Rodrigo Reyes’s “Sansón and Me” and Bernardo Ruiz’s” El Equipo” are among PBS’ Award-winning docuseries Independent Lens’ fall slate of documentary films. The portfolio of documentaries will showcase the stories of marginalized communities, with coverage surrounding timely topics including immigration, incarceration, human rights, the Muslim American experience and religious freedom, Itvs announced Tuesday.
Reyes’s “Sansón and Me,” which landed the best film award at the 2022 Sheffield DocFest, will kick off Independent Lens’ fall slate on Sept. 19. The documentary is set to spotlight the real story of a young immigrant’s journey (Sansón) from orphaned Mexican child to incarceration. While Sansón is currenting in prison and barred from doing interviews, his family steps in to provide insight on his story.
Following is Ruiz’s” El Equipo,” which will premiere on Oct. 9. The documentary centers on the Nobel Peace Prize-nominated team who investigated Argentina’s “los desaparecidos,” aka “the disappeared,...
Reyes’s “Sansón and Me,” which landed the best film award at the 2022 Sheffield DocFest, will kick off Independent Lens’ fall slate on Sept. 19. The documentary is set to spotlight the real story of a young immigrant’s journey (Sansón) from orphaned Mexican child to incarceration. While Sansón is currenting in prison and barred from doing interviews, his family steps in to provide insight on his story.
Following is Ruiz’s” El Equipo,” which will premiere on Oct. 9. The documentary centers on the Nobel Peace Prize-nominated team who investigated Argentina’s “los desaparecidos,” aka “the disappeared,...
- 9/5/2023
- by McKinley Franklin
- Variety Film + TV
Hot Docs has wrapped its 30th anniversary edition, handing out its top cash prize and announcing the audience top picks after an 11-day festival, which presented 214 films from 72 countries at 308 live screenings at venues across Toronto.
Philippe Falardeau’s “Lac-Mégantic—This Is Not an Accident” topped the overall audience poll to win the 2023 Hot Docs Audience Award. The four-part series from the Oscar-nominated director explores the causes of one of Canada’s worst rail disasters and what’s needed to prevent such accidents in the future.
“Someone Lives Here,” by Zack Russell, won the Rogers Audience Awards for Best Canadian Documentary, which comes with Cdn. $50,000 cash, and also claimed the second-highest spot in the overall audience poll. The film also won the inaugural Bill Nemtin Award for Best Social Impact Documentary, a jury-chosen prize, at the main awards ceremony held Saturday.
“Someone Lives Here”
“Someone” tells the story of Toronto carpenter Khaleel Seivwright,...
Philippe Falardeau’s “Lac-Mégantic—This Is Not an Accident” topped the overall audience poll to win the 2023 Hot Docs Audience Award. The four-part series from the Oscar-nominated director explores the causes of one of Canada’s worst rail disasters and what’s needed to prevent such accidents in the future.
“Someone Lives Here,” by Zack Russell, won the Rogers Audience Awards for Best Canadian Documentary, which comes with Cdn. $50,000 cash, and also claimed the second-highest spot in the overall audience poll. The film also won the inaugural Bill Nemtin Award for Best Social Impact Documentary, a jury-chosen prize, at the main awards ceremony held Saturday.
“Someone Lives Here”
“Someone” tells the story of Toronto carpenter Khaleel Seivwright,...
- 5/8/2023
- by Jennie Punter
- Variety Film + TV
Toronto’s Hot Docs, North America’s largest documentary festival, has added 12 films to its Special Presentations program. The first tranche of titles was announced March 14. The festival runs April 27 to May 7.
World premieres include Canadian journalist Michelle Shephard’s “The Man Who Stole Einstein’s Brain,” the uncovering of the story behind the pathologist who stole the genius’ brain in 1955; “The Rise of Wagner,” a chilling exposé on the collusion between Wagner Group mercenaries and the Kremlin, which has resulted in secret killings and countless human rights violations; “We Are Guardians,” the story of the Indigenous guardians of the Brazilian Amazon, struggling to protect their territories from the ravages of extractive industries, deforestation, corrupt politicians and profit hungry global corporations; “Who’s Afraid of Nathan Law?,” a chronicle of dissident Hong Kong politician and activist Nathan Law’s fight for democracy; and director Barry Avrich’s “Without Precedent: The Supreme Life of Rosalie Abella,...
World premieres include Canadian journalist Michelle Shephard’s “The Man Who Stole Einstein’s Brain,” the uncovering of the story behind the pathologist who stole the genius’ brain in 1955; “The Rise of Wagner,” a chilling exposé on the collusion between Wagner Group mercenaries and the Kremlin, which has resulted in secret killings and countless human rights violations; “We Are Guardians,” the story of the Indigenous guardians of the Brazilian Amazon, struggling to protect their territories from the ravages of extractive industries, deforestation, corrupt politicians and profit hungry global corporations; “Who’s Afraid of Nathan Law?,” a chronicle of dissident Hong Kong politician and activist Nathan Law’s fight for democracy; and director Barry Avrich’s “Without Precedent: The Supreme Life of Rosalie Abella,...
- 3/21/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival announced plans Wednesday for 52 world premieres and 78 U.S. premieres spanning a total of 43 countries throughout the 11-day event.
“At a time where there’s a dwindling of movie theater attendance, the role of film festivals has never been more important,” said Sbiff executive director Roger Durling. “At Sbiff, with the 38th edition, our marching orders are clear, to celebrate movies and to nurture and exalt the film community, the artists as well as the cinephiles. It’s a great slate with 43 countries represented.”
The festival starts Feb. 8 with the world premiere of “Miranda’s Victim” from director-producer Michelle Danner. The period piece is set in the year 1963 and documents the true story of Patricia “Trish” Weir (Abigal Breslin), who attempts to put her abuser behind bars after being kidnapped and sexually assaulted at 18 years old.
Director Chandler Levack’s “I Like Movies” will...
“At a time where there’s a dwindling of movie theater attendance, the role of film festivals has never been more important,” said Sbiff executive director Roger Durling. “At Sbiff, with the 38th edition, our marching orders are clear, to celebrate movies and to nurture and exalt the film community, the artists as well as the cinephiles. It’s a great slate with 43 countries represented.”
The festival starts Feb. 8 with the world premiere of “Miranda’s Victim” from director-producer Michelle Danner. The period piece is set in the year 1963 and documents the true story of Patricia “Trish” Weir (Abigal Breslin), who attempts to put her abuser behind bars after being kidnapped and sexually assaulted at 18 years old.
Director Chandler Levack’s “I Like Movies” will...
- 1/18/2023
- by Katie Reul
- Variety Film + TV
The 38th edition of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, which will run Feb. 8-18, will open with Miranda’s Victim, one of 52 world premieres in this year’s lineup, and will close with the U.S. premiere of I Like Movies, one of 78 U.S. premieres, the fest announced Wednesday.
These are, of course, in addition to a slew of the career-retrospective tributes for which the fest is famous, which this year will celebrate the likes of Cate Blanchett, Brendan Fraser, Angela Bassett, Jamie Lee Curtis, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, as well as panels with breakthrough artists, artisans, directors, writers, producers, female creatives and international filmmakers.
The fest will also offer a variety of free educational programs, including Mike’s Field Trip to the Movies (for 4,000-plus fourth through sixth grade students from low-income schools throughout Santa Barbara County), which this year will feature a screening of Guillermo del Toro...
These are, of course, in addition to a slew of the career-retrospective tributes for which the fest is famous, which this year will celebrate the likes of Cate Blanchett, Brendan Fraser, Angela Bassett, Jamie Lee Curtis, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, as well as panels with breakthrough artists, artisans, directors, writers, producers, female creatives and international filmmakers.
The fest will also offer a variety of free educational programs, including Mike’s Field Trip to the Movies (for 4,000-plus fourth through sixth grade students from low-income schools throughout Santa Barbara County), which this year will feature a screening of Guillermo del Toro...
- 1/18/2023
- by Scott Feinberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Santa Barbara Film Festival To Open With Abigail Breslin Drama ‘Miranda’s Victim’ As Full Lineup Set
The Santa Barbara Film Festival has today unveiled the lineup for its 38th edition, taking place in-person from February 8-18.
The festival will open with the world premiere of the courtroom drama Miranda’s Victim, from director Michelle Danner. Pic tells the true story of Trish Weir (Abigail Breslin), who in 1963 was kidnapped and brutally raped by Ernesto Miranda. Committed to putting her assailant in prison, Trish’s life is destroyed by America’s legal system as she triggers a law that transforms the nation. Ryan Phillippe, Luke Wilson, Donald Sutherland, Mireille Enos, Andy Garcia and more also star.
Closing out Sbiff 2023 is the Chandler Levack-directed I Like Movies, which makes its U.S. premiere. The film starring Isaiah Lehtinen, Romina D’Ugo, Krista Bridges and Percy Hynes White follows the socially inept, 17-year-old cinephile Lawrence (Lehtinen) as he gets a job at a video store, there forming a complicated...
The festival will open with the world premiere of the courtroom drama Miranda’s Victim, from director Michelle Danner. Pic tells the true story of Trish Weir (Abigail Breslin), who in 1963 was kidnapped and brutally raped by Ernesto Miranda. Committed to putting her assailant in prison, Trish’s life is destroyed by America’s legal system as she triggers a law that transforms the nation. Ryan Phillippe, Luke Wilson, Donald Sutherland, Mireille Enos, Andy Garcia and more also star.
Closing out Sbiff 2023 is the Chandler Levack-directed I Like Movies, which makes its U.S. premiere. The film starring Isaiah Lehtinen, Romina D’Ugo, Krista Bridges and Percy Hynes White follows the socially inept, 17-year-old cinephile Lawrence (Lehtinen) as he gets a job at a video store, there forming a complicated...
- 1/18/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Brie Larson was driving when she had an epiphany about her self-worth. The realization led her down a path to creating (along with Culture House) the upcoming Disney+ hybrid docuseries “Growing Up,” which traces the coming-of-age stories and growing pains of 10 fledgling adults.
“I realized that I was living with shame about who I was, and I was noticing how I was presenting myself in the world — either shielding certain parts of myself and living in fear — and I was like, if I’m feeling this way, other people must feel this way,” the actress said during a Disney+ virtual panel at the Television Critics Association summer press tour.
The series — which will premiere Sept. 8 on Disney+ Day — uses narrative, experimental and documentary filmmaking to follow one casted individual, a “hero” ages 18-22, as they tell their story. Representing a wide breadth of lived experiences, each half-hour episode — directed by the likes of Yara Shahidi,...
“I realized that I was living with shame about who I was, and I was noticing how I was presenting myself in the world — either shielding certain parts of myself and living in fear — and I was like, if I’m feeling this way, other people must feel this way,” the actress said during a Disney+ virtual panel at the Television Critics Association summer press tour.
The series — which will premiere Sept. 8 on Disney+ Day — uses narrative, experimental and documentary filmmaking to follow one casted individual, a “hero” ages 18-22, as they tell their story. Representing a wide breadth of lived experiences, each half-hour episode — directed by the likes of Yara Shahidi,...
- 8/3/2022
- by Natalie Oganesyan
- The Wrap
Marvel stars Brie Larson and Jeremy Renner are moving in to the unscripted space.
Disney+ has ordered two non-scripted series exec produced by the Avengers: Endgame stars.
Larson is exec producing Growing Up, a series about adolescence, while Renner is behind Rennervations.
Growing Up is a hybrid docu-series that explores the challenges, triumphs, and complexities of adolescence through ten compelling coming of age stories.
The series uses narrative, experimental, and documentary filmmaking to follow one casted individual, ages 18-22, as they tell their story. They represent a wide range of lived experiences with narratives that offer a look at teenage-hood and the diverse social, familial, and internal obstacles young people face on their path to self-discovery and acceptance.
Each 30-minute episode features one young person and their experience growing up.
It comes from Culture House, the production company OWN on Onyx’s The Hair Tales.
Larson will exec produce and direct and episode.
Disney+ has ordered two non-scripted series exec produced by the Avengers: Endgame stars.
Larson is exec producing Growing Up, a series about adolescence, while Renner is behind Rennervations.
Growing Up is a hybrid docu-series that explores the challenges, triumphs, and complexities of adolescence through ten compelling coming of age stories.
The series uses narrative, experimental, and documentary filmmaking to follow one casted individual, ages 18-22, as they tell their story. They represent a wide range of lived experiences with narratives that offer a look at teenage-hood and the diverse social, familial, and internal obstacles young people face on their path to self-discovery and acceptance.
Each 30-minute episode features one young person and their experience growing up.
It comes from Culture House, the production company OWN on Onyx’s The Hair Tales.
Larson will exec produce and direct and episode.
- 2/7/2022
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Disney Plus has ordered two unscripted series from actors in the Marvel universe: Brie Larson is behind “Growing Up,” a docuseries that looks at ten different coming-of-age tales. “Rennervations,” from Jeremy Renner, is a four-part series that follows Renner as he travels to world to help communities by “reimagining unique purpose-built vehicles.”
The news was announced on Monday by Disney Branded Television president Ayo Davis, along with new development for Disney Plus, Disney Channel and Disney Junior. Davis revealed the news during the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour. It was the first TCA presentation by Davis, who took over the job in September.
“Growing Up” will feature episodes directed by Larson, Yara Shahidi, Sydney Freeland, Elegance Bratton, Ashley Eakin, Ekwa Msangi, Smriti Mundhra, Rudy Valdez, Bernardo Ruiz, Kishori Rajan and Nicole Galovski “The series uses narrative, experimental, and documentary filmmaking to follow one casted individual, ages 18-22, as they tell their story,...
The news was announced on Monday by Disney Branded Television president Ayo Davis, along with new development for Disney Plus, Disney Channel and Disney Junior. Davis revealed the news during the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour. It was the first TCA presentation by Davis, who took over the job in September.
“Growing Up” will feature episodes directed by Larson, Yara Shahidi, Sydney Freeland, Elegance Bratton, Ashley Eakin, Ekwa Msangi, Smriti Mundhra, Rudy Valdez, Bernardo Ruiz, Kishori Rajan and Nicole Galovski “The series uses narrative, experimental, and documentary filmmaking to follow one casted individual, ages 18-22, as they tell their story,...
- 2/7/2022
- by Michael Schneider
- Variety Film + TV
Eva Longoria Bastón wasn’t necessarily looking to direct a boxing documentary as her next project until, that is, Oscar De la Hoya approached with an interesting take. The end result: “La Guerra Civil.”
“It was all serendipitous. I’ve known Oscar for 25 years; we’ve been friends for an eternity,” Longoria Bastón tells Sharon Waxman at TheWrap’s Sundance Studio.
