Tag Archives: DIRECTOR

BRINCANDO EL CHARCO

Brincando El Charco

The cult classic film Brincando el charco, a meditation on Puerto Rican identities in the context of mass migration, will screen as part of Columbia University’s Hispanic Film Festival.

Director Frances Negrón-Muntaner will be present to engage in a dialogue with Richard Peña, director of the New York Film Festival, and the general audience.

Despite the director’s original intent as a film for “half a dozen friends” who also shared the pains and joys of migrating to the U.S. over a decade ago, Brincando el charco still seems to have something to say for new audiences.

Wednesday, December 6, 7:30PM

Columbia University
Broadway at 116th Street
Room 517 in Hamilton Hall

Talk with makers of “Ladrones y mentirosos”

MEDIANOCHE HOSTS TALK WITH THE MAKERS

OF THE CONTROVERSIAL PUERTO RICAN FILM

LADRONES Y MENTIROSOS

(Spanish, English subtitles)

Wednesday, July 26, 6:30pm – 9:00pm

Reception with live music by Grupo Coco Rico, 6:30pm – 7:30pm
Screening of film excerpts, discussion and Q&A, 7:30pm – 9pm

MediaNoche
161 East 106th Street, First Floor
(between Lexington and Third Avenues)

This Wednesday, July 26, at 6:30 PM, MediaNoche will host a reception for the filmmakers and leading actors of the award-winning Puerto Rican film Thieves and Liars (Ladrones y Mentirosos). Poli Marichal and Ricardo Méndez Matta, who co-wrote and co-directed the controversial film, will be present along with three of their stars: Cuban actor Steven Bauer (Scarface, Traffic), Dominican percussionist Isidro Bobadilla (Juan Luis Guerra y 440), and Puerto Rican newcomer Magda Rivera. Judith Escalona, Director of MediaNoche, will moderate a discussion with the filmmakers and cast that will include previewing scenes from the film and a Q&A.

Thieves and Liars tells the story of three families caught in a web of government corruption and drug trafficking. Much in the manner of Traffic, Marichal and Méndez Matta draw a connection between the two. According to Mendez Matta: “The fact that high level corruption and increased drug trade both surfaced at exactly the same time cannot be a coincidence.”

Thieves-and-Liars-poster1.jpg

The film won a “Best Director” award at the Phoenix Film Festival and will screen twice during the New York International Latino Film Festival: Thursday, July 27, 8pm, at Imaginasian Theater; and Sunday, July 30, 6pm, at Florence Gould Hall.

For information about the film, visit www.ladronesymentirosos.com. For information about the festival (and to purchase tickets), visit www.nylatinofilm.com/home.html. Grupo Coco Rico is a Latin music band performing classic salsa, bolero and son-cubano.

Directions to MediaNoche: Take the IRT #6 train uptown to 103 Street. Walk three blocks up, turn right on East 106th Street. MediaNoche is between Lexington and 3rd Avenues.


BABALU-CY! The Art of Desi Arnaz

desi.jpg
GREG PURNHAGEN
in
BABALU-CY!-
The Art of Desi Arnaz

Wednesdays, July 11, 18 & 25, 7:00p.m.

featuring Georga Osborne
Musical Director~ David Cook
Bass~Yoshi Waki
Drums~Chad Hochberg
Johnny Durkin~ Percussion
Ravi Best~ Trumpet Kurt Stockdale- Sax
Ryan Kebberle~ Trombone
Directed by Leonard Peters

The Metropolitan Room
34 West 22nd Street, NYC
reservations 212.206.0440
$25 cover/2 drink minimum

www.metropolitanroom.com
www.cabarethotlineonline.com

Latinos in US Media

The Boston Latino International Film Festival (www.bliff.org) the Boston
Area Spanish Exchange – BASE present:

Latinos in US Media
(panel *mostly* in Spanish)
Saturday October 20, 2pm, Howard Thurman Center at Boston University (FREE)
775 Commonwealth Ave.
Boston, MA 02215
www.bu.edu/thurman

“Boston area Spanish-speaking media, film and arts experts meet to discuss in Spanish the present state of Spanish language (and bilingualism) in these U.S. media. The media have played an active role in the creation of many of the stereotypes related to the Latino community in the United States. By addressing the role of language in the inscription, and subversion, of these stereotypes, this panel seeks to provide a space for reflection about how these issues affect the very communities represented in the screen and other media, as well as their relationship with other
communities in the US.”

Moderator:
Carmen Oquendo-Villar

Panelists:

-Ernesto Livon-Grosman, Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies and Director of Graduate Studies of the Dept. of Romance Languages & Literatures at Boston College; he has also made the documentary “Cartoneros”, about the paper recycling process in Argentina, and how many people become trash pickers to be able to make a living.

