It Runs in the Family) first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 11/21/2022
- by Michael Piantini
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
iHeartMedia, the No. 1 podcast publisher globally according to Podtrac, today announced details for Sisters of the Underground -- the newest podcast from Eva Longoria and her UnbeliEVAble Entertainment’s exclusive slate of shows with iHeartMedia’s My Cultura Podcast Network, a network dedicated to elevating Latinx voices and stories -- launching August 31, 2022. Executive produced by celebrated actresses Eva Longoria and Dania Ramirez, who will also voice a character in the show, the 8-part scripted series tells the true story of the courageous Latina siblings, known as the Mirabal sisters, whose lifelong activism in the Dominican Republic and state-orchestrated assassination led to the downfall of one of the most brutal and enduring dictators of the 20th Century, Rafael Trujillo (aka El Jefe). Fans can listen to the official trailer for “Sisters of the Underground” now, here.
"I’m so excited for listeners to hear the incredible story of the Mirabal sisters...
"I’m so excited for listeners to hear the incredible story of the Mirabal sisters...
- 9/2/2022
- Podnews.net
Dania Ramirez (Sweet Tooth) has been tapped as the lead in Fox’s Alert, a character-driven police procedural from The Blacklist showrunner John Eisendrath and Jamie Foxx. Written by Eisendrath, Alert is a co-production between Sony Pictures Television, where Eisendrath is under an overall deal, and Fox Entertainment.
Alert is about the Lampu — the Los Angeles Police Department’s missing person’s unit. When police officer Nikki Parker’s (Ramirez) son goes missing, she joins the LAPD’s Missing Person’s Unit to help other people find their loved ones, even as she searches for her own. Six years later, her world is turned upside-down when her ex-husband, Devon Zoellner, shows up with a proof-of-life photo of their missing boy. Or is it? The series is a procedural drama with a search for a missing person in each episode, that runs alongside the overarching storyline of Nikki and Devon’s...
Alert is about the Lampu — the Los Angeles Police Department’s missing person’s unit. When police officer Nikki Parker’s (Ramirez) son goes missing, she joins the LAPD’s Missing Person’s Unit to help other people find their loved ones, even as she searches for her own. Six years later, her world is turned upside-down when her ex-husband, Devon Zoellner, shows up with a proof-of-life photo of their missing boy. Or is it? The series is a procedural drama with a search for a missing person in each episode, that runs alongside the overarching storyline of Nikki and Devon’s...
- 8/23/2022
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
“Que nos canten otra” — “Let’s have them sing us another” — chuckled a middle-aged señora, heels in hand, as she made her way out of the L.A. Memorial Coliseum Thursday night, Aug. 18. The clock was nearing midnight, and legendary Mexican band Los Bukis had just walked — or in the case of one member, rolled — off stage following a 33-song set filled with their romantic ballads and danceable cumbias.
The show had just one slight hiccup after bassist Eusebio “El Chivo” Cortez — known for his onstage antics and eccentric dancing...
The show had just one slight hiccup after bassist Eusebio “El Chivo” Cortez — known for his onstage antics and eccentric dancing...
- 8/19/2022
- by Tomás Mier
- Rollingstone.com
Disney’s Latin American streamer talks up original dramas.
The Walt Disney Company’s Latin American streamer Star+ underlined its original production push by premiering the first episode of its Eva Perón miniseries Santa Evita at Spain’s Conecta Fiction & Entertainment this week, and showcasing four more dramas at the TV networking and co-pro event held in Toledo.
Launched last year, entertainment and sports platform Star+ is available in Latin America as a standalone service or, as part of Combo+, a bundled offering with access to Disney+.
Santa Evita, produced by Star Original Productions and directed by Rodrigo Garcia, tells...
The Walt Disney Company’s Latin American streamer Star+ underlined its original production push by premiering the first episode of its Eva Perón miniseries Santa Evita at Spain’s Conecta Fiction & Entertainment this week, and showcasing four more dramas at the TV networking and co-pro event held in Toledo.