“He said, ‘Hey, you know, there’s this 25th anniversary of this epic fight that happened. We want to do a documentary about it. You want to do it?” Longoria Bastón remembered. “I was like, ‘Uh… I don’t… I don’t want to do, like, a boxing doc.”
But Longoria Bastón’s “La Guerra Civil” is no ordinary boxing documentary. The film grapples with the legacies of two boxing greats, Oscar De La Hoya and Julio César Chávez, and how their respective backgrounds sparked a cultural divide over...
“It was all serendipitous. I’ve known Oscar for 25 years; we’ve been friends for an eternity,” Longoria Bastón tells Sharon Waxman at TheWrap’s Sundance Studio.
“He said, ‘Hey, you know, there’s this 25th anniversary of this epic fight that happened. We want to do a documentary about it. You want to do it?” Longoria Bastón remembered. “I was like, ‘Uh… I don’t… I don’t want to do, like, a boxing doc.”
But Longoria Bastón’s “La Guerra Civil” is no ordinary boxing documentary. The film grapples with the legacies of two boxing greats, Oscar De La Hoya and Julio César Chávez, and how their respective backgrounds sparked a cultural divide over...
- 1/22/2022
- by Umberto Gonzalez
- The Wrap
Global streaming sports platform Dazn and Brazilian soccer legend Ronaldo have closed a multi-project development deal kicking off with “El Presidente,” a docu-series chronicling the former striker’s tenure as part owner of Spanish club Valladolid Fc, which will launch globally on May 20.
Best known for its live sports streams and the headaches it initially caused pay TV broadcasters when it crashed in on the scene in 2015, Dazn is now establishing itself as a platform for high-end sports-based entertainment programming and a service worth keeping during the off-season.
“What this shows you is a commitment to going beyond live sports and making Dazn a designer destination that keeps fans coming back,” senior VP of creative studios and publishing Hugh Sleight explained to Variety in an exclusive interview accompanying Wednesday’s announcement.
Produced by Zoom Sport and Dazn, “El Presidente” is the first of three series the streamer will commission featuring Ronaldo.
Best known for its live sports streams and the headaches it initially caused pay TV broadcasters when it crashed in on the scene in 2015, Dazn is now establishing itself as a platform for high-end sports-based entertainment programming and a service worth keeping during the off-season.
“What this shows you is a commitment to going beyond live sports and making Dazn a designer destination that keeps fans coming back,” senior VP of creative studios and publishing Hugh Sleight explained to Variety in an exclusive interview accompanying Wednesday’s announcement.
Produced by Zoom Sport and Dazn, “El Presidente” is the first of three series the streamer will commission featuring Ronaldo.
- 5/5/2021
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
PBS, already known for its incisive examinations of current events, has been knee-deep in conversations on how to make the network even more reflective of the times. “We are at such an extraordinary moment in this country,” said Sylvia Bugg, Chief Programming Executive for PBS, during the network’s Winter Press Tour TCA panel on Tuesday. In terms of upcoming programming, PBS is looking at a range of different topics — from the climate to democracy — and, most importantly, they’re hoping to expand out to more diverse storytellers.
PBS announced an open call for submissions for long and short form films by content creators. According to the network: “This initiative will further amplify the voices of diverse/Bipoc producers across public media, inviting submissions that explore a broad range of experiences, perspectives and points of view.” The network will be launching a call on March 1st for the “next generation of filmmakers,...
PBS announced an open call for submissions for long and short form films by content creators. According to the network: “This initiative will further amplify the voices of diverse/Bipoc producers across public media, inviting submissions that explore a broad range of experiences, perspectives and points of view.” The network will be launching a call on March 1st for the “next generation of filmmakers,...
- 2/2/2021
- by Kristen Lopez
- Indiewire
Exclusive: Libby Geist, one of the architects of ESPN’s growing documentary business and exec producer of The Last Dance and O.J: Made In America, is leaving the Disney-owned sports network.
Deadline understands that Geist, who is Vice President and Executive Producer, ESPN Films and Original Content, will work through to the end of 2020. It is understood that her departure is not connected to the recent layoffs introduced by the company and that she is leaving to move closer to production.
She is the latest top-level exec set to leave ESPN and comes after it emerged that content chief Connor Schell is leaving the company in the new year to set up his own production company.
Geist has been with ESPN for 12 years in a variety of roles. She has worked on more than 120 feature-length projects in various capacities and has overseen the docs department since 2016.
She has overseen development,...
Deadline understands that Geist, who is Vice President and Executive Producer, ESPN Films and Original Content, will work through to the end of 2020. It is understood that her departure is not connected to the recent layoffs introduced by the company and that she is leaving to move closer to production.
She is the latest top-level exec set to leave ESPN and comes after it emerged that content chief Connor Schell is leaving the company in the new year to set up his own production company.
Geist has been with ESPN for 12 years in a variety of roles. She has worked on more than 120 feature-length projects in various capacities and has overseen the docs department since 2016.
She has overseen development,...
- 11/16/2020
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
In the opening minutes of Harvest Season, the latest documentary from filmmaker Bernardo Ruiz, glistening bunches of plump grapes await their fate in a hushed vineyard at night. In a sudden rush of activity, workers wearing headlamps scurry by, slicing the clusters from their vines with swift precision, tossing them into bins, emptying the bins into big tubs. Lyical shots follow of vintners, coopers, forklift operators and pickers, all moving with focused intensity or simply facing the camera, heads high.
The setting is Napa Valley, the most famed and highfalutin...
The setting is Napa Valley, the most famed and highfalutin...
- 6/6/2019
- by Maria Fontoura
- Rollingstone.com
Rolling Stone will explore the incredible rise and fall of drug kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzman in USA v. Chapo: The Drug War Goes on Trial, which premieres March 11th on Facebook Watch. The five part film, directed Bernardo Ruiz of Jigsaw Productions, is available via the show’s Facebook page. New episodes will be posted every Monday after the premiere.
“Since the publication of ‘El Chapo Speaks’ in Rolling Stone in early 2016, the saga of El Chapo has continued to evolve and capture the attention of a huge audience,...
“Since the publication of ‘El Chapo Speaks’ in Rolling Stone in early 2016, the saga of El Chapo has continued to evolve and capture the attention of a huge audience,...
- 2/28/2019
- by Rolling Stone
- Rollingstone.com
Rolling Stone will premiere a documentary series on the infamous rise and takedown of the world’s most elusive drug kingpin, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera.
Five-episode USA v. Chapo: The Drug War Goes on Trial, directed by Bernardo Ruiz, from Rolling Stone and Jigsaw Productions, also gives viewers a behind-the-scenes look at how Rolling Stone and Sean Penn came together to publish that needle-moving El Chapo interview.
USA v. Chapo will premiere on March 11 exclusively on Facebook Watch. New episodes will be available every Monday on the show page.
The docu follows El Chapo’s horrific crimes and cinematic prison breaks from the early ‘90s to the recent conviction in the U.S. Featured are interviews with the DEA agents who tracked him down, El Chapo’s defense attorneys in Mexico and the U.S., former Mexico President Felipe Calderón, Rolling Stone Editor Jason Fine and veteran investigative journalists...
Five-episode USA v. Chapo: The Drug War Goes on Trial, directed by Bernardo Ruiz, from Rolling Stone and Jigsaw Productions, also gives viewers a behind-the-scenes look at how Rolling Stone and Sean Penn came together to publish that needle-moving El Chapo interview.
USA v. Chapo will premiere on March 11 exclusively on Facebook Watch. New episodes will be available every Monday on the show page.
The docu follows El Chapo’s horrific crimes and cinematic prison breaks from the early ‘90s to the recent conviction in the U.S. Featured are interviews with the DEA agents who tracked him down, El Chapo’s defense attorneys in Mexico and the U.S., former Mexico President Felipe Calderón, Rolling Stone Editor Jason Fine and veteran investigative journalists...
- 2/28/2019
- by Lisa de Moraes and Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
Diane Weyermann.
Diane Weyermann, president of documentary film and television at Participant Media, will be among the headline speakers at Aidc 2019 as the event shines a light on international co-production and co-financing.
Weyermann will be joined on the ‘Working with the USA’ session by Elliott Whitton, head of development at New York-based not-for-profit film funder Cinereach, Marie Nelson, PBS VP, news and independent film, and Ranell Shubert, the International Documentary Association’s education programs manager.
Participant’s documentary slate includes Morgan Neville’s The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble, Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Look of Silence, Marc Silver’s 3 1/2 Minutes, Ten Bullets, Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville’s Best of Enemies, Davis Guggenheim’s He Named Me Malala and Bernardo Ruiz’s Kingdom of Shadows.
Among its extensive credits are the Oscar®-winners Citizenfour and An Inconvenient Truth, Emmy®-winning Food, the Emmy®-nominated The...
Diane Weyermann, president of documentary film and television at Participant Media, will be among the headline speakers at Aidc 2019 as the event shines a light on international co-production and co-financing.
Weyermann will be joined on the ‘Working with the USA’ session by Elliott Whitton, head of development at New York-based not-for-profit film funder Cinereach, Marie Nelson, PBS VP, news and independent film, and Ranell Shubert, the International Documentary Association’s education programs manager.
Participant’s documentary slate includes Morgan Neville’s The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble, Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Look of Silence, Marc Silver’s 3 1/2 Minutes, Ten Bullets, Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville’s Best of Enemies, Davis Guggenheim’s He Named Me Malala and Bernardo Ruiz’s Kingdom of Shadows.
Among its extensive credits are the Oscar®-winners Citizenfour and An Inconvenient Truth, Emmy®-winning Food, the Emmy®-nominated The...
- 11/8/2018
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
April 20, 2017 Ida Announces Newly Formed Advisory Committee for Enterprise Documentary Fund to be Comprised of Eighteen Industry Experts
The International Documentary Association (Ida) announced a newly formed Advisory Committee for the Ida Enterprise Documentary Fund comprised of eighteen industry experts. The committee will include, among others, award winning filmmakers Ted Braun, Katy Chevigny, Shayla Harris and Bernardo Ruiz.
Read more...
The International Documentary Association (Ida) announced a newly formed Advisory Committee for the Ida Enterprise Documentary Fund comprised of eighteen industry experts. The committee will include, among others, award winning filmmakers Ted Braun, Katy Chevigny, Shayla Harris and Bernardo Ruiz.
Read more...
- 4/20/2017
- by IDA Editorial Staff
- International Documentary Association
It’s difficult for Mexican documentarians to tackle their country’s drug war. Mexican-born American filmmaker Bernardo Ruiz explored the danger facing Mexican journalists in his 2012 film Reportero. Once, there were rules about who was and wasn’t fair game for targeting in the drug trade. Since 2006, when Mexican President Felipe Calderon ramped up the war on drugs, those standards have seemingly all dissolved. With Kingdom of Shadows, Ruiz returns to the drug war, this time with a scope that’s simultaneously more personal and wider-reaching.
The movie is split mainly into three story threads. In Monterrey, site of some of the harshest turf battles between the cartels, Sister Consuelo Morales runs an organization which advocates for the families of people who have disappeared. More than 23,000 such cases exist in Mexico — a former Hrc employee points out that historically, this had once only happened under repressive authoritarian regimes. At the...
The movie is split mainly into three story threads. In Monterrey, site of some of the harshest turf battles between the cartels, Sister Consuelo Morales runs an organization which advocates for the families of people who have disappeared. More than 23,000 such cases exist in Mexico — a former Hrc employee points out that historically, this had once only happened under repressive authoritarian regimes. At the...
- 11/19/2015
- by Daniel Schindel
- The Film Stage
The new documentary Kingdom Of Shadows examines the crisis in Mexico as a result of the drug war with thousands of innocent victims missing or killed by the drug cartel. One of the subjects of the bilingual documentary, directed by Bernardo Ruiz, is Homeland Security Officer Oscar Hagelsieb. He tells CineMovie the legalization of marijuana is not the answer to the drug war. Instead, the border agent says it will escalate the violence among the drug cartels. Watch what he had to say along with director Bernando Ruiz.
- 11/15/2015
- by info@cinemovie.tv (Super User)
- CineMovie
Amy Schumer and Bill Hader in TrainwreckPhoto: Universal Pictures With Sundance just wrapping up and Berlin starting up in a few days, we are now immersed in the year-long barrage of film festivals. One such festival in South By Southwest. A few weeks back they announced the first seven films of their program, including the opening night film Brand: A Second Coming. Today, they have revealed the rest of the features to be shown in March (except for the midnight program), and some of it has me very excited. The bigger titles announced do not do much for me. Paul Feig's Spy, starring Melissa McCarthy, and the Will Ferrell/Kevin Hart starrer Get Hard leave a lot to be desired in terms of anticipation, as does a work in progress cut of Judd Apatow's latest film Trainwreck. I'm guessing an Apatow work in progress is probably around three and a half hours.
- 2/3/2015
- by Mike Shutt
- Rope of Silicon
South by Southwest, the multi-faceted film, music and technology festival held annually in Austin, TX will feature such upcoming films as Paul Feig’s Spy, David Gordon Green’s Manglehorn, Alex Gibney’s documentary Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine, and Ondi Timoner’s Russell Brand profile Brand: A Second Coming as headliners in this year’s film festival lineup.
SXSW runs from March 13 to 21 in Austin and is now in its 22nd year. Variety has details of the 145 films and 100 world premieres bowing at this year’s festival. Brand, as previously reported, will be the festival’s opening night film.
Other notable titles on the list are the Will Ferrell/Kevin Hart comedy Get Hard, a rough cut of Judd Apatow’s Trainwreck, the directorial debut of 28 Days Later screenwriter Alex Garland, Ex Machina, and a new comedy by Michael Showalter, Hello, My Name is Doris.
On the small screen,...
SXSW runs from March 13 to 21 in Austin and is now in its 22nd year. Variety has details of the 145 films and 100 world premieres bowing at this year’s festival. Brand, as previously reported, will be the festival’s opening night film.
Other notable titles on the list are the Will Ferrell/Kevin Hart comedy Get Hard, a rough cut of Judd Apatow’s Trainwreck, the directorial debut of 28 Days Later screenwriter Alex Garland, Ex Machina, and a new comedy by Michael Showalter, Hello, My Name is Doris.
On the small screen,...