-Cristina Kotz Cornejo, Associate Professor, Director of the BFA Program, Department of Visual and Media Arts, Emerson College; who has made several films. The last one, titled “3 Americas”, about the relation between an Argentinean-American girl, her anti-American grand-mother in Argentina, and America.

-Doris Sommer, Ira Jewell Williams Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures, Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, Harvard
University; her work focuses mainly on issues of bilingualism and cultural agency.

-Marisol Negron, Florence Levy Kay Fellow in Latino Studies, Department of Romance Studies and the Program in Latin American & Latino Studies, Brandeis University; her dissertation is “Salsa as commodity and cultural signifier: an analysis of nuyorican musical form.” Her research interests are migration and diaspora, popular culture and comodification, and Cuban-American, Dominican-American, Chicano and Puerto Rican cultural production.

-Jose Barriga, He is a social psychologist by training and specializes in Latino media in the U.S. He has worked in Los Angeles with Telemundo, Fox Latin America, La Opinion newspaper, and Enigma Entertainment in different executive positions. He attended: la Universidad Catolica de Lima, la Universidad Ricardo Palma de Lima, the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Armando Robles Godoy Filmmaking School.

-Carmen Oquendo-Villar, (Harvard Ph.D) is a Boston-based interdisciplinary artist and writer-scholar of Puerto Rican and Spanish descent, educated in Latin America, West Africa and the United States. She has been lecturing, exhibiting, and curating internationally since 2004.

CINE_REAL: Two exhibits about film

MediaNoche presents

CINE_REAL: Two exhibits about film

Judith Escalona’s “Bx3M: A work in process”
Hector Canonge’s “IDOLatries/IDOLatrias”

November 8 – December 20, 2007
Opening Reception: Thursday, November 8, 6 – 8PM

MediaNoche
1355 Park Avenue (entrance on East 102nd Street)
New York, NY 10029

For info: www.medianoche.us or 212-828-0401

SUBWAY:
Take the IRT Lexington Avenue Local #6 train to 103rd Street and
Lexington Avenue. We’re one block South and one block West.

ADMISSION: Free

Project Descriptions:

Judith Escalona’s “Bx3M: A work in process”
Witness firsthand the ongoing editing of this New York City epic. The
director and invited guests (Director of Photography Ted Ciesielski
and Actor Jaime Sanchez for starters) go through a performative
process of editing. Visitors watch and interact with
them. Behind the scenes footage also on display.

Hector Canonge’s “IDOLatries/IDOLatrías””
An interactive new media work utilizing barcode and readers to bring
attention to yet another way women are objectified. Barcode takes us
one more step away from seeing these luscious Latinas on boxes,
cans,and jars as anything other than their use value. Consumer heaven
or hell, depending on which side of the supermarket aisle you’re on.

Handball Court Free Screening of “VOTE FOR ME!”


MediaNoche presents

THE SIXTH ANNUAL
HANDBALL COURT FILM SCREENINGS 2008

AT WHITE PARK
East 106th Street, between Lexington and Third Avenues
Admission: Free
For info: 212.828.0401

SATURDAYS AT SUNSET (approx. 8:00PM)

Bring your own seat or cushion!

July 19
VOTE FOR ME! (Comedy, 1998)
Director: Nelson Denis, former New York State Assemblyman
Runtime: 1 hr 15 mins
Mad as hell and can’t take it anymore? Become a candidate of the people, fighting for better schools, litter-free streets, more jobs, and less crime! A tenement superntendent Leo Rodriguez decides to make a clean sweep of things in Spanish Harlem by throwing his hat in the ring to help his community. A satirical look at New York City politics – funny and unfortunately based on real events. The names have been changed to protect the guilty!

THE SIXTH ANNUAL HANDBALL COURT SUMMER FILMS SERIES IN WHITE PARK

THE SIXTH ANNUAL
HANDBALL COURT SUMMER FILMS SERIES
in WHITE PARK
(106th Street between Lexington and Third Avenues)
SATURDAY NIGHTS – AT SUNSET (approx 8PM)

For information: 212.828.0401 or info@medianoche.us

“Political Animals”, this year’s curatorial theme….

MediaNoche presents the free Handball Court Summer Film Series at White Park beginning Saturday, July 12. “Political Animals” is this year’s theme. Curator Judith Escalona brings together a set of fictional films, dramas and comedies, examining the U.S. electoral process. The Candidate (1972), which looks at how a young politician slowly gives up his ideals to be elected, is as relevant today as when it premiered 36 years ago! In the more recent Head of State (2003), a young politician who knows the ropes finds his voice and a way to embrace his ideals. The last film in this set is actually a documentary entitled An Unreasonable Man, a moving portrait of America’s greatest public advocate Ralph Nader that includes a critical view of the entrenched two-party political system.