Launched last year, entertainment and sports platform Star+ is available in Latin America as a standalone service or, as part of Combo+, a bundled offering with access to Disney+.
Santa Evita, produced by Star Original Productions and directed by Rodrigo Garcia, tells...
- 6/23/2022
- by Elisabet Cabeza
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Eva Longoria is launching a new slate of podcasts—both scripted and unscripted—in collaboration with iHeartMedia‘s My Cultura Podcast Network.
Among the three new projects are a mix of scripted and unscripted projects that furthers My Cultura’s dedication to celebrating and elevating Latinx voices and stories from content creators like Longoria.
Launching on March 31 is the scripted series Connections With Eva Longoria, which promises to take listeners back to what makes us uniquely human—our desire to authentically connect with others. Longoria and her guests will tackle complex topics including spirituality, money, romance, food, politics, and parenting. Jay Shetty, Huda Kattan, Dr. Shefali Tsabary, Elsas. Marie Collins, are among the confirmed guests with more to be announced in the future.
The scripted project Sisters of the Underground—slated for Summer 2022—follows the true story of Las Hermanas Mirabal, the Mirabal Sisters. Executive produced by Longoria and Dominican actress Dania Ramirez,...
Among the three new projects are a mix of scripted and unscripted projects that furthers My Cultura’s dedication to celebrating and elevating Latinx voices and stories from content creators like Longoria.
Launching on March 31 is the scripted series Connections With Eva Longoria, which promises to take listeners back to what makes us uniquely human—our desire to authentically connect with others. Longoria and her guests will tackle complex topics including spirituality, money, romance, food, politics, and parenting. Jay Shetty, Huda Kattan, Dr. Shefali Tsabary, Elsas. Marie Collins, are among the confirmed guests with more to be announced in the future.
The scripted project Sisters of the Underground—slated for Summer 2022—follows the true story of Las Hermanas Mirabal, the Mirabal Sisters. Executive produced by Longoria and Dominican actress Dania Ramirez,...
- 3/30/2022
- by Rosy Cordero
- Deadline Film + TV
Dominican filmmaker Jose Maria Cabral has shared the trailer to his eighth feature, “Parsley,” with Variety ahead of its world premiere at the Miami Int’l Film Festival.
New York-based Visit Films is handling world sales rights on the drama.
As in his Sundance title “Woodpeckers” (“Carpinteros”) and his more recent films, Cabral trains his lens on the marginalized in his country. “Parsley” (“Perejil”) is based on the 1937 Perejil Massacre when Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo ordered the execution of Haitian communities on the country’s border with Haiti. In some cases, soldiers verified the person’s Haitian roots by how they pronounced the word perejil (parsley), where their French-Haitian Creole accents would give them away.
The infamous massacre is seen through the eyes of Marie (Cyndie Lundy) a young Haitian woman, nine months pregnant, whose loving husband Frank (Ramon Emilio Candelario) is a Dominican. Despite the rising racial tensions, she...
New York-based Visit Films is handling world sales rights on the drama.
As in his Sundance title “Woodpeckers” (“Carpinteros”) and his more recent films, Cabral trains his lens on the marginalized in his country. “Parsley” (“Perejil”) is based on the 1937 Perejil Massacre when Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo ordered the execution of Haitian communities on the country’s border with Haiti. In some cases, soldiers verified the person’s Haitian roots by how they pronounced the word perejil (parsley), where their French-Haitian Creole accents would give them away.
The infamous massacre is seen through the eyes of Marie (Cyndie Lundy) a young Haitian woman, nine months pregnant, whose loving husband Frank (Ramon Emilio Candelario) is a Dominican. Despite the rising racial tensions, she...