- 2/3/2015
- by Brian Welk
- SoundOnSight
Diego Luna to Participate in the Ambulan-thon!: A Google Hangout Version of the Ambulante Experience
With 72 hours to go on Kickstarter, Ambulante California will host a monumental Google Hangout that will include an incredible line-up of guest speakers. Filmmakers, festival programmers, and other renown industry personalities will share their excitement for the traveling documentary film festival in unique ways, aiming to inform people what this great event will entail and hopefully inspire them to support its crowd-funding campaign. This great undertaking by the Ambulante team and friends will bring the festival experience to everyone that joins keeping in line with Ambulante's idea of connecting with audiences in innovative ways unbound by traditional spaces.
Tune in Monday July 14th from 9:00 Am to 9:00 Pm to learn how to start a revolution, how to make a movie, how to get that movie seen, breaking news, live musical sets, how to make delicious guacamole, a reading from 100 Years of Solitude, loteria cards, and many more fun an engaging activities in an effort to connect the festival and the film community with those who really have the power to enrich the project: the audience. It doesn’t get more immersive than this.
As if this is not enough, Ambulante’s very own Diego Luna will participate in this epic telethon, which will be helmed by Ambulante California’s Christine Davila. After the event’s conclusion the organizers and some of the guests will head over to “El Chavo” in Los Feliz for drinks to transform the virtual hang a real shindig. If you are in Los Angeles this is also a great chance to connect face to face with the team, and to witness first hand the outstanding community spirit of Ambulante.
You don’t have to wait till Monday. You can become a backer now: Ambulante California’s Kickstarter
The Hangout will take place in two parts (First part: 9:00 Am to 5:00 P/ Second part: 5:30 Pm to 9:00 Pm). You can RSVP Here
You can also click here for the Facebook Invite for the Google Hangout event
Here is the list of confirmed guests:
Master of Ceremonies and your host: Christine Davila, director of Ambulante California
Diego Luna - co-founder Ambulante
Elena Fortes - co-founder Ambulante
Richard Ray Perez - dir. of "Cesar's Last Fast"
Ondi Timoner - multi-media artist (We Live In Public)
Joe Beyer - Sundance Artist Services
Bernardo Ruiz - dir. "Reportero"
Tin Dirdamal - dir. of "Rivers of Men"
Viviana Franco - Executive Director of From Lot to Spot
Jehane Noujaim & Karim Amer dir. "The Square"
Gloria Moran - dir. "The Unique Ladies"
Basil Tsiokas - doc guru (WhatNotToDoc)
Tatiana Tensen- artist and bon vivant
Dilcia Barrera - Lacma programmer
Maggie McKay - La Film Festival
Yolanda Cruz dir. "Reencuentros: 2501 Migrantes"
Issa Rodrigues - East La Community Corporation
Ryan Murdock dir. "Bronx Obama"
Julianna Brannum dir. "Ladonna Harris"
Ron Najor - producer of "Short Term 12" and "I am Not a Hipster"...
Tune in Monday July 14th from 9:00 Am to 9:00 Pm to learn how to start a revolution, how to make a movie, how to get that movie seen, breaking news, live musical sets, how to make delicious guacamole, a reading from 100 Years of Solitude, loteria cards, and many more fun an engaging activities in an effort to connect the festival and the film community with those who really have the power to enrich the project: the audience. It doesn’t get more immersive than this.
As if this is not enough, Ambulante’s very own Diego Luna will participate in this epic telethon, which will be helmed by Ambulante California’s Christine Davila. After the event’s conclusion the organizers and some of the guests will head over to “El Chavo” in Los Feliz for drinks to transform the virtual hang a real shindig. If you are in Los Angeles this is also a great chance to connect face to face with the team, and to witness first hand the outstanding community spirit of Ambulante.
You don’t have to wait till Monday. You can become a backer now: Ambulante California’s Kickstarter
The Hangout will take place in two parts (First part: 9:00 Am to 5:00 P/ Second part: 5:30 Pm to 9:00 Pm). You can RSVP Here
You can also click here for the Facebook Invite for the Google Hangout event
Here is the list of confirmed guests:
Master of Ceremonies and your host: Christine Davila, director of Ambulante California
Diego Luna - co-founder Ambulante
Elena Fortes - co-founder Ambulante
Richard Ray Perez - dir. of "Cesar's Last Fast"
Ondi Timoner - multi-media artist (We Live In Public)
Joe Beyer - Sundance Artist Services
Bernardo Ruiz - dir. "Reportero"
Tin Dirdamal - dir. of "Rivers of Men"
Viviana Franco - Executive Director of From Lot to Spot
Jehane Noujaim & Karim Amer dir. "The Square"
Gloria Moran - dir. "The Unique Ladies"
Basil Tsiokas - doc guru (WhatNotToDoc)
Tatiana Tensen- artist and bon vivant
Dilcia Barrera - Lacma programmer
Maggie McKay - La Film Festival
Yolanda Cruz dir. "Reencuentros: 2501 Migrantes"
Issa Rodrigues - East La Community Corporation
Ryan Murdock dir. "Bronx Obama"
Julianna Brannum dir. "Ladonna Harris"
Ron Najor - producer of "Short Term 12" and "I am Not a Hipster"...
- 7/13/2014
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
As the leading presenter of Latin American Cinema in the U.S. Cinema Tropical advocates for the Latino filmmaking community and honors their achievements. Cinema Tropical Awards now in its fourth edition have announced this year's nominees
The winners of the 4th Annual Cinema Tropical Awards will be announced at a special event at The New York Times Company headquarters in New York City in late January, 2014.
The nominees for this year’s Cinema Tropical Awards were selected by a nine-member jury panel from a list of Latin American and U.S. Latino feature films of a minimum of 60 minutes in length that were premiered between April 1, 2012 and March 31, 2013 (January 1, 2012 and March 31, 2013, for U.S. Latino productions). The list was culled by a nominating committee composed of 17 film professionals from Latin America, the U.S., Canada, and Europe.
The Cinema Tropical Awards are presented in partnership with Voces, Latino Heritage Network of The New York Times Company. Media Sponsors: LatAm Cinema and Remezcla. Special thanks to Mario Díaz, Andrea Betanzos, and Tatiana García.
Best Feature Film
- Gloria (Sebastián Lelio, Chile/Spain, 2013)
- No (Pablo Larraín, Chile/USA/France/Mexico, 2012)
- Post Tenebras Lux (Carlos Reygadas, Mexico/France/Germany/Netherlands, 2012)
- Tanta Agua | So Much Water (Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge, Uruguay/Germany/Mexico, 2013)
- VIolA (Matías Piñeiro, Argentina, 2012)
Best Director, Feature Film
- Sebastián Silva, Crystal Fairy (Chile, 2013)
- Pablo Larraín, No (Chile/USA/France/Mexico, 2012)
- Carlos Reygadas, Post Tenebras Lux (Mexico/ France/ Germany/ Netherlands, 2012)
-Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge, Tanta Agua | So Much Water
(Uruguay/ Germany/ Mexico, 2013)
- Matías Piñeiro, Viola (Argentina, 2012)
Best Documentary Film
- El Alcalde | The Mayor (Emiliano Altuna, Carlos F. Rossini, Diego Osorno, Mexico, 2012)
- La Chica Del Sur | The Girl from the South (José Luis García, Argentina, 2012)
- La Gente Del RÍO | The River People (Martín Benchimol and Pablo Aparo, Argentina, 2012)
- El Huaso (Carlo Guillermo Proto, Chile/Canada, 2012)
- El Otro DÍA | The Other Day (Ignacio Agüero, Chile, 2012)
Best Director, Documentary Film
- José Luis García, La Chica Del Sur | The Girl from the South (Argentina, 2012)
- Priscilla Padilla, La Eterna Noche De Las Doce Lunas | The Eternal Night of the Twelve Moons (Colombia, 2013)
- Martín Benchimol, Pablo Aparo, La Gente Del RÍO | The River People (Argentina, 2012)
- Mercedes Moncada, Palabras MÁGICAS (Para Romper Un Encantamiento) | Magic Words (Breaking a Spell) (Mexico/Guatemala, 2012)
- Ignacio Agüero, El Otro DÍA | The Other Day (Chile, 2012)
Best First Film
- Carne De Perro | Dog Flesh (Fernando Guzzoni, Chile/France/Germany, 2012)
- El Limpiador | The Cleaner (Adrián Saba, Peru, 2012)
- Melaza | Molasses (Carlos Díaz Lechuga, Cuba/France/Panama, 2012)
- Tanta Agua | So Much Water (Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge, Uruguay/Germany/Mexico, 2013)
- Los Salvajes | The Wild Ones (Alejandro Fadel, Argentina, 2012)
Best U.S. Latino Film
- American Promise (Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson, USA, 2013)
- Filly Brown (Youssef Delara and Michael D. Olmos, USA, 2012)
- Mosquita Y Mari (Aurora Guerrero, USA, 2012)
- Reportero (Bernardo Ruiz, USA, 2012)
- Wonder Women! The Untold Story Of American Superheroines (Kristy Guevara-Flanagan, USA, 2012)
2013 Jury:
Chris Allen, founder and director, UnionDocs; Melissa Anderson, film critic, Artforum; Beth Janson, executive director, Tribeca Film Institute; Daniel Loría, overseas editor, BoxOffice; Mike Maggiore, programmer, Film Forum; Paco de Onís, filmmaker; Anita Reher, executive director, Robert Flaherty Film Seminar; Julia Solomonoff, filmmaker; Maria-Christina Villaseñor, film curator and writer.
2013 Nominating Committee:
Cecilia Barrionuevo, programmer, Mar del Plata Film Festival, Argentina; Raúl Camargo, programmer, Valdivia Film Festival, Chile; John Campos Gómez, director, Transcinema Film Festival, Peru; Inti Cordera, director, DocsDF Film Festival, Mexico; Christine Davila, programmer, Sundance, Los Angeles Film Festival, Ambulante USA; Eugenio del Bosque, director, Cine Las Américas, USA; Raciel del Toro, Cinergia, Costa Rica; Vanessa Erazo, film programmer and journalist, indieWIRE/LatinoBuzz, Remezcla, USA; Lisa Franek, programmer, San Diego Latino Film Festival, USA; Robert A. Gomez, film journalist, Cinemathon, Venezuela; Jaie Laplante, director, Miami Film Festival, USA; Agustín Mango, film journalist, Hollywood Reporter, Argentina; Jim Mendiola, programmer, CineFestival, San Antonio, USA; Luis Ortiz, director, Latino Public Broadcasting, USA; Rafael Sampaio, programmer, Sao Paulo Latin American Film Festival, Brazil; Eva Sangiorgi, programmer, Ficunam, Mexico; Gerwin Tamsma, programmer, Rotterdam Film Festival, Netherlands.
The winners of the 4th Annual Cinema Tropical Awards will be announced at a special event at The New York Times Company headquarters in New York City in late January, 2014.
The nominees for this year’s Cinema Tropical Awards were selected by a nine-member jury panel from a list of Latin American and U.S. Latino feature films of a minimum of 60 minutes in length that were premiered between April 1, 2012 and March 31, 2013 (January 1, 2012 and March 31, 2013, for U.S. Latino productions). The list was culled by a nominating committee composed of 17 film professionals from Latin America, the U.S., Canada, and Europe.
The Cinema Tropical Awards are presented in partnership with Voces, Latino Heritage Network of The New York Times Company. Media Sponsors: LatAm Cinema and Remezcla. Special thanks to Mario Díaz, Andrea Betanzos, and Tatiana García.
Best Feature Film
- Gloria (Sebastián Lelio, Chile/Spain, 2013)
- No (Pablo Larraín, Chile/USA/France/Mexico, 2012)
- Post Tenebras Lux (Carlos Reygadas, Mexico/France/Germany/Netherlands, 2012)
- Tanta Agua | So Much Water (Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge, Uruguay/Germany/Mexico, 2013)
- VIolA (Matías Piñeiro, Argentina, 2012)
Best Director, Feature Film
- Sebastián Silva, Crystal Fairy (Chile, 2013)
- Pablo Larraín, No (Chile/USA/France/Mexico, 2012)
- Carlos Reygadas, Post Tenebras Lux (Mexico/ France/ Germany/ Netherlands, 2012)
-Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge, Tanta Agua | So Much Water
(Uruguay/ Germany/ Mexico, 2013)
- Matías Piñeiro, Viola (Argentina, 2012)
Best Documentary Film
- El Alcalde | The Mayor (Emiliano Altuna, Carlos F. Rossini, Diego Osorno, Mexico, 2012)
- La Chica Del Sur | The Girl from the South (José Luis García, Argentina, 2012)
- La Gente Del RÍO | The River People (Martín Benchimol and Pablo Aparo, Argentina, 2012)
- El Huaso (Carlo Guillermo Proto, Chile/Canada, 2012)
- El Otro DÍA | The Other Day (Ignacio Agüero, Chile, 2012)
Best Director, Documentary Film
- José Luis García, La Chica Del Sur | The Girl from the South (Argentina, 2012)
- Priscilla Padilla, La Eterna Noche De Las Doce Lunas | The Eternal Night of the Twelve Moons (Colombia, 2013)
- Martín Benchimol, Pablo Aparo, La Gente Del RÍO | The River People (Argentina, 2012)
- Mercedes Moncada, Palabras MÁGICAS (Para Romper Un Encantamiento) | Magic Words (Breaking a Spell) (Mexico/Guatemala, 2012)
- Ignacio Agüero, El Otro DÍA | The Other Day (Chile, 2012)
Best First Film
- Carne De Perro | Dog Flesh (Fernando Guzzoni, Chile/France/Germany, 2012)
- El Limpiador | The Cleaner (Adrián Saba, Peru, 2012)
- Melaza | Molasses (Carlos Díaz Lechuga, Cuba/France/Panama, 2012)
- Tanta Agua | So Much Water (Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge, Uruguay/Germany/Mexico, 2013)
- Los Salvajes | The Wild Ones (Alejandro Fadel, Argentina, 2012)
Best U.S. Latino Film
- American Promise (Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson, USA, 2013)
- Filly Brown (Youssef Delara and Michael D. Olmos, USA, 2012)
- Mosquita Y Mari (Aurora Guerrero, USA, 2012)
- Reportero (Bernardo Ruiz, USA, 2012)
- Wonder Women! The Untold Story Of American Superheroines (Kristy Guevara-Flanagan, USA, 2012)
2013 Jury:
Chris Allen, founder and director, UnionDocs; Melissa Anderson, film critic, Artforum; Beth Janson, executive director, Tribeca Film Institute; Daniel Loría, overseas editor, BoxOffice; Mike Maggiore, programmer, Film Forum; Paco de Onís, filmmaker; Anita Reher, executive director, Robert Flaherty Film Seminar; Julia Solomonoff, filmmaker; Maria-Christina Villaseñor, film curator and writer.
