< CINE LAS AMERICAS: Opening & Closing Films AnnouncedPosted:
Friday, April 4th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
CINE LAS AMERICAS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
The festival will close on Thursday, April 24th with the screening of COCHOCHI, directed by Israel Cárdenas and Laura Amelia Guzmán at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar.
The Cine Las Americas International Film Festival is a nine-day annual event that screens new work made by or about Latino and indigenous people of the Americas. The festival screens narrative and documentary features, short films, experimental work, animation, and youth films in both competitive and non-competitive sections. This event is complemented with repertoire and special screenings. This year approximately 80 different films will screen on April 16 - April 24 at venues throughout Austin. Spain, Documentary, 2007 Wednesday, April 16th, 8 pm For the incarcerated participants of the 2005 Festival of Song, singing love songs is not merely entertainment. It is also a poignant reminder of the people they left behind. What begins as a visit to a friend in a Madrid-area penitentiary soon becomes the inspiration for this documentary, when director Bosch stumbles across a karaoke competition. The competitors are from as far afield as Argentina, Mexico, Bolivia and Lithuania, and each has chosen a love song, singing for family, friends and lovers as though his heart is far outside the prison walls. The winner moves on to a larger, system-wide contest, where many others are waiting to compete, including Gordoquia, a former rock star. Following these remarkable stories over the course of a year, Septiembres journeys both within and outside the prison, traveling from Buenos Aires to Lithuania, and Bolivia to Barcelona in order to track down the people for whom the prisoners sing. “What is love? Can a documentary be made about love?” asks Bosch. This beguiling film proves that the answer is an unequivocal yes. “The redemptive power of love and song flows powerfully through “Septembers,” an emotionally involving item that’s also curiously upbeat, given that it’s set in Spanish jails. Catalan helmer Carles Bosch (2002’s Oscar-nommed “Balseros”) appears to have walked in aiming to mine as much joy as he could from the lives of the embattled inmates, and he’s succeeded beautifully. Bosch chooses his subjects with care and lets their stories unfold sans voiceover, but with the kind of compassion and insight, docu suggests, rarely afforded by the justice system.” - Jonathan Holland, Variety About the Director Carles Bosch directed the Oscar-nominated Balseros, which screened at the Sundance, Miami International and Havana film festivals, among others, and won a number of international awards, including an Emmy and a Peabody. His work as a veteran reporter for Thirty Minutes (TV3, Spain) has taken him to the frontlines of major world events, including the first Gulf war, the wars in Bosnia and Kosovo, and the Zapatista revolution. Producers: Carles Bosch, Toño Folguera, Loris Omedes. COCHOCHI Mexico, Drama, 2007 Closing Night: co-sponsored by the Austin Film Society Evaristo and Tony, indigenous brothers from northwest Mexico, have just graduated from elementary school. They are contemplating their next move, when their grandfather offers them an assignment: to deliver medicine to a remote community. They accept, steal his horse for transport, and set off on their journey. However, the brothers soon lose their way and their horse, and wander desperately into the forest to look for it. Tony and Evaristo embark on separate adventures, as desperation begins to set in; whatever happens, they cannot return without their grandfather’s horse. “Cochochi is unforgettable. It touches the heart.” - Sandra Peredo, Intermedias reviewer at Vancouver international Film Festival. About the Directors Laura Amelia Guzmán was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, in 1980. After studying cinematography at the International Film and Television School in Cuba, she went on to direct a number of internationally acclaimed documentaries and shorts. Her husband, Israel Cárdenas, was born in 1980 in Monterrey, Mexico. After participating in several film workshops, he set up Blueberry Films in 2001 to produce video clips, commercials, documentaries and shorts. Cochochi is their first feature. Producers: Pablo Cruz, Donald K. Ranvaud ##### This project is funded in part by the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division and by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts. Posted in In Recent News, Announcements ~ You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Austin-TX, March 24- The 11th Cine Las Americas International Film Festival will celebrate its opening night on Wednesday, April 16th at the Paramount Theatre, located in downtown Austin, Texas with the screening of the documentary feature SEPTIEMBRES (SEPTEMBERS) directed by Carles Bosh.
