|
|
|
 Entertainment | February 2008 
Hispanic Film Festival Seeks a Permanent Home for Future
 BYLINE
| | 'El Violin.' | | |
The eighth annual Indio International Hispanic Film Festival, which runs through Sunday at the Indio Performing Arts Center, will screen more than 20 Hispanic and Latino-themed feature films and shorts during its four-day run.
For the first time since Al Vasquez and Ana Rascon Vasquez founded the festival in 2000, the event will run concurrently with Hispanic film festivals in Mexicali, Ensenada, Tijuana and Tecate.
The festival has been held in Mexicali, Mexico, in previous years but never have events been held simultaneously in so many cities, Al Vasquez said.
He said the logistics were challenging.
"You're dealing with two different countries and four different cities," Vasquez said. "It's huge."
The festival will also feature artists and exhibits from La Mancha Gallery in Los Angeles.
"La Mancha Gallery not only represents contemporary, local artists that embrace a traditional form of art, but it is also an avenue and voice for intellectual and social criticism," according to the gallery's mission statement.
The festival kicked off at 6 p.m. Thursday with a reception and screening of two feature films, "Erendíra" and "El Violín."
"Erendíra" was shot entirely in the original Purpecha language and was nominated to represent Mexico in the Oscars and Goyas.
All of the Spanish-language films have English subtitles. Some of the movies were produced in English.
Several local films will be featured, including the hourlong "Avenue 44" directed by Ismael Villapando and "Asi es la Vida" by Jon Paul LaPena. Both were filmed in Indio
Vasquez said the film festival is a platform for new talent. It provides an opportunity and a launching point into the film industry for emerging Hispanic filmmakers, directors, screenwriters and actors.
The festival co-founder said the event was created to fill a "massive need" in the Hispanic community.
Spanish-language entertainment is nearly nonexistent in the valley, he said.
"There's not one single screen that is dedicated for them to see a movie," Vasquez said.
For years, there have been English films dubbed in Spanish, but it's nothing like watching a Hispanic-produced movie with Hispanic actors.
"It's like going to Taco Bell and having Mexican food and going to a real Mexican restaurant and having food," Vasquez said.
He said it's important that the Hispanic community - like any other community of people - see itself accurately portrayed on screen.
Hispanic characters in the movies are often portrayed as waiters, bus boys or drug dealers, he said.
"It's not about the language," Vasquez said. "It's about culture."
The festival, which in past years has been held in Palm Springs, Palm Desert and Mexicali, needs a permanent residence.
"We're hoping we can create a home for it," he said.
Vasquez said he hopes that the festival, as it increases in visibility, will be an inspiration to Hispanics across the valley.
He said he has no intention of trying to produce an event the magnitude of the Palm Springs International Film Festival.
"There's no comparison based on what we have to offer and what the Palm Springs film festival has to offer," Vasquez said.
Vasquez and festival organizers are working on a small budget but are attempting to fill a huge need in a niche market, he said.
"They're the spotlight. We're a little Christmas tree light," he said.
Some film descriptions from organizers
El Violín
A film by Francisco Vargas
Plutarco, his son Genaro and grandson Lucio lead double lives. On the one hand, they are simple country musicians. On the other they actively support the peasant guerrilla movement against the oppressor government. When the army occupies the village, the rebels are forced to flee and leave their ammunition behind. Making the most of the fact that he looks like an inoffensive violinist, Plutarco has a plan: to recover the munitions hidden in his cornfield. His music enraptures the captain, but he still has to get his hands on the ammunition.
El Colombian Dream
A film by Felipe Aljure
A story as told by an aborted child who's now 14 years old, which involves his mother, three teenagers (two twin brothers and their cousin) that make a love triangle, the twins' father (an erotic journalist) and his new lover, a drug lord and his sidekicks, the drug lord's wife who doesn't know who's the father of her baby, a prostitute with bladder problems, a hit man who's really a frustrated poet and a huge drug-related misunderstanding.
Viva Cuba
A film by Juan Carlos Cremata Malberti
In a tale akin to "Romeo and Juliet," the friendship between two children is threatened by their parents' differences. Malú is from an upper-class family, and her single mother does not want her to play with Jorgito, as she thinks his background is coarse and commonplace. Jorgito's mother, a poor socialist proud of her family's social standing, places similar restrictions on her son. What neither woman recognizes is the immense strength of the bond between Malú and Jorgito. When the children learn that Malú's mother is planning to leave Cuba, they decide to travel to the other side of the island to find Malú's father and persuade him against signing the forms that would allow it.
El Bola
A film by Achero Mañas
El Bola, a 12-year-old boy a.k.a. "Pellet," is raised in a violent and sordid environment. Embarrassed by his family life, he avoids becoming close to classmates. The arrival of a new boy at school changes his attitude toward his classmates and friendship. The heart of the story is the change in El Bola's life, at almost all levels, after befriending this new classmate.
Eréndira Ikikunari
A film by Juan Roberto Mora Cattlet
A beautifully filmed, almost theatrical, recreation of the 16th century legend of Eréndira, a young Purépecha woman who became an icon of bravery during the destruction of indigenous Mexico by the Spanish conquistadors. The intruders took advantage of conflicts and discord among the Mexican natives, allowing them to reap the rewards of a country divided. But Eréndira refused to allow her country to be destroyed and stood up against the social conventions that prohibited women from active participation in warfare. Through her extreme courage in learning to ride a Spanish horse - seen as a terrifying creature by the natives - Eréndira wins the respect of the tribal leaders and becomes a symbol of resistance and the preservation of her culture. Performed entirely in the original Purépecha language, this film is a unique historical account that was nominated for four Ariel awards (Mexican Oscars).
madeinusa
A film by Claudia Llosa
Madeinusa is a sweet-faced 14-year-old Indian girl who lives in a dirt-floor house and dreams of the world beyond the village. It is the custom of her town that from 3 p.m. Good Friday (just when Christ died on the cross) through Easter Sunday, sin does not exist. On the eve of this time of small-town debauchery, Salvador, a young geologist from Lima, accidentally comes to town. The town greets him with curiosity and ire, then imprisons him out of fear that he will interfere with the festivities. But Madeinusa, ever curious about things from the big city, is drawn to him, and her fate begins to turn in unexpected ways. |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us