“Hazardous to your health” groups films dealing with health and the environment. Not to be missed are: Sick Around the World, comparing health coverage in five capitalist democracies, and The Medicated Child, how troubled children are over-prescribed medicines that have unknown long term effects. Lastly, An Inconvenient Truth, screened last year but presented here again, to stress the urgency of global warming.

MediaNoche is a project of PRdream.com. Some program notes were provided by rottentomatoes.com and pbs.org.

“Political Animals”

July 12
THE CANDIDATE (Drama, 1972)
Director: Michael Ritchie
Runtime: 1 hr 54 mins
An idealistic young lawyer and son of a famous governor is pushed into running for the U.S. Senate against the popular incumbent with the assurance that he will lose and not have to give up his integrity or ideals. As the campaign deepens, he finds himself giving in, allowing himself to be manipulated as the polls slowly change and swing in his favor. Soon his backers decide they want him to win after all. By the time Election Day arrives, the young lawyer has become the person he used to speak so vehemently against.

July 19
VOTE FOR ME! (Comedy, 1998)
Director: Nelson Denis, former New York State Assemblyman
Runtime: 1 hr 15 mins
Mad as hell and can’t take it anymore? Become a candidate of the people, fighting for better schools, litter-free streets, more jobs, and less crime! A tenement superntendent Leo Rodriguez decides to make a clean sweep of things in Spanish Harlem by throwing his hat in the ring to help his community. A satirical look at New York City politics – funny and unfortunately based on real events. The names have been changed to protect the guilty!

July 26
HEAD OF STATE (Comedy, 2003)
Director: Chris Rock
Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins
Just weeks before the nation is about to elect a new president, one of the top candidates is killed in a plane crash. Plotting a future run in 2008, U.S. Senator Bill Arnot convinces his staff to pick a replacement who has no chance of winning. But he gets more than he bargained for when he selects Mays Gilliam. At first thankful to be in the spotlight, Mays plays the puppet, but eventually he uses his power to actually say something meaningful. Everyone is shocked to discover that Mays is giving the people exactly what they want.

August 2
BOB ROBERTS (Drama, 1992)
Director: Time Robbins
Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins
Right-wing folksinger Bob Roberts is the anti-Bob Dylan, wowing his supporters with tunes such as “Times Are Changin’ Back” and “Wall Street Rap”. With his clean-cut good looks and squeaky-clean image, Roberts appears as American as apple pie. Yet, he harbors some nasty secrets such as illegal drug trafficking and bank scandals. Roberts’s political trickery fails him when an innocent man is accused of attempting to assassinate the candidate.

August 9
THE DISTINGUISHED GENTLEMAN (Comedy, 1992)
Director: Jonathan Lynn
Runtime: 1 hr 52 mins
A small-time con artist goes big time when he hustles his way to the U.S. Congress. Once elected he reaps the usual benefits, and enjoys the perks of power. However, he decides to clean up the Capitol and ends up doing to Congress what Congress has been doing to its constituency all along.

August 16
AN UNREASONABLE MAN (Documentary, 2007)
Directors: Steve Skrovan and Henriette Mantel
Runtime: 2 hrs 3 mins
A close look at how one of the 20th century’s most admired and indefatigable social activists, Ralph Nader, became a pariah among the same progressive circles he helped champion. The film takes the form of an impassioned public debate when it tackles the contentious 2000 and 2004 presidential runs that elicited accusations of splitting the Democratic vote and enabling the election of George W. Bush, making enemies of Nader’s most ardent supporters. Once again, Nader exposes the undemocratic structure imposed by an entrenched two-party system.
Hazardous to your health

August 23
SICK AROUND THE WORLD (Documentary, 2008)
Producer/Director: Jon Palfreman, Correspondent: T.R. Reid
Runtime: 60 minutes
Can the U.S. learn anything from the rest of the world about how to run a healthcare system? Five Capitalist democracies are profiled: England, Japan, Germany, Switzerland, Taiwan. See how they do it!
Viewer comment from healthnet blog: “I watched Frontline’s Sick Around the World documentary last night and really recommend it to all as a sober examination of the healthcare issues that are such a high priority in America today. What I found most insightful about T.R. Reid’s reporting was the clear and practical way he looked at the pros and cons of the national health systems in the U.K., Japan, Germany and Switzerland. Even more impressive was learning how Taiwan went about reinventing their healthcare system by drawing on the best elements of programs around the world.”