- 3/1/2022
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Award-winning journalist Jonathan M. Katz’s new book, Gangsters of Capitalism: Smedley Butler, the Marines, and the Making and Breaking of America’s Empire, is an explosive deep dive into the forgotten history of American military imperialism in the early twentieth century. At its center is one of the United States’s most fascinating yet little-known characters — Gen. Smedley Butler, a Marine who fought in nearly every U.S. overseas war in the early twentieth century. In this exclusive excerpt, Katz documents how Butler played a pivotal role in an equally little-known episode,...
- 1/1/2022
- by Jonathan M. Katz
- Rollingstone.com
First-time filmmaker Rebeca “Beba” Huntt opens her eponymous debut “Beba” — a complicated and bold self-portrait, exploring identity, internalized anti-Blackness, and generational trauma — with a declarative statement: “You are now entering my universe.” Her world, initially, is visually translated via a shaky cam walking through a twisty, moss-smeared forest. A woozy horn hypnotizes over a collage of images: Huntt swaying to the sea, people at the beach, her hand in the sand — all shot on a gorgeous 16mm. Her spoken-word poetry, wherein she says “violence lives in my DNA,” lays the groundwork for the next 79 unflinching minutes.
Huntt was born in 1990; she is the product of generational soul-searching. Filmed over the course of eight years, “Beba” exists as a similar exploration. Huntt interviews her family, recalls her nascent college years, praises her friend group, and later shows the inequities of surrounding herself with college white (presumably) liberals. Without hesitation, she talks about her own shortcomings too.
Huntt was born in 1990; she is the product of generational soul-searching. Filmed over the course of eight years, “Beba” exists as a similar exploration. Huntt interviews her family, recalls her nascent college years, praises her friend group, and later shows the inequities of surrounding herself with college white (presumably) liberals. Without hesitation, she talks about her own shortcomings too.
- 9/11/2021
- by Robert Daniels
- Indiewire
Festival
The 78th Venice International Film Festival (Sept. 1-11) will include an out of competition screening of “Ennio” by Giuseppe Tornatore, director of the Oscar winning “Cinema Paradiso.” “Ennio” is a comprehensive portrait of two time Oscar winning composer Ennio Morricone, among the most influential and prolific musicians of the twentieth century, who has scored over 500 movie soundtracks.
The documentary tells the Maestro’s story in a long interview of him with Tornatore, and with comments by artists and directors such as Bernardo Bertolucci, Giuliano Montaldo, Marco Bellocchio, Dario Argento, the Taviani brothers, Carlo Verdone, Barry Levinson, Roland Joffé, Oliver Stone, Quentin Tarantino, Bruce Springsteen, Nicola Piovani, Hans Zimmer and Pat Metheny, and through music and archive footage.
The film also seeks to reveal Morricone’s lesser-known aspects, such as his passion for chess, and the origin of some of his musical intuitions, like the howl of a coyote that...
The 78th Venice International Film Festival (Sept. 1-11) will include an out of competition screening of “Ennio” by Giuseppe Tornatore, director of the Oscar winning “Cinema Paradiso.” “Ennio” is a comprehensive portrait of two time Oscar winning composer Ennio Morricone, among the most influential and prolific musicians of the twentieth century, who has scored over 500 movie soundtracks.
The documentary tells the Maestro’s story in a long interview of him with Tornatore, and with comments by artists and directors such as Bernardo Bertolucci, Giuliano Montaldo, Marco Bellocchio, Dario Argento, the Taviani brothers, Carlo Verdone, Barry Levinson, Roland Joffé, Oliver Stone, Quentin Tarantino, Bruce Springsteen, Nicola Piovani, Hans Zimmer and Pat Metheny, and through music and archive footage.
The film also seeks to reveal Morricone’s lesser-known aspects, such as his passion for chess, and the origin of some of his musical intuitions, like the howl of a coyote that...
- 8/10/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Barcelona-based mini-studio Filmax is bringing onto the market “The Roar of the Butterflies,” an ambitious period drama made with Pablo Bossi’s Gloriamundi and Disney Plus in Latin America.