2013 Nominating Committee:
Cecilia Barrionuevo, programmer, Mar del Plata Film Festival, Argentina; Raúl Camargo, programmer, Valdivia Film Festival, Chile; John Campos Gómez, director, Transcinema Film Festival, Peru; Inti Cordera, director, DocsDF Film Festival, Mexico; Christine Davila, programmer, Sundance, Los Angeles Film Festival, Ambulante USA; Eugenio del Bosque, director, Cine Las Américas, USA; Raciel del Toro, Cinergia, Costa Rica; Vanessa Erazo, film programmer and journalist, indieWIRE/LatinoBuzz, Remezcla, USA; Lisa Franek, programmer, San Diego Latino Film Festival, USA; Robert A. Gomez, film journalist, Cinemathon, Venezuela; Jaie Laplante, director, Miami Film Festival, USA; Agustín Mango, film journalist, Hollywood Reporter, Argentina; Jim Mendiola, programmer, CineFestival, San Antonio, USA; Luis Ortiz, director, Latino Public Broadcasting, USA; Rafael Sampaio, programmer, Sao Paulo Latin American Film Festival, Brazil; Eva Sangiorgi, programmer, Ficunam, Mexico; Gerwin Tamsma, programmer, Rotterdam Film Festival, Netherlands.
- 1/8/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Anna Politkovskaya, a fearless Russian journalist, wrote about the horrors she witnessed during Vladimir Putin’s presidency. As a result of her hard hitting reporting she was shot and killed in Moscow in 2006—the identity of the gunman is still unknown. Published posthumously, a collection of her essays bears the title ‘Is Journalism Worth Dying For?’ Bernardo Ruiz, a Mexican-born and U.S. bred documentarian ponders the same question in his film Reportero.
Fighting the drug war has come at a huge cost for Mexico, mostly in lives lost. It is estimated that nearly 60,000 people have died as a result of the clamp down on drug cartels that started under former President Felipe Calderon back in 2006. A number of the drug war related murders include journalists who dared to investigate and report on the cartels. Reportero follows Sergio Haro, a veteran photojournalist for Zeta, a Tijuana-based weekly newspaper. Even in the face of constant death threats Zeta’s reporters refuse to censor themselves and routinely publish the names and photos of drug traffickers and corrupt politicians. The newspaper, from its very inception more than thirty years ago, sought to out Mexico’s government—then controlled by a single political party, the Pri—as crooked, exploitative, and undemocratic.
Zeta began as a project of frustrated journalists who banded together to subvert the government’s monopoly on news. Ruiz recounts, “The paper was started in 1980 by a journalist named Jesús Blancornelas. Blancornelas had been fired from five different papers for his aggressive editorial stance. And so in 1980, he and another reporter decided that they wanted to create a paper for journalists that would not be controlled by the government or deal with government censors. So early on in that process, they decided that they would actually print the newspaper in San Diego, across the border in the United States. And every week they’d truck the newspaper into Mexico. It was a way to defy government censorship because in 1980, paper sales were controlled by the Mexican government. From its birth the paper has always had a very clear, independent streak.” The paper’s editors stubbornly continue to stick to their early mission, crusading against government corruption and organized crime. But, their muckraking journalism continually puts their lives in peril, on a daily basis.
Adela Navarro, co-director of Zeta was recently named as one of Foreign Policy’s Top 100 Global Thinkers. Despite the international recognition, the threats on her life continue. In February of last year, an anonymous call was made to the Zeta headquarters warning that Melvin Gutiérrez Quiroz, an alleged Tijuana drug trafficker had it in for the reporter and her staff. As Ruiz explains, the cadre of reporters at Zeta hope the film will raise the profile of the paper and shield them from further intimidation, “...in the case of Sergio and Adela and the other journalists at Zeta, they feel that a film like this gives them more attention and that attention is added protection. There are some cases in the world where this type of attention would be detrimental to the journalists, but in this case, they were confident that this will bring more attention, greater protections to their work.” Hopefully, the documentary will touch a nerve with American audiences and provide a different view of their southern neighbor.
Ruiz started off making a short film about an entirely different topic but fate nudged him in a different direction. After meeting Sergio, the documentary became about Zeta’s tireless efforts to print what no other paper would dare to. Ruiz saw an opportunity to delve deeper into Mexico’s drug war violence, something that was sorely lacking in the American news media. He says, “...here in the U.S., I was reading headlines or I was seeing these sensational news packages put together on cable. It was just a report of the body count, of the heads in the street, of the blood in the street. And past a certain point there was just no analysis, there was no context. The human side of the story, the human toll of what’s been happening in Mexico was entirely neglected.” Ruiz’s film does exactly the opposite.
At the heart of film is Sergio Haro’s daily life as a journalist. Reportero opens with Haro going about his day, telling stories about the perils of journalism in Mexico as he drives to take pictures of grisly crime scenes. He then recounts how two of Zeta’s staff reporters were gunned down by hired hit men on separate occasions. His pain and anger are palpable when it is revealed that the gunmen were never brought to justice. He sometimes questions himself—the danger, the threats to his life—is journalism really worth dying for? His devotion to his craft is unshakeable. Reportero succeeds at painting a powerful portrait of a man committed to social justice and exposing the truth, no matter the cost.
You can watch Reportero on PBS.org through February 6, 2013. For more information on the film follow on Twitter, like on Facebook, and visit the website.
Written by Juan Caceres and Vanessa Erazo, LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature on SydneysBuzz that highlights Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow @LatinoBuzz on twitter.
Fighting the drug war has come at a huge cost for Mexico, mostly in lives lost. It is estimated that nearly 60,000 people have died as a result of the clamp down on drug cartels that started under former President Felipe Calderon back in 2006. A number of the drug war related murders include journalists who dared to investigate and report on the cartels. Reportero follows Sergio Haro, a veteran photojournalist for Zeta, a Tijuana-based weekly newspaper. Even in the face of constant death threats Zeta’s reporters refuse to censor themselves and routinely publish the names and photos of drug traffickers and corrupt politicians. The newspaper, from its very inception more than thirty years ago, sought to out Mexico’s government—then controlled by a single political party, the Pri—as crooked, exploitative, and undemocratic.
Zeta began as a project of frustrated journalists who banded together to subvert the government’s monopoly on news. Ruiz recounts, “The paper was started in 1980 by a journalist named Jesús Blancornelas. Blancornelas had been fired from five different papers for his aggressive editorial stance. And so in 1980, he and another reporter decided that they wanted to create a paper for journalists that would not be controlled by the government or deal with government censors. So early on in that process, they decided that they would actually print the newspaper in San Diego, across the border in the United States. And every week they’d truck the newspaper into Mexico. It was a way to defy government censorship because in 1980, paper sales were controlled by the Mexican government. From its birth the paper has always had a very clear, independent streak.” The paper’s editors stubbornly continue to stick to their early mission, crusading against government corruption and organized crime. But, their muckraking journalism continually puts their lives in peril, on a daily basis.
Adela Navarro, co-director of Zeta was recently named as one of Foreign Policy’s Top 100 Global Thinkers. Despite the international recognition, the threats on her life continue. In February of last year, an anonymous call was made to the Zeta headquarters warning that Melvin Gutiérrez Quiroz, an alleged Tijuana drug trafficker had it in for the reporter and her staff. As Ruiz explains, the cadre of reporters at Zeta hope the film will raise the profile of the paper and shield them from further intimidation, “...in the case of Sergio and Adela and the other journalists at Zeta, they feel that a film like this gives them more attention and that attention is added protection. There are some cases in the world where this type of attention would be detrimental to the journalists, but in this case, they were confident that this will bring more attention, greater protections to their work.” Hopefully, the documentary will touch a nerve with American audiences and provide a different view of their southern neighbor.
Ruiz started off making a short film about an entirely different topic but fate nudged him in a different direction. After meeting Sergio, the documentary became about Zeta’s tireless efforts to print what no other paper would dare to. Ruiz saw an opportunity to delve deeper into Mexico’s drug war violence, something that was sorely lacking in the American news media. He says, “...here in the U.S., I was reading headlines or I was seeing these sensational news packages put together on cable. It was just a report of the body count, of the heads in the street, of the blood in the street. And past a certain point there was just no analysis, there was no context. The human side of the story, the human toll of what’s been happening in Mexico was entirely neglected.” Ruiz’s film does exactly the opposite.
At the heart of film is Sergio Haro’s daily life as a journalist. Reportero opens with Haro going about his day, telling stories about the perils of journalism in Mexico as he drives to take pictures of grisly crime scenes. He then recounts how two of Zeta’s staff reporters were gunned down by hired hit men on separate occasions. His pain and anger are palpable when it is revealed that the gunmen were never brought to justice. He sometimes questions himself—the danger, the threats to his life—is journalism really worth dying for? His devotion to his craft is unshakeable. Reportero succeeds at painting a powerful portrait of a man committed to social justice and exposing the truth, no matter the cost.
You can watch Reportero on PBS.org through February 6, 2013. For more information on the film follow on Twitter, like on Facebook, and visit the website.
Written by Juan Caceres and Vanessa Erazo, LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature on SydneysBuzz that highlights Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow @LatinoBuzz on twitter.
- 1/16/2013
- by Vanessa Erazo
- Sydney's Buzz
In celebration of the 25th season of PBS’ groundbreaking documentary series Pov, Filmmaker is running a four-part conversation series between two non-fiction directors with close ties to the show. A few weeks ago, award-winning director of When the Mountains Tremble Pamela Yates — whose memoir of Guatemala’s struggles, Granito: How to Nail a Dictator, revisits the footage and topics of her debut — and Bernardo Ruiz, whose film Reportero airs on Pov tonight at 10:00Pm, sat down to talk about a variety of issues that arise from their work. Through the course of the discussion, Yates and Ruiz share where they’ve been, where they …...
- 1/7/2013
- by Nick Dawson
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
In celebration of the 25th season of PBS’ groundbreaking documentary series Pov, Filmmaker is running a four-part conversation series between two non-fiction directors with close ties to the show. A few weeks ago, award-winning director of When the Mountains Tremble Pamela Yates — whose memoir of Guatemala’s struggles, Granito: How to Nail a Dictator, revisits the footage and topics of her debut — and Bernardo Ruiz, whose film Reportero airs on Pov on January 7 at 10:00Pm, sat down to talk about a variety of issues that arise from their work. Through the course of the discussion, Yates and Ruiz share where they’ve been, …...
- 1/6/2013
- by Nick Dawson
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
In celebration of the 25th season of PBS’ groundbreaking documentary series Pov, Filmmaker is running a four-part conversation series between two non-fiction directors with close ties to the show. A few weeks ago, award-winning director of When the Mountains Tremble, Pamela Yates — whose memoir of Guatemala’s struggles, Granito: How to Nail a Dictator, revisits the footage and topics of her debut — and Bernardo Ruiz, whose film Reportero airs on Pov on January 7 at 10:00Pm, sat down to talk about a variety of issues that arise from their work. Through the course of the discussion, Yates and Ruiz share where they’ve been, …...
- 1/5/2013
- by Nick Dawson
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
In celebration of the 25th season of PBS’ groundbreaking documentary series Pov, Filmmaker is running a four-part conversation series between two non-fiction directors with close ties to the show. A few weeks ago, award-winning director of When the Mountains Tremble, Pamela Yates — whose memoir of Guatemala’s struggles, Granito: How to Nail a Dictator, revisits the footage and topics of her debut — and Bernardo Ruiz, whose film Reportero airs on Pov on January 7 at 10:00Pm, sat down to talk about a variety of issues that arise from their work. Through the course of the discussion, Yates and Ruiz share where they’ve been, …...
- 1/4/2013
- by Nick Dawson
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
A look back at 2012 reveals an undeniable fact, it has been a great year for Latino film. Sundance started the year off strong with films like Aurora Guerrero’s sweet and tender Mosquita y Mari and Marialy Rivas’ rambunctious Joven y Alocada (Young & Wild). Gina Rodriguez broke out in Filly Brown, as a rapper who needs to make it big so she can raise money to get her mom out of jail. In the film, Jenni Rivera played the part of Filly’s mom in her first, and sadly last, movie role.
There was also a strong Latin American presence at Cannes this past summer, boasting films from Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina. It might as well have been called Mexi-Cannes, with Mexican films winning awards across all main sections of the festival. Carlos Reygadas was honored as the Best Director for his controversial film Post Tenebras Lux, despite having received boos at its premiere screening. The prize for the Critics’ Week section went to Aquí y Allá (Here and There) and Después de Lucía (After Lucia) won the top prize for Un Certain Regard.
It’s been an especially favorable year for Chilean cinema. The New York Film Festival, in its 50th edition this past Fall, included three highly anticipated films by Pablo Larraín, Valeria Sarmiento, and the late Raúl Ruiz. And Chile continued to outshine the rest of the region by winning two top spots at the Festival Internacional de Nuevo Cine Latino de La Habana (the Havana Film Festival) just a few days ago. Pablo Larraín’s No, starring Gael Garcia Bernal, won the First Coral Prize. It’s a brilliant take on the real life story of an advertising campaign that ousted General Pinochet from power during a shining moment in Chilean politics. Violeta se fue a los cielos (Violeta Went To Heaven), a biopic about internationally famous Violeta de la Parra, a Chilean singer, songwriter, and poet won the Second Prize.
Whether it was at Cannes, Sundance, or countless other festivals, Latino films were winning award after award this year and even getting distribution (albeit usually in limited release). With the flurry of activity surrounding the region’s filmmaking, it can be hard to keep up with it all. Thankfully, there are professionals who get paid to keep track of what movies are receiving accolades, have the most buzz, and got picked up for distribution. LatinoBuzz went straight to the experts, film programmers, to ask, “What’s your top 5 Latino films of 2012?”
Carlos Gutierrez, Co-Founder and Director of Cinema Tropical
In no particular order, a list of five Latin American films that made it to Us screens in the past year (some of them are a couple of years old), which I highly recommend.
De Jueves a Domingo (Thursday Till Sunday), Director: Dominga Sotomayor, Chile
O Som ao Redor (Neighboring Sounds), Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazil
El Estudiante, Director: Santiago Mitre, Argentina
El Velador, Director: Natalia Almada, Mexico
El Lugar Más Pequeño (The Tiniest Place), Director: Tatiana Huezo, Mexico/El Salvador
Juan Caceres, Director of Programming at the New York International Latino Film Festival
Mosquita y Mari is a gorgeous film full of heart. Marialy Rivas (Director of Joven y Alocada) is an incredibly exciting new voice in Latin American cinema. She's fearless and full of love. I'm a huge fan of Lucy Mulloy (Director of Una Noche). She draws these wonderful performances from non-professional actors. A natural at using the lens to tell a story. In Las Malas Intenciones Fatima Buntinx plays the lead perfectly. Andres Wood made a beautiful film called 'Machuca', that captured the soul of Chile in the 70's and he does the same with a bio-pic of Violeta Parra, a folk singer who was a part of 'La Nueva Canción Chilena'.
