In Focus: Cinema Tropical Museum of Modern Art NY

The Museum of Modern Art, May 4-16, 2011

Featuring the One-Week Theatrical Release of HISTORIAS EXTRAORDINARIAS and a Special Ten-Year Anniversary Screening of 25 WATTS

The Museum of Modern Art is honoring the work of the New York-based non-profit media arts organization Cinema Tropical with a program of acclaimed Latin American films promoted by Cinema Tropical in the past decade. This film series celebrates not only the work of the organization, but also an extraordinary decade of Latin American film. The past ten years have witnessed an unexpected and astonishing film renaissance throughout Latin America. Largely influenced and inspired by the experience of the so-called New Argentine Cinema and propelled by creative hybrid models of production, a young and enthusiast generation of filmmakers are drastically changing how the region is seen and represented on the big screen.

Cinema Tropical was created in 2001 by Carlos A. Gutiérrez and Monika Wagenberg with the mission of distributing, programming and promoting what was to become the biggest boom of Latin American cinema in decades. Through diverse programs and initiatives, it has played a predominant role in introducing American audiences to this exciting body of work and on creating better and more effective strategies for the distribution and exhibition of foreign cinema in this country. This film series presents the work of some of Latin America’s most accomplished and innovative contemporary filmmakers that Cinema Tropical has championed throughout the past decade.

Jytte Jensen, Curator, Department of Film, The Museum of Modern Art said “Cinema Tropical has been a significant partner on many MoMA film exhibitions throughout the past decade; their expertise and generosity of spirit has greatly informed the manner in which Latin American cinema has been presented here and throughout the US. With discerning eyes and pioneering ways of distribution the fortuitous confluence of the renaissance of Latin American cinema and the development of Cinema Tropical has proven a successful combination that benefit ever widening audiences as well as Latin America’s many talented filmmakers.”

Highlights of the program include the one-week theatrical release of Mariano Llinás’ Historias extraordinarias (Extraordinary Stories, Argentina, 2008), the ten year anniversary screening of Pablo Stoll and Jan Pablo Rebella’s Uruguayan classic 25 Watts (Uruguay, 2001), and the New York premieres of Martín Rejtman and Federico León’s Entrenamiento elemental para actores (Elementary Training for Actors, Argentina, 2009). The series is also proud to have the presence of some of the featured directors that will be presenting their work and offering some Q&A sessions.

In Focus: Cinema Tropical is organized by Jytte Jensen, Curator, Department of Film, The Museum of Modern Art.