Viva Film Festival: Riverhorse brings Mexico to Manchester

A Manchester company’s thought-provoking documentary has been selected for a special preview screening at the 17th VIVA Spanish & Latin American Film Festival next month.
Produced by Manchester Science Park-based production company, Riverhorse, Under The Bridge is described as a “must-see observational film on Mexican-American identity that challenges audiences to think about immigration in a new way.”
Telling the story of San Diego’s Chicano Park, situated in one of America’s oldest Mexican communities, the low-budget documentary film chronicles what the producers describe as a “a cultural revolution that has refused to go away”.
Mike Todd, director of Riverhorse, said: “It is a fantastic to be able to have this screening in Manchester at the Viva Festival.”
Todd and LA-born Riverhorse producer Geseth Garcia have been developing the film for several years. Garcia says: “Being Chicana, I wanted to make a film on Mexican-American culture.
“Mike and I spoke about it for years but did not know how to approach t

URANIUM FILM FESTIVAL NEWS

We have received now Dozens of films from all continents. The films are from: USA, Canada, Australia, Russia, France, Germany, United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Costa Rica, Brazil, Japan, South Africa, Namibia, India. For international films we have started now the selection process.
The first 5 films selected are:

This year, Jameson Dublin Film Festival commemorates Latin American cinema

This year, JDIFF commemorates Latin American cinema with a wonderful season including Daniel and Diego Veda Vidal‘s October and the part-documentary, part cinematic essay Nostalgia for the Light.

The half brazilian documentary “Waste Land” Nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary.

Filmed over nearly three years, WASTE LAND follows renowned artist Vik Muniz as he journeys from his home base in Brooklyn to his native Brazil and the world’s largest garbage dump, Jardim Gramacho, located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. There he photographs an eclectic band of “catadores”—self-designated pickers of recyclable materials. Muniz’s initial objective was to “paint” the catadores with garbage. However, his collaboration with these inspiring characters as they recreate photographic images of themselves out of garbage reveals both the dignity and despair of the catadores as they begin to re-imagine their lives. Director Lucy Walker (DEVIL’S PLAYGROUND, BLINDSIGHT, COUNTDOWN TO ZERO) has great access to the entire process and, in the end, offers stirring evidence of the transformative power of art and the alchemy of the human spirit.

Source: Waste Land Movie

Première Brasil: A Question of Luck or Craft?

Diario de Uma Busca

Première Brasil continues Saturday with the screening at 17.00 of the first documentary in competition. The honour to open the documentary section falls to Flavia Castro‘s Diario de Uma Busca (Diary, Letters, Revolutions). Castro’s film takes her back to the countries where her father lived in exile from the military regime that ruled Brazil for the best part of the 1960s and 70s. Her journey takes her to Chile, Argentina, Venezuela and France, as well as Brazil.

The second film to screen in competition in the feature fiction section of Première Brasil is Gustavo Pizzi‘s Riscado (Craft). Riscado, Pizzi’s first feature, asks what the part is played by luck or talent in becoming a star. The film will screen at the Odeon Petrobras at 21.45.

Both directors will re-present their films on Sunday afternoon in the cinema of the festival HQ. These will be followed by a Q&A with the

Rio International Film Festival – Première Brasil: The Best of Brazil -

Première Brasil, which has as its festival home the historic Odeon Petrobras in downtown Rio de Janeiro, is the heart of Festival do Rio and the best annual global showcase of contemporary Brazilian cinema.
Première Brasil is the only competitive section of Festival do Rio with jury awards to be presented on Tuesday, 5 October. Three highly prized audience awards will also be bestowed on the best Brazilian feature film, best documentary and best short film.
This year Première Brasil includes nine feature films, eight feature length documentaries and 21 shorts. A further three features and two documentary features will screen hors concours,

VLAFF: 8th Vancouver Latin American Film Festival

8th Vancouver Latin American Film Festival

After 11 days showcasing the best of Latin American cinema, the 8th edition of the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival (VLAFF) closed on Sunday with the screening of award winning film Rabia by Colombian director, Sebastian Cordero.
After the Closing Gala a party took place at Boss Night Club where revellers danced the night away to the salsa tunes of Wil Campa y Su Gran Unión.
VLAFF is the biggest Latin American Film Festival in Canada and the fourth largest festival in British Columbia. As for 2009 a whopping 7.000 souls have attended the festival, according to VLAFF director and founder, Victor Martinez.
“Our objective is to reach 8.000 [people] during the festival,” Martinez added.

Latin American cinema in Liverpool September 16th to 19th

Ojos Bien Abiertos: Un viaje por la sudamerica de hoy

Viva la Revolucion! The 5th Sydney Latin American Film Festival is back at Casula Powerhouse.

We’ve saved the best for last… Following its city run, the 2010 Sydney Latin American Film Festival brings its exciting program of award-winning films from all over Latin America and the Caribbean

Film of the week: Rio Breaks (Interview with the director)

Rio Breaks

BLACK AND WHITE ARE THE SAME IN THE BLUE
Interview with the director and screenwriter of Rio Breaks, new surf DVD release, nominated for Best Documentary at the Hawaii International Film Festival
Set in Rio de Janeiro, this bittersweet surf documentary mixes the volatile vibe of Favela do Pavão, controlled by one of the city’s

Film of the week: Apaporis

APAPORIS: In search of one river (documentary) from FUNDACIÓN IMAGEN LATINA on Vimeo.

A Fundacion Imagen Latina production. Produced by Alberto Dorado. Directed, written by Antonio Dorado Z.
With: Wade Davis, Antonio Dorado, Gustavo Rojas Pachacuari, Rondon Tanimuca.
(English, Spanish, Cubeo dialogue)
Colombian helmer Antonio Dorado Z. ventures forth to retrace the 1942 journey of famed American botanist Richard Schultes“Apaporis.” through the Amazon