Mosquita y Mari, Director: Aurora Guerrero, USA
Joven y Alocada (Young and Wild), Director: Marialy Rivas, Chile
Una Noche, Director: Lucy Mulloy, Cuba
Violeta Se Fue A Los Cielos (Violeta Went to Heaven), Director: Andrés Wood, Chile
Las Malas Intenciones (The Bad Intentions), Director: Rosario García-Montero, Perú
Christine Davila, Programming Associate at Sundance Film Festival
There are way too many Latino films and not enough coverage on American Latino films so with that -- mine are going to be strictly American Latino films.
Los Chidos, Director: Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, USA/Mexico
Mosquita y Mari, Director: Aurora Guerrero, USA
Elliot Loves, Director: Terracino, USA
Aquí y Allá (Here and There), Director: Antonio Méndez Esparza, USA/Spain/Mexico
Love, Concord, Director: Gustavo Guardado, USA
Lisa Franek, Artistic Director at the San Diego Latino Film Festival
Just 5?? That's tough! In Filly Brown, Gina Rodriguez turns in a great performance, and I expect to see more great things from her very soon. No, I saw at Cannes, and it was fascinating, especially in contrast to Larraín's previous (amazing) films. La Hora Cero has unforgettable scenes and characters! La Mujer de Ivan has amazing acting, and I believe Maria de Los Angeles Garcia is definitely a talent to watch. Reportero is also fantastic.
La Mujer de Iván, Director: Francisca Silva, Chile
No, Director: Pablo Larraín, Chile/France/USA
La Hora Cero, Director: Diego Velasco, Venezuela
Reportero, Director: Bernardo Ruiz, USA/Mexico
Filly Brown, Directors: Youssef Delara, Michael D. Olmos, USA
Marcela Goglio, Programmer for Latinbeat at The Film Society of Lincoln Center
Las Acacias, Director: Pablo Giorgelli, Argentina
As Cançoes (Songs), Director: Eduardo Coutinho, Brazil
Unfinished Spaces, Directors: Alyssa Nahmias & Benjamin Murray, USA
O Som ao Redor (Neighboring Sounds), Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazil
Aquí y Allá (Here and There), Director: Antonio Méndez Esparza, USA/Spain/Mexico
Pepe Vargas, Executive Director of the International Latino Cultural Center and Chicago Latino Film Festival
Not an easy task to come up with 5 titles - there are so many good movies.
La Piel que Habito (The Skin I Live In)
Director: Pedro Almodóvar, Spain
Salvando al Soldado Pérez, (Saving Private Perez)
Director: Beto Gómez, Mexico
Un Cuento Chino (Chinese Take-Out)
Director: Sebastián Borensztein, Argentina/Spain
Lobos de Arga (Game of Werewolves)
Director: Juan Martínez Moreno, Spain
Mariachi Gringo
Director: Tom Gustafson, USA/Mexico
Amalia Cordova, Coordinator of the Latin American Program at the Film and Video Center of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian
Granito, Director: Pamela Yates, USA/Guatemala/Spain
Desterro Guarani, Directors: Patricia Ferreira y Ariel Duarte Ortega, Brazil
Violeta Se Fue A Los Cielos (Violeta Went to Heaven), Director: Andrés Wood, Chile
5 x Favela – Agora por nós Mesmos (5 x Favela, Now by Ourselves), Directors: Manaíra Carneiro, Wagner Novais, Cacau Amaral, Rodrigo Felha, Luciano Vidigal, Cadu Barcelos, and Luciana Bezerra, Brazil
Un Cuento Chino (Chinese Take-Out), Director: Sebastián Borensztein, Argentina/Spain
Written by Juan Caceres and Vanessa Erazo, LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature on SydneysBuzz that highlights Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow @LatinoBuzz on twitter.
There was also a strong Latin American presence at Cannes this past summer, boasting films from Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina. It might as well have been called Mexi-Cannes, with Mexican films winning awards across all main sections of the festival. Carlos Reygadas was honored as the Best Director for his controversial film Post Tenebras Lux, despite having received boos at its premiere screening. The prize for the Critics’ Week section went to Aquí y Allá (Here and There) and Después de Lucía (After Lucia) won the top prize for Un Certain Regard.
It’s been an especially favorable year for Chilean cinema. The New York Film Festival, in its 50th edition this past Fall, included three highly anticipated films by Pablo Larraín, Valeria Sarmiento, and the late Raúl Ruiz. And Chile continued to outshine the rest of the region by winning two top spots at the Festival Internacional de Nuevo Cine Latino de La Habana (the Havana Film Festival) just a few days ago. Pablo Larraín’s No, starring Gael Garcia Bernal, won the First Coral Prize. It’s a brilliant take on the real life story of an advertising campaign that ousted General Pinochet from power during a shining moment in Chilean politics. Violeta se fue a los cielos (Violeta Went To Heaven), a biopic about internationally famous Violeta de la Parra, a Chilean singer, songwriter, and poet won the Second Prize.
Whether it was at Cannes, Sundance, or countless other festivals, Latino films were winning award after award this year and even getting distribution (albeit usually in limited release). With the flurry of activity surrounding the region’s filmmaking, it can be hard to keep up with it all. Thankfully, there are professionals who get paid to keep track of what movies are receiving accolades, have the most buzz, and got picked up for distribution. LatinoBuzz went straight to the experts, film programmers, to ask, “What’s your top 5 Latino films of 2012?”
Carlos Gutierrez, Co-Founder and Director of Cinema Tropical
In no particular order, a list of five Latin American films that made it to Us screens in the past year (some of them are a couple of years old), which I highly recommend.
De Jueves a Domingo (Thursday Till Sunday), Director: Dominga Sotomayor, Chile
O Som ao Redor (Neighboring Sounds), Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazil
El Estudiante, Director: Santiago Mitre, Argentina
El Velador, Director: Natalia Almada, Mexico
El Lugar Más Pequeño (The Tiniest Place), Director: Tatiana Huezo, Mexico/El Salvador
Juan Caceres, Director of Programming at the New York International Latino Film Festival
Mosquita y Mari is a gorgeous film full of heart. Marialy Rivas (Director of Joven y Alocada) is an incredibly exciting new voice in Latin American cinema. She's fearless and full of love. I'm a huge fan of Lucy Mulloy (Director of Una Noche). She draws these wonderful performances from non-professional actors. A natural at using the lens to tell a story. In Las Malas Intenciones Fatima Buntinx plays the lead perfectly. Andres Wood made a beautiful film called 'Machuca', that captured the soul of Chile in the 70's and he does the same with a bio-pic of Violeta Parra, a folk singer who was a part of 'La Nueva Canción Chilena'.
Mosquita y Mari, Director: Aurora Guerrero, USA
Joven y Alocada (Young and Wild), Director: Marialy Rivas, Chile
Una Noche, Director: Lucy Mulloy, Cuba
Violeta Se Fue A Los Cielos (Violeta Went to Heaven), Director: Andrés Wood, Chile
Las Malas Intenciones (The Bad Intentions), Director: Rosario García-Montero, Perú
Christine Davila, Programming Associate at Sundance Film Festival
There are way too many Latino films and not enough coverage on American Latino films so with that -- mine are going to be strictly American Latino films.
Los Chidos, Director: Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, USA/Mexico
Mosquita y Mari, Director: Aurora Guerrero, USA
Elliot Loves, Director: Terracino, USA
Aquí y Allá (Here and There), Director: Antonio Méndez Esparza, USA/Spain/Mexico
Love, Concord, Director: Gustavo Guardado, USA
Lisa Franek, Artistic Director at the San Diego Latino Film Festival
Just 5?? That's tough! In Filly Brown, Gina Rodriguez turns in a great performance, and I expect to see more great things from her very soon. No, I saw at Cannes, and it was fascinating, especially in contrast to Larraín's previous (amazing) films. La Hora Cero has unforgettable scenes and characters! La Mujer de Ivan has amazing acting, and I believe Maria de Los Angeles Garcia is definitely a talent to watch. Reportero is also fantastic.
La Mujer de Iván, Director: Francisca Silva, Chile
No, Director: Pablo Larraín, Chile/France/USA
La Hora Cero, Director: Diego Velasco, Venezuela
Reportero, Director: Bernardo Ruiz, USA/Mexico
Filly Brown, Directors: Youssef Delara, Michael D. Olmos, USA
Marcela Goglio, Programmer for Latinbeat at The Film Society of Lincoln Center
Las Acacias, Director: Pablo Giorgelli, Argentina
As Cançoes (Songs), Director: Eduardo Coutinho, Brazil
Unfinished Spaces, Directors: Alyssa Nahmias & Benjamin Murray, USA
O Som ao Redor (Neighboring Sounds), Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazil
Aquí y Allá (Here and There), Director: Antonio Méndez Esparza, USA/Spain/Mexico
Pepe Vargas, Executive Director of the International Latino Cultural Center and Chicago Latino Film Festival
Not an easy task to come up with 5 titles - there are so many good movies.
La Piel que Habito (The Skin I Live In)
Director: Pedro Almodóvar, Spain
Salvando al Soldado Pérez, (Saving Private Perez)
Director: Beto Gómez, Mexico
Un Cuento Chino (Chinese Take-Out)
Director: Sebastián Borensztein, Argentina/Spain
Lobos de Arga (Game of Werewolves)
Director: Juan Martínez Moreno, Spain
Mariachi Gringo
Director: Tom Gustafson, USA/Mexico
Amalia Cordova, Coordinator of the Latin American Program at the Film and Video Center of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian
Granito, Director: Pamela Yates, USA/Guatemala/Spain
Desterro Guarani, Directors: Patricia Ferreira y Ariel Duarte Ortega, Brazil
Violeta Se Fue A Los Cielos (Violeta Went to Heaven), Director: Andrés Wood, Chile
5 x Favela – Agora por nós Mesmos (5 x Favela, Now by Ourselves), Directors: Manaíra Carneiro, Wagner Novais, Cacau Amaral, Rodrigo Felha, Luciano Vidigal, Cadu Barcelos, and Luciana Bezerra, Brazil
Un Cuento Chino (Chinese Take-Out), Director: Sebastián Borensztein, Argentina/Spain
Written by Juan Caceres and Vanessa Erazo, LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature on SydneysBuzz that highlights Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow @LatinoBuzz on twitter.
- 12/19/2012
- by Vanessa Erazo
- Sydney's Buzz
Tune in alert for PBS as "Reportero" comes in January 2013. Targeted by Mexico's Deadly Drug Cartels, Journalists at a Tijuana-based Newsweekly Risk Their Lives to Report the Truth in Pov's 'Reportero,' Monday, Jan. 7, 2013 on PBS From PBS Reportero follows veteran reporter Sergio Haro and his colleagues at Zeta, a Tijuana-based independent newsweekly, as they stubbornly ply their trade in one of the deadliest places in the world for members of the media. Forty-eight journalists disappeared or were murdered in Mexico from December 2006 to the close of 2011 during Felipe Calderón's presidency, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Will the country.s powerful drug cartels and organized crime silence a free press? Bernardo Ruiz's Reportero...
- 12/18/2012
- by April MacIntyre
- Monsters and Critics
From our Chicana from Chicago, Christine Davila:
I took in a few panels over the weekend down here at L.A. Film Fest that I really appreciated for sparking some provocative dialogue I am eager to continue throughout the Festival. I found it especially interesting how different the U.S. Latino and Black film communities are responding to their storytelling plight in talking about their respective representation in media. Meanwhile the lively Latino panel, which was perhaps the broadest in scope, was eloquent and skillfully led by L.A. Times’ Reed Johnson who brought a high level of articulation in his profesh moderating. As panel junkies know, a good moderator is key to an engaging panel and essential to keep it on point. Here are my takeaways on the three panels:us Latino Film Panel at Laff
The Blackhouse Foundation - The Art and Social Responsibility of Festival Programming – Sponsored by Bet
Moderated by Film Independent’s Lacma film curator and go-to festival moderator, Elvis Mitchell, I was particularly impressed at the messaging clarity and solidarity of the black film community’s efforts and goals for equal representation. The panelists were very tuned-in with monitoring their talent behind and in front of the camera, and in this case stressing the importance of festival curators, which was identified as one of three instrumental factors to enable their films getting out there.
Shari Frilot, Senior Programmer, Sundance Film Festival: There was much (due) love and props given to Frilot for her ardent and tireless championing of films of color at Sundance. She pointed out how after Lee Daniel’s breakout hit, Precious which premiered at 2009 Sundance and went on to win a couple Academy Awards, the next couple years it was the black films that were the first to be sold off the mountain including the dazzling lesbian coming of age film, Pariah. She questioned why this achievement was not picked up or lauded in the mainstream media. Its indeed curious and perhaps a telling point on the cultural gatekeeper front – (shortage of black critics and journalists?) Having witnessed Shari’s highly charged and articulate arguing for gloriously imperfect, fresh and raw films I respect how she truly changes the way the film programming conversation takes place by discussing films’ drive, potential and power. I aspire to “bring it” like she does in my own programming career. Acknowledging the personal efforts she puts in to make the festival seem accessible to filmmakers of color who may not bother putting Sundance on their radar, the idea of doing a black college tour came up.
Ava DuVernay, filmmaker (Middle of Nowhere) and founder of Affrm: DuVernay’s emotion for the topic at hand along with her experience from her publicist days and current roles as filmmaker and distributor made her a stirring contributor to the conversation. Ava thanked L.A. Film Festival Director Stephanie Allain for programming Middle of Nowhere as a gala screening which elevates her film with a high profile slot within the festival. A packed house at Wednesday’s gala screening will be quite significant to the black filmmaking community given the massive 800 seat theater and checking the L.A. Film Fest website its at Rush which will make for an exciting milestone! The winner of the Best Director Award at Sundance Film Festival shared her personal observations like being stunned to see empty seats at the black film screenings at Sundance which is unheard of in the notoriously hard-to-get tickets Festival. She mentioned that while she is frequently featured on Shadow and Act, the African Diaspora blog on the Indiewire network, she has never been on Indiewire’s main page. DuVernay expressed her desire to see more films that move and operate beyond ‘black bodies’.
