3rd Annual Latino Film Fiesta

VICTORIA PARA CHINO (USA/Mexico) short

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 06:45:30 +0000

Victoria para Chino – USA/Mexico (2004)
Directed by Cary Fukunaga
Awards: 10 wins
13 minutes: in Spanish with English subtitles
Rated PG

In May 2003 a refrigerated truck carrying more than 80 illegal immigrants from the Mexican border drove into the heartland of Texas. A deadly combination of heat and overcrowding lead to tragedy. This is a story of that journey.

FALLING IN RHYTHM (USA) short

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 06:26:24 +0000

Falling in Rhythm – USA (2004)
Directed by Malcolm Lam
Awards: 10 wins including BendFilm Official Selection
18 minutes: in English
Rated G-PG

Caught in the monotonous rituals of everyday life, a young couple discovers new-found passion in the rhythms of Latin dance.

http://www.wabisabifilms.com/FIR/index.htm

EL REGALO DE LA PACHAMAMA (Bolivia) - The Gift of Pachamama (Mother Earth)

admin — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 20:17:40 +0000

El regalo de la Pachamama – Bolivia/Japan (2008)
Directed by Toshifumi Matsushita
Awards: 1 win
102 minutes: in Quechua, Aymara, and Spanish with English subtitles
Rated G-PG

In the Salar de Uyuni, there is a 13 year-old boy, Kunturi, who lives a life much like any other boy in his village. But when his grandmother dies and his best friend moves away, he decides to embark on a trip with the llama caravan. For three months, he travels throughout the “Ruta de la Sal,” exchanging salt for other Andes products, reluctantly bearing witness to an animal sacrifice in the snow-covered peaks and interacting with the indigenous cultures seemingly untouched by modernity.

But when the caravan arrives at its destination, the town of Macha where the “Tinku” Festival is taking place, Kunturi’s life will be changed forever. There he finds the most beautiful girl he could have ever imagined, Ulala. Kunturi and Ulala share the same dream: “to run together across the immense white sea that is the Salar de Uyuni, until they reach the end of the horizon.

CABEZA DE VACA (Mexico)

admin — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 21:47:29 +0000

Cabeza de Vaca – Mexico/Spain (1991)
Directed by Nicolas Echeverria
Awards: 8 Wins; 1 Nomination
112 Minutes: in Spanish and Latin with English subtitles
Rated PG18-R

An international award winning saga of old Mexico. In 1528, a Spanish expedition founders off the coast of Florida with 600 lives lost. One survivor, Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, roams across the American continent searching for his Spanish comrades. Instead, he discovers the Iguase, an ancient Indian tribe. Over the next eight years, Cabeza de Vaca learns their mystical and mysterious culture, becoming a healer and a leader. But soon this New World collides with the Old World as Spanish conquistadors seek to enslave the Indians, and Cabeza de Vaca must confront his own people and his past.

Written by Concorde – New Horizons

MACHUCA (Chile)

admin — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 21:44:07 +0000

Machuca – Chile (2004)
Directed by Andres Wood
Awards: 9 wins & 3 nominations
121 Minutes: in Spanish with English subtitles
Rated PG-13

In 1973, in Santiago of Chile of the first socialist president democratically elected in a Latin-American country, President Salvador Allende, the principal of the Saint Patrick School, Father McEnroe makes a trial of integration between students of the upper and lower classes. The bourgeois boy Gonzalo Infante and the boy from the slum Pedro Machuca become great friends, while the conflicts on the streets leads Chile to the bloody and repressive military coup of General Augusto Pinochet on 11 September 1973, changing definitely their lives, their relationship and their country.

Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil