Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - From February 18-25th, the Costa Banderas Chapter of Democrats Abroad Mexico will present "Academy Award Week," featuring seven of 2016's best films - all of which have been nominated for Oscars.

The venue for the screenings will be The Jazz Foundation in downtown Puerto Vallarta. Doors hope one half hour before show time. Limited beverage service will be available.

Advance tickets can be purchased after 6:00 pm daily at The Jazz Foundation for a donation of 70 pesos. On screening days, tickets can be purchased at the door for 80 pesos. Seating is limited to 75 a showing. First come, first served.

'Lion' - February 18 at 6:30 pm & February 22 at 2:00 pm

Lion is a 2016 drama film directed by Garth Davis (in his feature debut) and written by Luke Davies, based on the non-fiction book A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierley with Larry Buttrose. The film, which depicts a man's search for his birth family across a continent, with only decades-old memories to guide him, stars Dev Patel, Rooney Mara, David Wenham and Nicole Kidman. The film, which had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2016, was released in a limited release on November 25, 2016, by The Weinstein Company before opening wide on January 6, 2017. It was released in Australia on January 19, 2017, and in the UK on January 20, 2017, and has grossed $44 million worldwide. It received six Oscar nominations at the 89th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Dev Patel), Best Supporting Actress (Nicole Kidman) and Best Adapted Screenplay.

'Arrival' - February 19 at 2:00 pm & February 22 at 6:30 pm

Arrival is a 2016 American science fiction film directed by Denis Villeneuve and adapted by Eric Heisserer, based on the 1998 short story, Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang. The film, a smart tale of alien contact that boasts great visuals and performances, stars Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, and Forest Whitaker. Arrival had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on September 1, 2016, and was released in the United States and Canada on November 11, 2016, in IMAX by Paramount Pictures. The film has grossed $191 million worldwide and has been praised for its storyline, atmosphere, and Adams's performance. The American Film Institute selected it as one of its ten Movies of the Year, and it has been nominated for numerous awards, including eight Oscar nominations at the 89th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. Arrival received Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress for Adams and Best Original Score.

'Manchester by the Sea' - February 19 at 6:30 pm & February 23 at 2:00 pm

Manchester by the Sea is a 2016 American drama film written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan and starring Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler, Gretchen Mol, and Lucas Hedges. The plot follows a man who looks after his teenage nephew after the boy's father dies. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2016 and was soon picked up by Amazon Studios for distribution. It began a limited release on November 18, 2016, before going wide on December 16, 2016. The film received widespread acclaim from critics and has grossed $56 million worldwide on an $8.5 million budget. Manchester by the Sea received critical acclaim upon release and was regarded as among the best films of 2016. At the 89th Academy Awards, the film received six nominations: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Affleck), Best Supporting Actor (Hedges), Best Supporting Actress (Williams) and Best Original Screenplay. It also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and was nominated in four more categories.

'La La Land' - February 20 at 2:00 pm & February 23 at 6:30 pm

La La Land is a 2016 American musical romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Damien Chazelle and starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone as a musician and an aspiring actress who meet and fall in love in Los Angeles. The film's title refers both to the city of Los Angeles and to the idiom for being out of touch with reality. Chazelle wrote the screenplay in 2010, but he did not find a studio willing to finance the production without changes to his design. Following the success of his 2014 film Whiplash, the project was picked up by Summit Entertainment. La La Land premiered at the Venice Film Festival on August 31, 2016, and was released in the United States on December 9, 2016. It has grossed $294 million worldwide against a production budget of $30 million. La La Land received critical acclaim upon its release and is regarded as one of the best films of 2016. Critics praised Chazelle's screenplay and direction, Gosling and Stone's performances, Justin Hurwitz's musical score, and the film's musical numbers. At the 89th Academy Awards, the film is nominated for a record-tying fourteen Oscars (along with 1997's Titanic and 1950's All About Eve), including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Gosling), Best Actress (Stone) and two Best Original Songs, "Audition" and "City of Stars". The film also won in every category it was nominated for at the 74th Golden Globe Awards with a record-breaking seven wins.