THE MEDICATED CHILD (Documentary, 2008)
Producer: Marcela Gaviria
Runtime: 60 minutes
The availability of medication for children who are suffering from psychiatric problems is widespread, but how much research has really been done on the long-reaching effects of these drugs? This program in PBS’s FRONTLINE series speaks to a number of experts in the field, revealing some alarming facts and figures about the lack of research into the effects of commonplace drugs such as Ritalin. In particular, the show focuses on the growing numbers of kids who are believed to be suffering from bipolar disorder, questioning whether these diagnoses are correct and looking at the potential long term damage the medications they are taking could cause.

August 30
AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH (Documentary, 2006)
Director: Davis Guggenheim
Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins
According to most of the world’s scientists, we have just ten years to avert a major catastrophe that could send our entire planet into a tailspin of epic destruction involving extreme weather, floods, droughts, epidemics and killer heat waves beyond anything we have ever experienced. Since losing the 2000 presidential election, former Vice President Al Gore has been an outspoken figure against this potential environmental disaster. For Gore we can no longer afford to view global warming as a political issue – it is simply one of the biggest moral challenges facing every person in our times.

LATINAS IN CINEMA: FILMWORKS BEYOND THE GLASS CEILING

Pagan Images, Inc., in association with Anthology Film Archives, cordially invites you to the NewLatino Filmmakers Screening Series – The best and only independent Latino “cinematheque” showcase in New York City — now in its 6th year! — is still ONLY $5! Docs, shorts & features. “Come early, stay late, pay one price.”

When: Wednesday, July 30, 2008 – 6~9:30PM
Where: Anthology Film Archives, 32 Second Avenue at Second Street
Price: $5 admission ~ at the box office

6:00PM – Documentary Shorts Program
7:15PM – Narrative Shorts Program
8:150PM – Narrative Feature

“LATINAS IN CINEMA: FILMWORKS BEYOND THE GLASS CEILING”

Curated by Edwin Pagan

NewLatino Filmmakers puts the spotlight on creative Latinas working behind the cameras in both the independent film and Hollywood systems as image-makers. This emerging crop of dynamic filmmakers and producers are putting their unique mark on the industry with their own unique spin on the Latin Film New Wave, and blazing the trail as today’s emerging auteurs. Featuring short-form documentary, narrative shorts and feature presentations. Live panel discussion and Q&A with the filmmakers.

6:00PM NEWLATINO FILMMAKERS – DOCUMENTARY SERIES

* AL OTRO LADO Natalia Almada, Altamura Films, (2006, 66 Minutes, Video)

Al Otro Lado (To the Other Side)” tells the human story behind illegal immigration and drug trafficking between the U.S. and Mexico through the eyes of Magdiel, a 23-year-old fisherman and aspiring composer who dreams of a better life. For people south of the border, the “other side” is the dream of an impossibly rich United States, where even menial jobs can support families and whole communities that have been left behind. For people north of the border, “Al Otro Lado” sheds light on harsh choices that their neighbors to the south often face because of economic crisis.

As movingly chronicled in “Al Otro Lado,” Natalia Almada’s debut feature, the border is a place where one people’s dreams collide with another people’s politics, and the 200-year-old tradition of corrido music vibrantly chronicles it all. In fact, if you really want to understand what is happening on the U.S./Mexico border, listen to the corridos, troubadour-like ballads that have become the voice of people whose views are rarely heard in mainstream media.

7:15PM NEWLATINO FILMMAKERS – SHORT FILM PROGRAM

* JOLOPEO, Glenys Javier, Director / Michael Diaz, Producer (2007, 5 Minutes, Video)

Living that life leads to death, I choose to LIVE!

* SOLEDAD IS GONE FOREVER, Mabel Valdiviezo, Writer/Director (2007, 14 Minutes, 16MM)

SOLEDAD IS GONE FOREVER is a spellbinding, visually stunning, psychological drama that explores the long-term psychological impact of political persecution. Based on real accounts, this film presents an intimate portrait of a young immigrant photographer living in San Francisco, Soledad Gonzales, who learns her father’s remains have been found in a mass grave in Chile. Soledad’s recurring visions of chilling childhood images shatter her life, making her discover that these are real memories that have been repressed for twenty years.

Torn by her aunt Delia’s advice to forget the past but faced by the implications of her father’s death, Soledad must make a crucial decision. Does she have the courage to pursue the truth and will this realization finally bring peace to her tortured soul?

