Top 5 Most Anticipated Mexican Films for 2011

 

EL LENGUAJE DE LOS MACHETES

Esteemed Mexican film critic Carlos Bonfil makes an interesting point in a recent article for La Jornada, independent Mexican films which garner critical acclaim in the international film circuit and are therefore perceived as the state of Mexican films, are rarely if ever seen by the general public in its own country. Without attempting to deconstruct the business that enables this paradox, its safe to say that the support Mexican films receive from abroad goes a long way in helping these independent voices continue to be heard. Notice I did not mention the word “made”, and that’s because Mexican film schools and government grants do fund many of these, it’s the lack of distribution support that is broke.
Here are but just a few upcoming directing debuts and brand-spanking new Mexican films to be on the lookout for in 2011. Some may have already made their debut in 2010 and will hopefully continue to find audiences in the new year, while others are yet to make their mark and introduce new

Revolucion: “What does the Mexican Revolution mean to you today?” 10 Filmmakers, 10 shorts, 1 revolution (Trailer)

 

Revolucion

An omnibus collection of short films held together by a location-based theme, Revolución initially brings to mind such recent collaborative projects as Paris, Je T’aime, New York, I Love You, and Tokyo! Instead of just love of a city, however, the stories of Revolución share much more specific themes. They’re held together by producer Pablo Cruz’s loose conceptual question: “What does the Mexican Revolution mean to you today?” Inspired by the centennial celebration of the uprising-turned-civil-war and eventual establishment of what has since been the political system of Mexico, each filmmaker who contributed a piece took a unique approach, but it’s perhaps more interesting to explore what these pieces have in common than the ways in which they differ.

BFI London Film Festival: A World Away From the Mundane Mainstream

With so few features from outside of the United States and Europe securing a theatrical release in this country, it is vital that festivals continue to showcase pictures from Latin America, Asia and Africa. No British event is as committed to world cinema as the BFI London Film Festival and the 54th selection is typically diverse and distinguished.
From Quebec to Patagonia, the contribution from the Americas is particularly strong this year, with Xavier Dolan’s Heartbeats confirming the good impression that he made at the tender age of 21 with How I Killed My Mother (2009). Indeed, he also takes the lead in this Montreal variation on François Truffaut’s Jules et Jim (1961), as he competes with gal pal Monia Chokri for the affections of new-in-town Niels Schneider. Seething with catty lines and camply hip visuals that owe as much to Wong Kar-wai, François Ozon and Christophe Honoré as the nouvelle vague, this achingly stylish paean to unrequited lust peppers the action with vox pops to emphasise its dramatic points. However, it’s the fond rivalry between Dolan and Chokri (that eventually brings them to blows during a stay in the

Dallas’ Vistas Latino Film Festival Announces 2010 Line-Up: Watch Trailer!!!

 

Dallas Latino Film Festival

Dallas’ Vistas Latino Film Festival is celebrating its eleventh annual appearance with a great line up of Latin American films and visits from several of the minds and faces behind them.  Vistas runs from October 28th through the 31st and showcases some of the best recent Latino film of recent years.  The Mexican omnibus film, Revolucion opens the festival on October 28th at the Angelika Film Center at Mockingbird Station.  This is Revolucion’s US debut and stars Jaime Camil, Blanca Soto, Alejandra Barros, Liz Gallardo, Adal Ramones, Alejandra Ambrosi, Pedro Armendariz, Jr., Jeannine Derbez, Gustavo Sanchez-Parra, Humberto Busto, Erik del Castillo, and Maria Soleno will be in attendance, it should be a fun night!  Twitch readers will probably recognize Seres: Genesis among the films being screened this year.  The film opened a couple of weeks ago in Mexico and is getting good notices, this could be a new landmark in Latin American Sci-fi, which has not been a big seller south of the border historically.  Passes for the festival are available and very affordable.  Follow the link at the bottom for more information.  I’ll try to keep you guys updated with more info about the features and hopefully some advance reviews to whet your appetites!  Watch this space!