'Moonlight' - February 20 at 6:30 pm & February 24 at 2:00 pm

Moonlight is a 2016 American drama film written and directed by Barry Jenkins, based on the play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue by Tarell Alvin McCraney. The film, at once a vital portrait of contemporary African American life and an intensely personal and poetic meditation on identity, family, friendship, and love, stars Trevante Rhodes, André Holland, Janelle Monáe, Ashton Sanders, Jharrel Jerome, Naomie Harris and Mahershala Ali. Filmed in Miami, Florida, beginning in 2015, Moonlight premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on September 2, 2016. Distributed by A24, the film was released in the US on October 21, 2016, and has grossed $22 million worldwide. Moonlight received universal acclaim upon its release and was regarded as one of the best films of 2016, with critics praising the acting, direction, screenplay, cinematography, subject matter and score. At the 74th Golden Globe Awards, the film won Best Motion Picture – Drama, and was nominated in five other categories. The film received eight Oscar nominations at the 89th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay.

'Fences' - February 21 at 2:00 pm & February 25 at 6:30 pm

Fences is a 2016 American drama film directed by Denzel Washington and written by August Wilson, based on his Pulitzer Prize winning play of the same name (Wilson died in 2005, but completed a screenplay before his death). The film, which tells the story of Troy Maxson, a mid-century Pittsburgh sanitation worker who once dreamed of a baseball career, but was too old when the major leagues began admitting black players, stars Washington, Viola Davis, Stephen Henderson, Jovan Adepo, Russell Hornsby, Mykelti Williamson and Saniyya Sidney. Principal photography on the film began on April 25, 2016, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the Hill District, and wrapped in mid-June 2016. Fences was released in the United States on December 16, 2016, by Paramount Pictures, received positive reviews and has grossed $53 million. The film was chosen by the American Film Institute as one of the top ten films of 2016, and has been nominated for numerous awards, including four Oscar nominations at the 89th Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actor (Washington), Best Supporting Actress (Davis), and Best Adapted Screenplay. It also received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor for Washington and a Best Supporting Actress win for Davis.

'Hidden Figures' - February 21 at 6:30 pm & February 25 at 2:00 pm

Hidden Figures is a 2016 American biographical drama film directed by Theodore Melfi and written by Melfi and Allison Schroeder, based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Margot Lee Shetterly about female African-American mathematicians at NASA. The film stars Taraji P. Henson as Katherine G. Johnson, a mathematician who calculated flight trajectories for Project Mercury and other missions. The film also features Octavia Spencer as Dorothy Vaughan and Janelle Monáe as Mary Jackson, with Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst, Jim Parsons, Glen Powell and Mahershala Ali in supporting roles. Principal photography began in March 2016 in Atlanta and was wrapped up in May 2016. Hidden Figures was released on December 25, 2016, by 20th Century Fox. It received positive reviews from critics and has grossed $144 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film entirely fronted by African American Women since Sister Act grossed $141 million in 1992. It was chosen by National Board of Review as one of the top ten films of 2016[4] and has been nominated for numerous awards, including three Oscars, for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress for Spencer, and two Golden Globes, Best Supporting Actress (Spencer) and Best Original Score. It won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

Seating is limited, so it is strongly advised to purchase your tickets in advance, which are sold after 6:00 pm daily at the The Jazz Foundation.

The Jazz Foundation is located on the 2nd floor of Allende #116 overlooking the Malecón in downtown Puerto Vallarta. For further information, email pvdemocrats2018(at)gmail.com.

Movie descriptions and award information courtesy of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

With country committees and local chapters in over 80 countries around the world, Democrats Abroad is the official Democratic Party organization for the millions of Americans living outside the United States. For more information about the Costa Banderas Chapter of Democrats Abroad, click HERE. For local assistance, contact Tobe Jensen, Chair, at tjensen1942(at)hotmail.com.