Focusing on the extreme courage of two women who stood up to one of the bloodiest dictators in Latin American history, the drama series is being brought into the open market at this week’s L.A. Virtual Screenings.
Increasing the show’s appeal is an impressive and now expanded cast of Spanish and Caribbean talent including Susana Abaitua, Sandy Hernández (“On the Block”), Guillermo Toledo (“I’m so Excited”) and Alberto Garcia (“Che”).
It was first announced in late 2019 as a Buena Vista Original Productions title produced with Bossi’s Pampa Films (“Chinese Takeaway”). It follows on their highly successful collaboration on “Monzón,” which raised the bar on production standards in Latin America.
“The Roar of the Butterflies” now also marks...
Focusing on the extreme courage of two women who stood up to one of the bloodiest dictators in Latin American history, the drama series is being brought into the open market at this week’s L.A. Virtual Screenings.
Increasing the show’s appeal is an impressive and now expanded cast of Spanish and Caribbean talent including Susana Abaitua, Sandy Hernández (“On the Block”), Guillermo Toledo (“I’m so Excited”) and Alberto Garcia (“Che”).
It was first announced in late 2019 as a Buena Vista Original Productions title produced with Bossi’s Pampa Films (“Chinese Takeaway”). It follows on their highly successful collaboration on “Monzón,” which raised the bar on production standards in Latin America.
“The Roar of the Butterflies” now also marks...
- 5/14/2021
- by Jamie Lang and Pablo Sandoval
- Variety Film + TV
Boosting one of the key upcoming titles coming out of Latin America, renowned Haitian-American actor-producer Jimmy Jean-Louis, also an increasing driving force on the Latin American and African production scene, is coming on board to executive produce director José María Cabral’s historic drama “Parsley” (“Perejil”).
In parallel news, New York-based Visit Films is handling world sales rights on the feature, which is set during the 1937 Parsley Massacre, when Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo ordered the execution of Haitian families and Dominicans of Haitian descent on the country’s frontier with Haiti.
With Cabral in post-production on his next film, the Latido-sold “Hotel Coppelia,” again for Lantica Media, Visit Films will initiate a fall festival campaign for “Parsley.”
“Parsley’s” true-event background is shocking, and little known. “ ‘Parsley’ is a story about human tragedy where race takes the center stage and represents a part of history that needs to be told,...
In parallel news, New York-based Visit Films is handling world sales rights on the feature, which is set during the 1937 Parsley Massacre, when Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo ordered the execution of Haitian families and Dominicans of Haitian descent on the country’s frontier with Haiti.
With Cabral in post-production on his next film, the Latido-sold “Hotel Coppelia,” again for Lantica Media, Visit Films will initiate a fall festival campaign for “Parsley.”
“Parsley’s” true-event background is shocking, and little known. “ ‘Parsley’ is a story about human tragedy where race takes the center stage and represents a part of history that needs to be told,...
- 3/10/2021
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Miami Dade College’s Miami Film Festival announced its shortlist of international feature film submissions that will screen during its 10-day hybrid event, with virtual and in-theater presentations, March 5-14. This year’s festival will present films from Academy Award-winning director Fernando Trueba and Oscar-nominated filmmakers Agnieszka Holland and Majid Majidi, among others.
For his performance in bringing a national hero to life, the festival will present a precious gem award to the star of “El Olvido Que Seremos,” Javier Cámara, prior to the film’s U.S. premiere. The festival’s signature award, the precious gem award honors the top stars of films whose one-of-a-kind performances are unforgettable. Cámara’s career accomplishments include a Goya award for “Living Is Easy With Eyes Closed” and acclaimed performances in HBO’s “The Young Pope” and Netflix’s “Narcos,” as well as starring roles in Pedro Almodóvar’s films “Talk to Her,...