There was mention of films touted as successful black films when they happen to be by non-black filmmakers. I can’t help but think the room was thinking about Gimme the Loot written and directed by Adam Leon and Beasts of the Southern Wild written and directed by Benh Zeitlin. Both films have been praised and celebrated for their poignant storytelling and vivid portrayal of their black protagonists’ lifestyles – and the filmmakers happen to be white Jewish New Yorkers. And both films were quickly picked up for distribution at their respective festival premieres. I have to admit that if we are talking about presenting positive representation in films my belief is that individually, these two films offer a lot as far as image conversion for eschewing mis-representation by avoiding stereotypes about black folks. There’s nobody smoking crack or perpetuating violent crime in Gimme the Loot, and in Beasts the poetic punch of self-sufficient little Hushpuppy in the die-hard persevering displaced fictional community that alludes to the forgotten 9th Ward post-Katrina, shows a triumph of spirit against the government and society’s response efforts following the devastating natural catastrophe in the dominantly affected marginalized population.
Bradford Young, cinematographer (Middle of Nowhere, Pariah, Restless City): A Howard University alumus, the in-demand cinematographer more gently echoed Ava’s sentiment about the limited accessibility and representation of black filmmakers but I feel he gave a bit more benefit of the doubt to black films by non-black filmmakers by his eloquent word of choice to weigh the debate; “Intention”. The way he talks about his own cinematic approach is greatly influenced by the intention of the story and point of view. A NY Times article recently featured the cinematographer and made note of his full frame and close up shots in Middle of Nowhere. Indeed the luscious and texture he brings to shooting skincolor sticks out in my mind having seen it at Sundance. Bradford is one cool cat with lots of soul. All panelists agreed and were especially thankful for his eyes.
Roya Rastegar, Ph.D, Festival Programmer: Inventive cinematography, curation by more females and people of color and innovative distribution were three ways Rastegar outlined to help minority filmmakers distinguish their work and get seen by the public. I would love to get my hands on her dissertation, History of Consciousness (here’s a taste) in which she investigates the role of festivals in shaping marginalized culture. Armed with such interesting facts on the history of film festivals, (did you know Stalin created the first film festival?) Rastegar added a lot of context to the origins and current state of film festivals. She also shared the behind the scenes conversations of film programmers when talking about films of color and the rueful tendency to dismiss these films because they aren’t so called ‘good enough’. She made no hesitation in pointing out that Tribeca Film Festival did not have one single black film in competition this year.
U.S. Latino Cinema: Welcome to the Bi-Literate Future - Presented by San Antonio Film Commission and Afci (Association of Film Commissions International)
I had the privilege of participating on this panel which was prefaced by a Univision spot highlighting their new campaign efforts of reaching a bi-lingual audience. In it, an old woman recalls being prevented from speaking her language as a child in school and then we cut to today’s young U.S. Latino man who flips from Spanish to English talking about his liking alternative band, The Strokes as much as Spanish-language pop rock band, Juanes.
What it was about: Our Latino population in the U.S. is now more than ever embracing a bi-lingual, or more importantly, a bi-literate culture. Will films reflect the changing demographic of the U.S. as a bi-literate (a Spanish and English language culture) be commercially successful and be able to find an audience? And perhaps more importantly, will the studio system be able to adapt to the successful strategies many in the independent world are using to create commercially viable content?
Douglas Spain (Star Maps, Walkout, Band of Brothers) is used to wearing multiple hats and so acted as both panelist and moderator. Spain offered up his experience as an actor/producer/director as a gay latino filmmaker who has successfully worked in independent film and studio and television mediums. His quest for staying true to himself with the roles and films he is making rang resonant to all.
Ralph Lopez, San Antonio filmmaker: The producer of Wolf which premiered at this year’s SXSW talked about his aim is to create and tell stories that transcend color. Like his provocative film about the complexities faced by the victim of a bishop’s inappropriate behavior, his collaborations with director black filmmaker Ya Ke Smith comes first and foremost from a place of telling moving stories.
Gabriela Tagliavini, filmmaker (Ladies Night, Without Men, The Mule: Having had big success with Spanish language film Ladies Night in 2006, Gabriela switched languages and directed Eva Longoria in the English language film,Without Men which sold to many international territories given Longoria’s international brand name. With her upcoming film, The Mule she is looking to take advantage of the crime action genre and star Sharon Stone to offer real commentary on immigration and the dangerous toll of the U.S. Mexico border.
Luis Reyes, historian and author of the comprehensive book, Hispanics in Hollywood: The old school gent on our panel made some slightly more conventional suggestions on how to make a successful bi-literate film like “know your audience” and attaching a well known actor to your film so you can market it.
I added my two cents and in retrospect I think my thoughts coincided with Rastegar’s in the proactive vein of here’s what we can-do positive approach of encouraging budding filmmakers to utilize genre (horror and gay U.S. Latino films stand out from the stack and are sought after by festival programs). I also asked my fellow panelists if they found the U.S. Latino filmmaking community as fragmented as I see it. Unlike Black or Lgbt film organizations I feel the U.S. Latino community has much more work in becoming inclusive within our distinct bi-lingual backgrounds in order to successfully empower and advocate for our films. Organizations like Nalip and Laliff were mentioned in answer. But in my opinion and with all respect, I find Nalip a bit cliquesh and lacking a younger pulse and generation of organizers, and Laliff is too inconsistent to make fundamental cultural change. Although we touched on the question of the challenges our community faces working in Spanish versus English I’m not sure we fully stayed on point in attempting to answer the ambitious subject and interesting talking points raised. But the audience seemed more the type of wanting basic advice on how to break into filmmaking so most questions and conversations was directed to the filmmakers on the panels and in that regard it was a successful exchange.
Café Latino presented by HBO and supported by University of Guadalajara Foundation
Made evident by the participating film clips that were shown before the panel there is much genre and story diversity in the Latino films at L.A. Film Fest this year. I’m especially happy the Festival recognizes the growing influence of the Mexican documentary by having selected Reportero by Bernardo Ruiz, Caniculaby Jose Alvarez and Drought by Evererdo Gonzalez. The panel was ostensibly about the Festival’s Latin American filmmakers and how they explore their roles as storytellers in an increasingly global world. With such a high number of panelists and so many interesting topics broached however, it left one wanting more time to engage with the personable talents onstage.
Reed Johnson encouraged the panelists to chime in at will which Alejandro Brugues, director of Cuban Zombie film, Juan of the Dead took full advantage of to defend big hollywood films like The Avengers, which Gonzalez initially brought up if only to point out the David and Goliath challenge filmmakers in Mexico face having to compete for screens against these big money backed blockbusters. Brugues set himself apart from the group by defending his love for the blockbuster which inspired him to direct films. Unlike his peers’ ‘artful’ films he considers his film strictly for public entertainment (he joked that his film is actually a documentary). Yet at the same time he admits he took advantage of the Zombie genre a la Romero to infuse it with his personal observations of contemporary Cuban society – which he would not have been able to shoot in Cuba otherwise.
Meanwhile Arturo Pons who was born in Mexico but has lived and worked in Spain for the past ten years described his conception for his surreal satire, The Compass is Carried by the Dead Man not necessarily about immigration but a visual canvas with which to paint the total disorientation that confronts Mexico. Ruiz talked about seeing himself as a ‘translator’ or vessel to tell stories. Alvarez talked about how he does not think of his audience as he makes his films however he does aspire to showcase Mexico Profundo in showing the vast and vibrant indigenous artistry and folklore and deliberately resisting the the media’s monopolized perpetuation of the drug violence and corruption. Lastly, Dominga Sotomayor, the 27 year old director of Thursday till Sunday whose next film Tarde Para Morir was selected to the first ever Sundance Mahindra Screenwriters Lab, added that like Mexico, in Chile there is a growing number of filmmakers but no real venues to find their audience.
L.A. Film Festival is going on through Sunday and a bunch of added screenings have been slotted. Check out film guide and buy tickets here.
I took in a few panels over the weekend down here at L.A. Film Fest that I really appreciated for sparking some provocative dialogue I am eager to continue throughout the Festival. I found it especially interesting how different the U.S. Latino and Black film communities are responding to their storytelling plight in talking about their respective representation in media. Meanwhile the lively Latino panel, which was perhaps the broadest in scope, was eloquent and skillfully led by L.A. Times’ Reed Johnson who brought a high level of articulation in his profesh moderating. As panel junkies know, a good moderator is key to an engaging panel and essential to keep it on point. Here are my takeaways on the three panels:us Latino Film Panel at Laff
The Blackhouse Foundation - The Art and Social Responsibility of Festival Programming – Sponsored by Bet
Moderated by Film Independent’s Lacma film curator and go-to festival moderator, Elvis Mitchell, I was particularly impressed at the messaging clarity and solidarity of the black film community’s efforts and goals for equal representation. The panelists were very tuned-in with monitoring their talent behind and in front of the camera, and in this case stressing the importance of festival curators, which was identified as one of three instrumental factors to enable their films getting out there.
Shari Frilot, Senior Programmer, Sundance Film Festival: There was much (due) love and props given to Frilot for her ardent and tireless championing of films of color at Sundance. She pointed out how after Lee Daniel’s breakout hit, Precious which premiered at 2009 Sundance and went on to win a couple Academy Awards, the next couple years it was the black films that were the first to be sold off the mountain including the dazzling lesbian coming of age film, Pariah. She questioned why this achievement was not picked up or lauded in the mainstream media. Its indeed curious and perhaps a telling point on the cultural gatekeeper front – (shortage of black critics and journalists?) Having witnessed Shari’s highly charged and articulate arguing for gloriously imperfect, fresh and raw films I respect how she truly changes the way the film programming conversation takes place by discussing films’ drive, potential and power. I aspire to “bring it” like she does in my own programming career. Acknowledging the personal efforts she puts in to make the festival seem accessible to filmmakers of color who may not bother putting Sundance on their radar, the idea of doing a black college tour came up.
Ava DuVernay, filmmaker (Middle of Nowhere) and founder of Affrm: DuVernay’s emotion for the topic at hand along with her experience from her publicist days and current roles as filmmaker and distributor made her a stirring contributor to the conversation. Ava thanked L.A. Film Festival Director Stephanie Allain for programming Middle of Nowhere as a gala screening which elevates her film with a high profile slot within the festival. A packed house at Wednesday’s gala screening will be quite significant to the black filmmaking community given the massive 800 seat theater and checking the L.A. Film Fest website its at Rush which will make for an exciting milestone! The winner of the Best Director Award at Sundance Film Festival shared her personal observations like being stunned to see empty seats at the black film screenings at Sundance which is unheard of in the notoriously hard-to-get tickets Festival. She mentioned that while she is frequently featured on Shadow and Act, the African Diaspora blog on the Indiewire network, she has never been on Indiewire’s main page. DuVernay expressed her desire to see more films that move and operate beyond ‘black bodies’.
There was mention of films touted as successful black films when they happen to be by non-black filmmakers. I can’t help but think the room was thinking about Gimme the Loot written and directed by Adam Leon and Beasts of the Southern Wild written and directed by Benh Zeitlin. Both films have been praised and celebrated for their poignant storytelling and vivid portrayal of their black protagonists’ lifestyles – and the filmmakers happen to be white Jewish New Yorkers. And both films were quickly picked up for distribution at their respective festival premieres. I have to admit that if we are talking about presenting positive representation in films my belief is that individually, these two films offer a lot as far as image conversion for eschewing mis-representation by avoiding stereotypes about black folks. There’s nobody smoking crack or perpetuating violent crime in Gimme the Loot, and in Beasts the poetic punch of self-sufficient little Hushpuppy in the die-hard persevering displaced fictional community that alludes to the forgotten 9th Ward post-Katrina, shows a triumph of spirit against the government and society’s response efforts following the devastating natural catastrophe in the dominantly affected marginalized population.
Bradford Young, cinematographer (Middle of Nowhere, Pariah, Restless City): A Howard University alumus, the in-demand cinematographer more gently echoed Ava’s sentiment about the limited accessibility and representation of black filmmakers but I feel he gave a bit more benefit of the doubt to black films by non-black filmmakers by his eloquent word of choice to weigh the debate; “Intention”. The way he talks about his own cinematic approach is greatly influenced by the intention of the story and point of view. A NY Times article recently featured the cinematographer and made note of his full frame and close up shots in Middle of Nowhere. Indeed the luscious and texture he brings to shooting skincolor sticks out in my mind having seen it at Sundance. Bradford is one cool cat with lots of soul. All panelists agreed and were especially thankful for his eyes.
Roya Rastegar, Ph.D, Festival Programmer: Inventive cinematography, curation by more females and people of color and innovative distribution were three ways Rastegar outlined to help minority filmmakers distinguish their work and get seen by the public. I would love to get my hands on her dissertation, History of Consciousness (here’s a taste) in which she investigates the role of festivals in shaping marginalized culture. Armed with such interesting facts on the history of film festivals, (did you know Stalin created the first film festival?) Rastegar added a lot of context to the origins and current state of film festivals. She also shared the behind the scenes conversations of film programmers when talking about films of color and the rueful tendency to dismiss these films because they aren’t so called ‘good enough’. She made no hesitation in pointing out that Tribeca Film Festival did not have one single black film in competition this year.
U.S. Latino Cinema: Welcome to the Bi-Literate Future - Presented by San Antonio Film Commission and Afci (Association of Film Commissions International)
I had the privilege of participating on this panel which was prefaced by a Univision spot highlighting their new campaign efforts of reaching a bi-lingual audience. In it, an old woman recalls being prevented from speaking her language as a child in school and then we cut to today’s young U.S. Latino man who flips from Spanish to English talking about his liking alternative band, The Strokes as much as Spanish-language pop rock band, Juanes.
What it was about: Our Latino population in the U.S. is now more than ever embracing a bi-lingual, or more importantly, a bi-literate culture. Will films reflect the changing demographic of the U.S. as a bi-literate (a Spanish and English language culture) be commercially successful and be able to find an audience? And perhaps more importantly, will the studio system be able to adapt to the successful strategies many in the independent world are using to create commercially viable content?
Douglas Spain (Star Maps, Walkout, Band of Brothers) is used to wearing multiple hats and so acted as both panelist and moderator. Spain offered up his experience as an actor/producer/director as a gay latino filmmaker who has successfully worked in independent film and studio and television mediums. His quest for staying true to himself with the roles and films he is making rang resonant to all.
Ralph Lopez, San Antonio filmmaker: The producer of Wolf which premiered at this year’s SXSW talked about his aim is to create and tell stories that transcend color. Like his provocative film about the complexities faced by the victim of a bishop’s inappropriate behavior, his collaborations with director black filmmaker Ya Ke Smith comes first and foremost from a place of telling moving stories.