NY Nonprofit Celebrates Golden Age of Latin American Film

 

City of God

The words “blockbuster,” “Oscar,” and “sold out” don’t always enter into the genre of foreign film. But they did in Latin American movie-making in the last decade. Two films starring Mexican heart throb Gael García Bernal—the 2000 thriller Amores Perros and the 2001 romp about a romantic road trip, Y Tu Mamá También—raked in millions in their first weeks on the screen. City of God, the 2002 Brazilian film from directorial duo Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund, received four Academy Award nominations and had a later life as a TV show. Guillermo del Toro’s El laberinto del fauno (Pan’s Labyrinth), which looks at Spanish fascism through a magic realism lense, got three Oscars for his film in 2007.

“Even the Rain,” starring Gael Garcia Bernal and Luis Tosar, opens the Recent Spanish Cinema

“Even the Rain,” starring Gael Garcia Bernal and Luis Tosar, opens the Recent Spanish Cinema series Thursday evening at the American Cinematheque’s Egyptian Theatre. After the screening of Spain’s official entry for the 2010 foreign language film Oscar, there will be a discussion with Tosar. The festival, which continues through Sunday, features several U.S. premieres including “Lope” and “Paper Birds,” both screening Friday. http://www.americancinematheque.com

Source: LA Times

Latin America Presente at Chicago International Film Fest

One of North America’s oldest film events will once again take over the AMC River East theaters for its annual celebration of the best and brightest in World Cinema: a staggering 122 feature films, seven short film showcases, seven panels and three tributes to actor Forest Whitaker, filmmaker and novelist Guillermo Del Toro and producer Paula Wagner.
Some of the festival’s highlights have already made the rounds of the most important film festivals and will soon land at a multiplex or indie house near you: Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan,” John Wells’ “The Company Men,” Julie Taymor’s “The Tempest,” and Stephen Frears’ “Tamara Drewe,” for example. Other films, like the ones showcased in the “Cinema of the Americas” program, may never reach our theaters.
Latin America is represented by 14 films from Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Cuba and a co-production between Costa Rica and

AFI Latin American Film Fest Opens with “Revolution;” Closes in and with “October”

An image from Walter Salles and Daniela Thomas's "Linha de Passe."

AFI has announced their complete lineup for the 2010 AFI Latin American Film Festival in Silver Spring, MD.
The fest will open on September 21 with “Revolution,” a shorts compilation commissioned by Gael García Bernal, Diego Luna and Pablo Cruz, featuring some of Mexico’s leading contemporary directors (among them, Fernando Eimbcke, Carlos Reygadas, Rodrigo Garcia, Bernal, and Luna) exploring themes and stories inspired by the Mexican Revolution, in honor of its 100th anniversary.
The festival will close on October 13 with “October,” Daniel and Diego Vega Vidal’s film that won the Jury Prize in the 2010 Canne Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard section.  “October” follows Clemente, a moneylender, who enters his office to find a baby girl in a basket.  He must search among the prostitutes he frequents to find the baby’s mother, as his neighbor looks after the baby and his office. 

Latest in Latin American cinema in Sydney

The 5th Sydney Latin American Film Festival opens on the 1st of September at Dendy Opera Quays.
The 2010 Sydney Latin American Film Festival – September 1st to 19th – brings over 60 fresh and exciting Latin American films to Sydney audiences, from the Rio Grande to Tierra del Fuego and the Caribbean, including many award-winners and Australian premieres.
The festival opens on the 1st of September, at Dendy Opera Quays, with award-winning Argentine comedy and box-office hit Cuestión de principios (A Matter of Principles).

Today at BFI “South American Renaissance”: The Motorcycle Diaries (Trailer)

The Motorcycle Diaries
Walter Salles’s wonderful road movie follows Che Guevara’s consciousness-raising journey around 1950s South America.
10 Aug 20:20
14 Aug 18:00
31 Aug 20:30