* LOSS OF INNOCENCE IN LOISAIDA, Veronica Caicedo, Writer/Director (2007, 30 Minutes, Video)

Joana is a curious teen ready to explore and have sex and willing to go all the way with her boyfriend, Tommy. Not prepared for the situation, Tommy must score some condoms — FAST — but he must first get past the gatekeeper to his bliss: the local pharmacist, who also just happens to be Joana’s father!

8:15PM NEWLATINO FILMMAKERS – FEATURE PRESENTATION



MUNECA, Christina Soto, Writer/Director (2007, 70 Minutes, Video)


You find love in the most unexpected places. All Esteban wants to do, is to be happy and recapture his creative inspiration. With the death of his muse, and best friend, Pepe — a miniature fox terrier — it seems as if everyone in his life is trying to push their idea of a replacement on him with that of a perfect woman. What’s a man to do?

ABOUT THE SERIES

NewLatino Filmmakers showcases emerging Latino filmmakers/producers whose work is contributing toward the face of the Latino Film New Wave and who have not yet had a major commercial theatrical release. It also features non-Latino filmmakers/producers whose films are Latino-themed and/or whose primary subject matter touches upon the Latino/Latin American experience in a respectful manner, and who have not yet had a major commercial theatrical release. The series is now in its six year and is organized in collaboration with New Filmmakers at Anthology Film Archives.

Anthology Film Archives is America’s only year-round film cinematheque and is one of the few festivals in the world today that is entirely curated and administered by filmmakers. Currently celebrating its 35th year of serving the independent film community. (www.anthologyfilmarchives.org)

Cultural Survival, Political Resistance and Sustainable Development in Contemporary Puerto Rico

A Seminar and Discussion presented by Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture

Tuesday, October 7, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Hostos Art Gallery
Hostos Community College/CUNY
450 Grand Concourse (at 149 St.)
The Bronx

Admission is free. To register, call 718-518-4455

Transp: IRT 2, 4, 5, Bx1 & Bx19 to Grand Concourse & 149 St.

. . . a bilingual (English-Spanish) one-day seminar on the effects of development and globalization on traditional cultures in Puerto Rico focusing on the recent history of the coastal communities of Loíza and Piñones and the island of Vieques. The participants represent a cross section of leaders in the struggle for cultural and environmental survival: educators, cultural activists and advocates of alternative strategies for development.

The seminar serves as an introduction to BomPlenazo 2008, the Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture’s biennial celebration of Afro-Puerto Rican culture. This year, the festival will focus on the bomba and plena music and dance traditions as they are practiced in the communities of Loíza and Piñones, two of the principal centers of Afro-Puerto Rican culture.

Founded by runaway slaves and freedmen in the 19th century, Loíza and its neighborhood of Piñones, with their beautiful coastline and coconut groves, have become a symbol of cultural tenacity as many loiceños have bravely resisted development efforts that threaten their cultural traditions and the beauty of their communities.

This seminar will also focus on the recent history of Vieques, the struggle to end naval bombing of the island and the implementation of a strategy for sustainable development. The island’s recent history, characterized by military and economic assaults, mirrors that of Loiza and Piñones.

Program

8:30–9
Registration, coffee

9–9:30
Welcome and Introductory Remarks
Juan Flores, Ph.D., moderator, Professor, Black and Puerto Rican Studies, NYU
The Hon. José Rivera, New York State Assemblyman

9:30–10:30
Piñones & Isla Verde, the Historical Context
Juan Giusti, Professor, University of Puerto Rico

10:30-10:45
Break

10:45-11:45
The Struggle for Piñones: Political & Economic Aspects
Maricruz Rivera Clemente, President, Corporación Piñones se Integra

11:45-12:45
The Struggle for Vieques: Post Navy Bombardment
Robert Rabin, Director, Museo Fuerte Conde Mirasol, Vieques

12:45-1:30
Lunch

1:30-2:30
The Role of Popular Action in Environmental Preservation
Alberto de Jesús, a.k.a., Tito Kayak, Environmental Activist

2:30-3:30
Microenterprises: A Strategy for Sustainable Development
Nilda Medina, Director, Incubadora de Microempresas Bieke

3:30-3:45
Break

3:45-4:00
Observations and Conclusions
Juan Flores, Professor, Black and Puerto Rican Studies, NYU

4:00
Acto Cultural

Raúl Ayala
This seminar was made possible by a legislative initiative grant from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation through the offices of New York State Assemblyman José Rivera. It is an integral part of the Hostos Creative Campus Project, a collaboration between the Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture and the Hostos Community College/CUNY Humanities Department. The creative campus project has been funded by the Association of Performing Arts Presenters Creative Campus Innovations Grant Program funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.