Gabriela Tagliavini, filmmaker (Ladies Night, Without Men, The Mule: Having had big success with Spanish language film Ladies Night in 2006, Gabriela switched languages and directed Eva Longoria in the English language film,Without Men which sold to many international territories given Longoria’s international brand name. With her upcoming film, The Mule she is looking to take advantage of the crime action genre and star Sharon Stone to offer real commentary on immigration and the dangerous toll of the U.S. Mexico border.
Luis Reyes, historian and author of the comprehensive book, Hispanics in Hollywood: The old school gent on our panel made some slightly more conventional suggestions on how to make a successful bi-literate film like “know your audience” and attaching a well known actor to your film so you can market it.
I added my two cents and in retrospect I think my thoughts coincided with Rastegar’s in the proactive vein of here’s what we can-do positive approach of encouraging budding filmmakers to utilize genre (horror and gay U.S. Latino films stand out from the stack and are sought after by festival programs). I also asked my fellow panelists if they found the U.S. Latino filmmaking community as fragmented as I see it. Unlike Black or Lgbt film organizations I feel the U.S. Latino community has much more work in becoming inclusive within our distinct bi-lingual backgrounds in order to successfully empower and advocate for our films. Organizations like Nalip and Laliff were mentioned in answer. But in my opinion and with all respect, I find Nalip a bit cliquesh and lacking a younger pulse and generation of organizers, and Laliff is too inconsistent to make fundamental cultural change. Although we touched on the question of the challenges our community faces working in Spanish versus English I’m not sure we fully stayed on point in attempting to answer the ambitious subject and interesting talking points raised. But the audience seemed more the type of wanting basic advice on how to break into filmmaking so most questions and conversations was directed to the filmmakers on the panels and in that regard it was a successful exchange.
Café Latino presented by HBO and supported by University of Guadalajara Foundation
Made evident by the participating film clips that were shown before the panel there is much genre and story diversity in the Latino films at L.A. Film Fest this year. I’m especially happy the Festival recognizes the growing influence of the Mexican documentary by having selected Reportero by Bernardo Ruiz, Caniculaby Jose Alvarez and Drought by Evererdo Gonzalez. The panel was ostensibly about the Festival’s Latin American filmmakers and how they explore their roles as storytellers in an increasingly global world. With such a high number of panelists and so many interesting topics broached however, it left one wanting more time to engage with the personable talents onstage.
Reed Johnson encouraged the panelists to chime in at will which Alejandro Brugues, director of Cuban Zombie film, Juan of the Dead took full advantage of to defend big hollywood films like The Avengers, which Gonzalez initially brought up if only to point out the David and Goliath challenge filmmakers in Mexico face having to compete for screens against these big money backed blockbusters. Brugues set himself apart from the group by defending his love for the blockbuster which inspired him to direct films. Unlike his peers’ ‘artful’ films he considers his film strictly for public entertainment (he joked that his film is actually a documentary). Yet at the same time he admits he took advantage of the Zombie genre a la Romero to infuse it with his personal observations of contemporary Cuban society – which he would not have been able to shoot in Cuba otherwise.
Meanwhile Arturo Pons who was born in Mexico but has lived and worked in Spain for the past ten years described his conception for his surreal satire, The Compass is Carried by the Dead Man not necessarily about immigration but a visual canvas with which to paint the total disorientation that confronts Mexico. Ruiz talked about seeing himself as a ‘translator’ or vessel to tell stories. Alvarez talked about how he does not think of his audience as he makes his films however he does aspire to showcase Mexico Profundo in showing the vast and vibrant indigenous artistry and folklore and deliberately resisting the the media’s monopolized perpetuation of the drug violence and corruption. Lastly, Dominga Sotomayor, the 27 year old director of Thursday till Sunday whose next film Tarde Para Morir was selected to the first ever Sundance Mahindra Screenwriters Lab, added that like Mexico, in Chile there is a growing number of filmmakers but no real venues to find their audience.
L.A. Film Festival is going on through Sunday and a bunch of added screenings have been slotted. Check out film guide and buy tickets here.
- 6/20/2012
- by Christine Davila
- Sydney's Buzz
Virgin America Is Premier Sponsor Of 2012 Los Angeles Film Festival, Presented By Film Independent
Kodak, Stella Artois, Melrose Mac, Regal Cinemas L.A. Live Stadium 14, Jameson® Irish Whiskey, Deluxe Entertainment Services Group and Efilm, HBO®, Volkswagen of America, Canon U.S.A., Nokia and Dolby Laboratories, Inc. are Platinum Sponsors
Los Angeles (June 13, 2012) . Today the Los Angeles Film Festival, presented by Film Independent and Host Venue Regal Cinemas L.A. Live Stadium 14 announced its sponsors for the 2012 Festival. The Los Angeles Film Festival will run from Thursday, June 14 to Sunday, June 24 in downtown Los Angeles. The Presenting Media Sponsor is the Los Angeles Times, Premier and Opening Night Sponsor Virgin America and Platinum sponsors Kodak, Stella Artois, Melrose Mac, Regal Cinemas L.A. Live Stadium 14, Jameson® Irish Whiskey, Deluxe Entertainment Services Group and Efilm, HBO, Volkswagen of America, Canon U.S.A., Nokia and Dolby Laboratories, Inc. Special support is...
Kodak, Stella Artois, Melrose Mac, Regal Cinemas L.A. Live Stadium 14, Jameson® Irish Whiskey, Deluxe Entertainment Services Group and Efilm, HBO®, Volkswagen of America, Canon U.S.A., Nokia and Dolby Laboratories, Inc. are Platinum Sponsors
Los Angeles (June 13, 2012) . Today the Los Angeles Film Festival, presented by Film Independent and Host Venue Regal Cinemas L.A. Live Stadium 14 announced its sponsors for the 2012 Festival. The Los Angeles Film Festival will run from Thursday, June 14 to Sunday, June 24 in downtown Los Angeles. The Presenting Media Sponsor is the Los Angeles Times, Premier and Opening Night Sponsor Virgin America and Platinum sponsors Kodak, Stella Artois, Melrose Mac, Regal Cinemas L.A. Live Stadium 14, Jameson® Irish Whiskey, Deluxe Entertainment Services Group and Efilm, HBO, Volkswagen of America, Canon U.S.A., Nokia and Dolby Laboratories, Inc. Special support is...
- 6/13/2012
- by Melissa Howland
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
HollywoodNews.com: Several new events at the 2012 Los Angeles Film Festival were announced this morning including this year’s Festival Keynote Speaker, Chris McGurk, Chariman and CEO of Cinedigm Entertainment group. On June 16, McGurk will speak on the art and business of independent film by addressing the Renaissance of Indie Film. The keynote speech will also open a full day of panels at the Afci Locations Show. Also announced is a new event on June 19 featuring comedian Marc Maron hosting his Wtf podcast live with a to-be-announced guest in front of an intimate Festival audience. Past Wtf podcast guests include Judd Apatow, Louis Ck, Jon Hamm, Patton Oswalt and Amy Poehler.
The Festival’s popular Coffee Talks will take place on June 17 featuring actors Jason Isaacs and Melanie Lynskey, directors Lawrence Kasdan and Catherine Hardwicke, screenwriters John August and Zak Penn, composers Rolfe Kent, Cliff Martinez, and Michael Penn, plus more to be announced.
The Festival’s popular Coffee Talks will take place on June 17 featuring actors Jason Isaacs and Melanie Lynskey, directors Lawrence Kasdan and Catherine Hardwicke, screenwriters John August and Zak Penn, composers Rolfe Kent, Cliff Martinez, and Michael Penn, plus more to be announced.
- 5/29/2012
- by Josh Abraham
- Hollywoodnews.com
More from the Latino scene from our woman in L.A., free lance festival programmer extraordinaire, Christine Davila, from her blog Chicana from Chicago:
Looking at yesterday’s announcement of Film Independent’s Los Angeles Film Festival reveals a healthy Latino presence among the 62 features and 48 short films in the program. Here’s how I break down the Latino/ Ibero/ U.S. Latino component of the program.
Chile continues to give Argentina a run for its cache of exciting and growing cinematic output from South America with the inclusion of Thursday Til Sunday (Isa & Distributor: FiGa) written and directed by Dominga Sotomayor ♀, in Narrative Competition.
Although the traveling Mexican film festival Ambulante is no longer a program spotlight, Mexican films continue to be a mainstay of the festival. There are four feature-length films and three short films from/about Mexico. In Narrative Competition, The Compass is Carried by the Dead Man (Isa: Kafilms, Argentina) written and directed by Arturo Pons [about a young Mexican aiming for Chicago], and in Documentary Competition, Drought by Everado González (recently awarded Best Documentary at FICG27) . Out of competition is the gorgeously shot documentary, Canícula, and although the funding is mainly stateside, Bernardo Ruiz paints a fascinating portrait of the risky journalistic practice and history of the seminal Tijuana weekly, Zeta in Reportero.
Also of note in the program is that four short films list Cuba as a co-production/origin of country.
But what of the U.S. Latino filmmakers and stories? Last year Los Angeles Film Festival was a great launchpad for Mamitas (Distributor: ScreenMedia, Producer rep: Traction Media), an authentic Chicano portrayal of young love set in Echo Parque written and directed by Nicolas Ozeki (a non-Latino), co-starring fast rising hot talents Veronica Diaz-Carranzo (Blaze You Out) and E.J. Bonilla. The film is currently in theaters now. (Big recommend,theater listings here-go support it!)
The closest we have to representing U.S. Latino in the features section is Four, the feature debut of Joshua Sanchez who hails from Houston, Texas. Based on a Christopher Shinn play, the July 4th-eve-set story is a snapshot of two disparate relationships tensely intertwined and their at-odd dynamics of desire. Coincidentally, E.J. Bonilla also stars (this guy is blowing up!). I would also include as U.S. Latino, Searching for Sugar Man, the documentary by Malik Bendjelloul about singer songwriter Sixto Rodriguez’s fascinating rise and fall into obscurity as a Uj.S. Latino story. As a matter of fact, the film seems to suggest that perhaps Sixto’s Mexican-American identity might have been a reason he was not embraced by the 60s and 70s mainstream. [Per Sydney: The film was snatched up at Sundance by Sony Pictures Classics and by Isa Protagonist who is screening it twice in Cannes.]
As for U.S. Latino shorts, Fireworks written and directed by Victor Hugo Duran, which is also incidentally centered around 4th of July, is an L.A. set story about boys trying to rap on girls.
My favorite Miami based hooligans, Jillian Mayer and Lucas Leyva, keep representing with their fresh and experimental short film, Life and Freaky Times of Uncle Luke. They are part of a collective of go-there filmmakers, Borscht Corp who had four crazy shorts screen at SXSW (and they were a riot to bootie shake dance with at SXSW Film’s Closing Night Party). You must carve out an hour and look at their work on the site (Nsfw!)
And lastly, in front of camera there’s some America Ferrera in Todd Berger’s It’s a Disaster (Isa: Maya), and rising boriqua actress April Hernandez Castillo, of hit webseries East Willy B, Dexter and other TV, is in The History of Future Folk [Per Sydney: one of 7 horror films in the festival, another being It's A Disaster per Dread Central, so take note Latino distributors like Lionsgate because horror films are a favorite of a certain Latino demographic!] by J. Anderson Mitchell and Jeremy Kipp Walker, described as a “sweet sci-fi musical comedy”. Below is the rest of the Latino and Ibero-American (includes Spain and Portugal). Descriptions provided by L.A. Film Festival, and bold cap commentary by me.
Narrative Competition:
o All Is Well – Portugal (Director Pocas Pascoal ♀, Producer Luis Correia Cast Cheila Lima, Ciomara Morais) – Strangers in a strange land, two beautiful Angolan sisters fleeing a civil war in their homeland struggle to survive in Lisbon. Pocas Pascoal’s deeply personal saga shows us the face of exile with quietly stunning power. North American Premiere
o The Compass is Carried by the Dead Man – Mexico (Director/Writer Arturo Pons Producer Ozcar Ramírez González Cast Gael Sanchez Valle, Pedro Gamez, Ana Ofelia Murguía, Eligio Melendez, Luis Bayardo, Marco Perez) – A young man and a dead man journey north through a subtly surreal desert landscape, picking up a wagonful of odd characters as they go in this darkly humorous satire of contemporary Mexico. North American Premiere
o Four – (Director/Writer Joshua Sanchez Producer Christine Giorgio Cast Wendell Pierce, Emory Cohen, Aja Naomi King, E.J. Bonilla) – Over the course of a steamy 4th of July night, a father and daughter, each trapped in loneliness, reach out for sexual connection — he with a self-hating teenage boy, she with a smooth-talking wannabe homeboy — in this psychologically complex, beautifully acted drama. World Premiere
o Thursday till Sunday – Chile (Director/Writer Dominga Sotomayor ♀ Producers Gregorio González, Benjamin Domenech Cast Santi Ahumada, Emiliano Freifeld, Francisco Pérez-Bannen, Paola Giannini) – With uncommon beauty and style, this Chilean road movie finds a family at a crossroads, as the daughter slowly realizes the divide between the adults in the front seat and the kids in back. North American Premiere
Documentary Competition:
o Drought – Mexico (Director Everado González Producer Martha Orozco) – Contrasting the lives of a cattle-ranching community with the arid northeastern Mexican landscape that surrounds them, this cinema vertité documentary paints a poetic portrait of a community on the verge of extinction. Us Premiere
o Sun Kissed – (Directors Maya Stark ♀, Adi Lavy ♀ Producers Jocelyn Glatzer, Maya Stark, Adi Lavy) – With remarkable strength of spirit, a husband and wife examine their lives and why their children and others have been struck with a rare genetic disorder in this powerful portrait of a small Navajo community. World Premiere ~ Okay Not Latino But It'S Native American So I’M Giving It A Shout Since There Are Not Enough Native American Stories.