For his performance in bringing a national hero to life, the festival will present a precious gem award to the star of “El Olvido Que Seremos,” Javier Cámara, prior to the film’s U.S. premiere. The festival’s signature award, the precious gem award honors the top stars of films whose one-of-a-kind performances are unforgettable. Cámara’s career accomplishments include a Goya award for “Living Is Easy With Eyes Closed” and acclaimed performances in HBO’s “The Young Pope” and Netflix’s “Narcos,” as well as starring roles in Pedro Almodóvar’s films “Talk to Her,...
- 1/27/2021
- by Natalie Oganesyan
- Variety Film + TV
Buena Vista Original Productions is re-teaming with Argentina’s Pampa Films (“Chinese Takeaway”) on “Mariposas,” a new Bvop original series set in 1950s Dominican Republic, under Rafael Trujillo’s dictatorship, arguably the most bloody and extreme of any in recent Latin American history.
The true events-inspired 13-episode fiction series, which has just initiated production, reunites Buena Vista Original Productions and Pampa, who collaborated on “Monzón,” a portrait of Argentine boxing legend Carlos Monzón, which Turner Latin America’s Space opened on June 17 to record ratings in Argentina. It went on to win best series at November’s Produ Awards in Mip Cancun.
Rather than straight womb-to-tomb bio, “Monzón” focused on the boxer’s arrest and trial, accused of murdering wife Alicia Muniz, working back and forth in time to reveal his near Shakespearian tragic flaw, his uncontrollable violence, which explains his brilliance as a boxer and also Muñiz’s murder.
The true events-inspired 13-episode fiction series, which has just initiated production, reunites Buena Vista Original Productions and Pampa, who collaborated on “Monzón,” a portrait of Argentine boxing legend Carlos Monzón, which Turner Latin America’s Space opened on June 17 to record ratings in Argentina. It went on to win best series at November’s Produ Awards in Mip Cancun.
Rather than straight womb-to-tomb bio, “Monzón” focused on the boxer’s arrest and trial, accused of murdering wife Alicia Muniz, working back and forth in time to reveal his near Shakespearian tragic flaw, his uncontrollable violence, which explains his brilliance as a boxer and also Muñiz’s murder.
- 12/18/2019
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Fred Zinnemann’s counter-assassination thriller remains topflight filmmaking, torn from reality and shot through with an unsentimental dose of political realism. Edward Fox’s implacable killer outwits the combined resources of an entire nation as he stalks his prey, and when bad luck forces him to improvise, he racks up more victims on his kill list. Step aside Bond, Bourne and Marvel — the original Jackal is the man to beat.
The Day of the Jackal
Blu-ray
Arrow Video USA
1973 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 143 min. / Street Date September 25, 2018 / Available from Arrow Video / 39.95
Starring: Edward Fox, Michel Lonsdale, Delphine Seyrig, Cyril Cusack, Eric Porter, Tony Britton, Alan Badel, Michel Auclair, Tony Britton, Maurice Denham, Vernon Dobtcheff, Olga Georges-Picot, Timothy West, Derek Jacobi, Jean Martin, Ronald Pickup, Jean Sorel, Philippe Léotard, Jean Champion, Michel Subor, Howard Vernon.
Cinematography: Jean Tournier
Film Editor: Ralph Kemplen
Second Unit Director: Andrew Marton
Original Music: Georges Delerue
Written...
The Day of the Jackal
Blu-ray
Arrow Video USA
1973 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 143 min. / Street Date September 25, 2018 / Available from Arrow Video / 39.95
Starring: Edward Fox, Michel Lonsdale, Delphine Seyrig, Cyril Cusack, Eric Porter, Tony Britton, Alan Badel, Michel Auclair, Tony Britton, Maurice Denham, Vernon Dobtcheff, Olga Georges-Picot, Timothy West, Derek Jacobi, Jean Martin, Ronald Pickup, Jean Sorel, Philippe Léotard, Jean Champion, Michel Subor, Howard Vernon.
Cinematography: Jean Tournier
Film Editor: Ralph Kemplen
Second Unit Director: Andrew Marton
Original Music: Georges Delerue
Written...
- 9/18/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
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