International Showcase:
o Canícula – Mexico (Director José Álvarez Writers Sebastián Hoffman, José Álvarez Producer Mauricio Fabre Cast Hermelinda Santes, Esteban González, Mario García) – This is a hauntingly beautiful portrait of the rituals and crafts of contemporary Indians in remote Veracruz, who teach their boys to fly. ~ See My Interview With Jose Here.
o The Last Elvis – Argentina (Director Armando Bo Writers Armando Bo, Nicolás Giacobone Producers Steve Golin, Hugo Sigman, Patricio Alvarez Casado, Victor Bo, Armando Bo Cast John McInerny, Griselda Siciliani, Margarita Lopez) – John McInerny gives a staggering performance in this poignant tale of a Buenos Aires Elvis impersonator who only comes alive when he dons the King’s clothes to perform. How can he reconcile his dreams of glory with his dead end factory job and an estranged wife and daughter who can’t live inside his fantasies?
o Neighboring Sounds – Brazil (Director/Writer Kleber Mendonça Filho Producer Emilie Lesclaux Cast Irandhir Santos, Gustavo Jahn, Maeve Jinkings, W.J. Solha) – Kleber Mendonca Filho’s astonishing, suspenseful debut film focuses on one upscale street in the seaside town of Recife, where a private security team is enlisted to protect the residents from crime. By its startling conclusion, you feel you’ve seen all of Brazilian society exposed.
o The Strawberry Tree – Canada/Cuba/Italy (Director/Producer Simone Rapisarda Casanova) – Filmed in a small Cuban fishing village mere weeks before a hurricane decimated the entire region, this stunning documentary unknowingly captures the town’s final days even as it reframes the usual filmmaker-film subject relationship.
Summer Showcase:
o La Camioneta: The Journey of One American School Bus – USA/Guatemala (Director Mark Kendall Producers Mark Kendall, Rafael González, Bernardo Ruiz) – The journey and transformation of a yellow American school bus into a vibrant Central American camionetasensitively reveals both the beauty and violence of everyday life in Guatemala.
o Reportero – (Director Bernardo Ruiz Producers Bernardo Ruiz, Patricia Benabe, Anne Hubbell Featuring Sergio Haro Cordero, Adela Navarro Bello) – A look at the incredible danger facing journalists in Mexico through the eyes of investigative reporter Sergio Haro and other staff at Zeta, the defiant Tijuana-based newsweekly.~ See My Interview With Bernardo Here
o Searching for Sugar Man – (Director/Writer Malik Bendjelloul Producers Simon Chinn, Nicole Stott, George Chignell) – Years after fading into obscurity at home, the music of ’70s U.S. singer/songwriter Rodriguez became an underground sensation in South Africa. Decades after his disappearance, two fans uncover the startling truth behind the legend.
Beyond:
o Juan of the Dead – Cuba (Director/Writer Alejandro Brugués Producers Gervasio Iglesias, Inti Herrera Cast Alexis Días de Villegas, Jorge Molina, Andrea Duro, Andros Perugorría, Jazz Vila, Eliecer Ramírez) – The streets of Havana are alive with the undead in Cuba’s first zombie comedy, a wild and bloody romp that sinks its sharp satirical teeth into the Cuban body politic. Castro may not be amused, but you will be.
Short Film Competition:
Against the Sea (Contra el mar) – Mexico, USA (Director) Richard Parkin
Black Doll (Prita Noire) – Mexico (Director) Sofia Carrillo
Kendo Monogatari – Cuba, Guatemala (Director) Fabián Suárez
Scanning (Ecografía) – Cuba (Director) Aleksandra Maciuszek Mukoid
Life and Freaky Times of Uncle Luke – (Directors) Jillian Mayer, Lucas Leyva ~Crazy Talented! Miami Represent!
Fireworks – (Director) Victor Hugo Duran -
Kendo Monogatari – Cuba, Guatemala (Director) Fabián Suárez
Paraíso – (Director) Nadav Kurtz ~Doc Subject Is About 3 Mexicans
Scanning (Ecografía) – Cuba (Director) Aleksandra Maciuszek Mukoid
Voice Over – Spain (Director) Martín Rosete
For full lineup and more info go to L.A. Film Festival...
Looking at yesterday’s announcement of Film Independent’s Los Angeles Film Festival reveals a healthy Latino presence among the 62 features and 48 short films in the program. Here’s how I break down the Latino/ Ibero/ U.S. Latino component of the program.
Chile continues to give Argentina a run for its cache of exciting and growing cinematic output from South America with the inclusion of Thursday Til Sunday (Isa & Distributor: FiGa) written and directed by Dominga Sotomayor ♀, in Narrative Competition.
Although the traveling Mexican film festival Ambulante is no longer a program spotlight, Mexican films continue to be a mainstay of the festival. There are four feature-length films and three short films from/about Mexico. In Narrative Competition, The Compass is Carried by the Dead Man (Isa: Kafilms, Argentina) written and directed by Arturo Pons [about a young Mexican aiming for Chicago], and in Documentary Competition, Drought by Everado González (recently awarded Best Documentary at FICG27) . Out of competition is the gorgeously shot documentary, Canícula, and although the funding is mainly stateside, Bernardo Ruiz paints a fascinating portrait of the risky journalistic practice and history of the seminal Tijuana weekly, Zeta in Reportero.
Also of note in the program is that four short films list Cuba as a co-production/origin of country.
But what of the U.S. Latino filmmakers and stories? Last year Los Angeles Film Festival was a great launchpad for Mamitas (Distributor: ScreenMedia, Producer rep: Traction Media), an authentic Chicano portrayal of young love set in Echo Parque written and directed by Nicolas Ozeki (a non-Latino), co-starring fast rising hot talents Veronica Diaz-Carranzo (Blaze You Out) and E.J. Bonilla. The film is currently in theaters now. (Big recommend,theater listings here-go support it!)
The closest we have to representing U.S. Latino in the features section is Four, the feature debut of Joshua Sanchez who hails from Houston, Texas. Based on a Christopher Shinn play, the July 4th-eve-set story is a snapshot of two disparate relationships tensely intertwined and their at-odd dynamics of desire. Coincidentally, E.J. Bonilla also stars (this guy is blowing up!). I would also include as U.S. Latino, Searching for Sugar Man, the documentary by Malik Bendjelloul about singer songwriter Sixto Rodriguez’s fascinating rise and fall into obscurity as a Uj.S. Latino story. As a matter of fact, the film seems to suggest that perhaps Sixto’s Mexican-American identity might have been a reason he was not embraced by the 60s and 70s mainstream. [Per Sydney: The film was snatched up at Sundance by Sony Pictures Classics and by Isa Protagonist who is screening it twice in Cannes.]
As for U.S. Latino shorts, Fireworks written and directed by Victor Hugo Duran, which is also incidentally centered around 4th of July, is an L.A. set story about boys trying to rap on girls.
My favorite Miami based hooligans, Jillian Mayer and Lucas Leyva, keep representing with their fresh and experimental short film, Life and Freaky Times of Uncle Luke. They are part of a collective of go-there filmmakers, Borscht Corp who had four crazy shorts screen at SXSW (and they were a riot to bootie shake dance with at SXSW Film’s Closing Night Party). You must carve out an hour and look at their work on the site (Nsfw!)
And lastly, in front of camera there’s some America Ferrera in Todd Berger’s It’s a Disaster (Isa: Maya), and rising boriqua actress April Hernandez Castillo, of hit webseries East Willy B, Dexter and other TV, is in The History of Future Folk [Per Sydney: one of 7 horror films in the festival, another being It's A Disaster per Dread Central, so take note Latino distributors like Lionsgate because horror films are a favorite of a certain Latino demographic!] by J. Anderson Mitchell and Jeremy Kipp Walker, described as a “sweet sci-fi musical comedy”. Below is the rest of the Latino and Ibero-American (includes Spain and Portugal). Descriptions provided by L.A. Film Festival, and bold cap commentary by me.
Narrative Competition:
o All Is Well – Portugal (Director Pocas Pascoal ♀, Producer Luis Correia Cast Cheila Lima, Ciomara Morais) – Strangers in a strange land, two beautiful Angolan sisters fleeing a civil war in their homeland struggle to survive in Lisbon. Pocas Pascoal’s deeply personal saga shows us the face of exile with quietly stunning power. North American Premiere
o The Compass is Carried by the Dead Man – Mexico (Director/Writer Arturo Pons Producer Ozcar Ramírez González Cast Gael Sanchez Valle, Pedro Gamez, Ana Ofelia Murguía, Eligio Melendez, Luis Bayardo, Marco Perez) – A young man and a dead man journey north through a subtly surreal desert landscape, picking up a wagonful of odd characters as they go in this darkly humorous satire of contemporary Mexico. North American Premiere
o Four – (Director/Writer Joshua Sanchez Producer Christine Giorgio Cast Wendell Pierce, Emory Cohen, Aja Naomi King, E.J. Bonilla) – Over the course of a steamy 4th of July night, a father and daughter, each trapped in loneliness, reach out for sexual connection — he with a self-hating teenage boy, she with a smooth-talking wannabe homeboy — in this psychologically complex, beautifully acted drama. World Premiere
o Thursday till Sunday – Chile (Director/Writer Dominga Sotomayor ♀ Producers Gregorio González, Benjamin Domenech Cast Santi Ahumada, Emiliano Freifeld, Francisco Pérez-Bannen, Paola Giannini) – With uncommon beauty and style, this Chilean road movie finds a family at a crossroads, as the daughter slowly realizes the divide between the adults in the front seat and the kids in back. North American Premiere
Documentary Competition:
o Drought – Mexico (Director Everado González Producer Martha Orozco) – Contrasting the lives of a cattle-ranching community with the arid northeastern Mexican landscape that surrounds them, this cinema vertité documentary paints a poetic portrait of a community on the verge of extinction. Us Premiere
o Sun Kissed – (Directors Maya Stark ♀, Adi Lavy ♀ Producers Jocelyn Glatzer, Maya Stark, Adi Lavy) – With remarkable strength of spirit, a husband and wife examine their lives and why their children and others have been struck with a rare genetic disorder in this powerful portrait of a small Navajo community. World Premiere ~ Okay Not Latino But It'S Native American So I’M Giving It A Shout Since There Are Not Enough Native American Stories.
International Showcase:
o Canícula – Mexico (Director José Álvarez Writers Sebastián Hoffman, José Álvarez Producer Mauricio Fabre Cast Hermelinda Santes, Esteban González, Mario García) – This is a hauntingly beautiful portrait of the rituals and crafts of contemporary Indians in remote Veracruz, who teach their boys to fly. ~ See My Interview With Jose Here.
o The Last Elvis – Argentina (Director Armando Bo Writers Armando Bo, Nicolás Giacobone Producers Steve Golin, Hugo Sigman, Patricio Alvarez Casado, Victor Bo, Armando Bo Cast John McInerny, Griselda Siciliani, Margarita Lopez) – John McInerny gives a staggering performance in this poignant tale of a Buenos Aires Elvis impersonator who only comes alive when he dons the King’s clothes to perform. How can he reconcile his dreams of glory with his dead end factory job and an estranged wife and daughter who can’t live inside his fantasies?
o Neighboring Sounds – Brazil (Director/Writer Kleber Mendonça Filho Producer Emilie Lesclaux Cast Irandhir Santos, Gustavo Jahn, Maeve Jinkings, W.J. Solha) – Kleber Mendonca Filho’s astonishing, suspenseful debut film focuses on one upscale street in the seaside town of Recife, where a private security team is enlisted to protect the residents from crime. By its startling conclusion, you feel you’ve seen all of Brazilian society exposed.
o The Strawberry Tree – Canada/Cuba/Italy (Director/Producer Simone Rapisarda Casanova) – Filmed in a small Cuban fishing village mere weeks before a hurricane decimated the entire region, this stunning documentary unknowingly captures the town’s final days even as it reframes the usual filmmaker-film subject relationship.
Summer Showcase:
o La Camioneta: The Journey of One American School Bus – USA/Guatemala (Director Mark Kendall Producers Mark Kendall, Rafael González, Bernardo Ruiz) – The journey and transformation of a yellow American school bus into a vibrant Central American camionetasensitively reveals both the beauty and violence of everyday life in Guatemala.
o Reportero – (Director Bernardo Ruiz Producers Bernardo Ruiz, Patricia Benabe, Anne Hubbell Featuring Sergio Haro Cordero, Adela Navarro Bello) – A look at the incredible danger facing journalists in Mexico through the eyes of investigative reporter Sergio Haro and other staff at Zeta, the defiant Tijuana-based newsweekly.~ See My Interview With Bernardo Here
o Searching for Sugar Man – (Director/Writer Malik Bendjelloul Producers Simon Chinn, Nicole Stott, George Chignell) – Years after fading into obscurity at home, the music of ’70s U.S. singer/songwriter Rodriguez became an underground sensation in South Africa. Decades after his disappearance, two fans uncover the startling truth behind the legend.
Beyond:
o Juan of the Dead – Cuba (Director/Writer Alejandro Brugués Producers Gervasio Iglesias, Inti Herrera Cast Alexis Días de Villegas, Jorge Molina, Andrea Duro, Andros Perugorría, Jazz Vila, Eliecer Ramírez) – The streets of Havana are alive with the undead in Cuba’s first zombie comedy, a wild and bloody romp that sinks its sharp satirical teeth into the Cuban body politic. Castro may not be amused, but you will be.
Short Film Competition:
Against the Sea (Contra el mar) – Mexico, USA (Director) Richard Parkin
Black Doll (Prita Noire) – Mexico (Director) Sofia Carrillo
Kendo Monogatari – Cuba, Guatemala (Director) Fabián Suárez
Scanning (Ecografía) – Cuba (Director) Aleksandra Maciuszek Mukoid
Life and Freaky Times of Uncle Luke – (Directors) Jillian Mayer, Lucas Leyva ~Crazy Talented! Miami Represent!
Fireworks – (Director) Victor Hugo Duran -
Kendo Monogatari – Cuba, Guatemala (Director) Fabián Suárez
Paraíso – (Director) Nadav Kurtz ~Doc Subject Is About 3 Mexicans
Scanning (Ecografía) – Cuba (Director) Aleksandra Maciuszek Mukoid
Voice Over – Spain (Director) Martín Rosete
For full lineup and more info go to L.A. Film Festival...
- 5/2/2012
- by Christine Davila
- Sydney's Buzz
HollywoodNews.com: Today the Los Angeles Film Festival, in conjunction with Presenting Media Sponsor the Los Angeles Times and Host Partner L.A. Live, announced the Closing Night film and official Us and international selections for the 2012 Festival. Guest Director, Artists in Residence and Conversations with special guests will be announced later this month. The 2012 Los Angeles Film Festival will screen a diverse slate of nearly 200 feature films, short films, and music videos, representing more than 30 countries, along with signature programs such as the Filmmaker Retreat, Poolside Chats, Coffee Talks, music events and more. As previously announced, Woody Allen’s To Rome With Love will be Opening Night, sponsored by Virgin America, and Lorene Scafaria’s Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Ava DuVernay’s Middle of Nowhere and Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild were selected for the Galas section.
Returning to downtown Los Angeles and headquartered at L.
Returning to downtown Los Angeles and headquartered at L.
- 5/1/2012
- by Josh Abraham
- Hollywoodnews.com
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