Preview for the LA Latino International Film Festival (10/05-10/15, 06)
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PRESS CONTACT:
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LALIFF PRESS OFFICE: 323-469-9066
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THE LOS ANGELES LATINO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (LALIFF)
ANNOUNCES HIGHLIGHTS OF ITS 10TH ANNUAL EDITION
LALIFF Celebrates Its First Decade From October 5 – 15, 2006
September 19, 2006. Los Angeles, CA. The Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF) is proud to announce a selection of the feature films, documentaries and shorts that will be showcased at the 10th annual festival to take place October 5-15, 2006. The festival will be held at the famed Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood Boulevard. LALIFF will reveal the complete 2006 schedule and programs in the upcoming days.
For LALIFF, 2006 marks the first decade of celebrating the richness and variety of Latino culture by showcasing the latest and newest Latino production from the US and around the world. Founded by independent producers Marlene Dermer, George Hernandez; and actor, director and activist Edward James Olmos, LALIFF has become an eagerly waited event where film lovers from the Southern California community come together to celebrate the diversity of Latino stories in films.
LALIFF 2006 will include a wide variety of productions ranging from those exploring today’s most relevant issues for the Latino community, such as immigration and politics; to dramas, romantic comedies and music themed films and documentaries.
LALIFF is proud to announce the following premieres at this year’s 10th edition: (in alphabetical order)
WORLD PREMIERES:
EL CLOWN (The Clown), Pedro Adorno Irizarry, Emilio Rodriguez Vazquez, 2006, 105min.
Country: Puerto Rico
LALO GUERRERO: THE ORIGINAL CHICANO, Documentary. Produced by Dan Guerrero, Nancy De Los Santos, Country: USA
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERES:
UN MUNDO MARAVILLOSO, Luis Estrada, 118 min. Country: Mexico
LA PUNTA DEL DIABLO, Marcelo Paván, 90 min. Country : Uruguay
U.S. PREMIERES:
EL BENNY, Jorge Luis Sanchez, 2006, 120 min, Country: Cuba
LA FIESTA DEL CHIVO, Luis Llosa, 2005, 120min. Country: Peru
O Maior Amor do Mundo, (The Greatest Love in the World) Carlos Diegues, 2006 Country: Brazil
WEST COAST PREMIERES:
A MAQUINA, João Falcão, 2005, 94min, Country: Brazil
EAST SIDE STORY, Carlos Portugal, 2006, 88min. Country: USA
FUGA, Pablo Larrain, 2005, 110 min. Country: Chile
LA NIEBLAS EN LAS PALMERAS, Lola Salvador, Carlos Molinero, 2006, 87min,
PARENTESIS, Francisca Schweitzer, Pablo Solis, 2005, 95min, Country: Chile
PRETENDIENDO, Claudio Dabed, 2005, 107 min. Country: Chile
SE EU FOSSE VOCE, (If I Were You), Daniel Filho, 2006, 94min Country: Brazil
SPLINTER, Michael D. Olmos, 2006, 96min, Country: USA
UNA ESTRELLA Y DOS CAFES, Alberto Lecchi, 2006, 85min, Country: Argentina
YELLOW, Alfredo Villa, 2006, 93min Country: USA
LOS ANGELES PREMIERES:
BARRIO CUBA, Humberto Solas, 2005,105min. Country: Cuba
ELSA Y FRED, Marcos Carnevale, 2005, 106 min. Country: Argentina
EN EL HOYO, (In The Pit), Juan Carlos Rulfo, 2006, 84min Documentary. Country: Mexico
ILUMINADOS POR EL FUEGO, Tristan Baur Country: Spain
LOS AIRES DIFICILES (ROUGH WINDS), Gerardo Herrero, 2006, 117min, Country: Spain
LOS LONELY BOYS: COTTONFIELDS & CROSSROADS, Hector Galan, 2006, 90min. Documentary. Country: USA
MADE IN USA, Claudia Llosa, 2005,100 min, Country: Peru
SI SOS BRUJO, Caroline Neal, 2005, 79 min. Country: Argentina
SOLO DIOS SABE (Only Gods Knows), Carlos Bolado, 2005, 115min. Country: México
For more information, please visit: www.latinofilm.org.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON LALIFF 2006 ANNOUNCED PREMIERES (in alphabetical order):
WORLD PREMIERES:
EL CLOWN (The Clown), 2006, 105min.
World Premiere
Country: Puerto Rico
Directors: Pedro Adorno Irizarry, Emilio Rodríguez Vázquez
Producer: Emilio Rodríguez Vázquez
Screenwriters: Pedro Adorno Irizarry, Emilio Rodríguez Vázquez
Cast: Israel Lugo, Cathy Vigo, Marcos Mazo, Ernesto Concepción, Jessica Rodríguez, Miguel Zayas, Tania Adorno, Julio Ramos, Jaime Bello, Mario Roche, Luis Antonio Cosme, Luz María Rondón, Emilio Rodríguez, Ángel Vázquez, Norman Santiago, Eduardo Alegria,Yaraní Del Valle, Aurelio Lima
Xavier del Monte is a small-town circus clown whose ambition takes him to the big city. There, an ad agency selects him as the Hot Dog Clown, the media character of a fast-food campaign that appeals to children and mothers. Success changes his life. He buys a new car, moves into an uptown apartment, enjoys shopping and falls in love. But the agency forbids him from exposing his real self to the public: what is important to the campaign is the Hot Dog Clown, not the artist that makes him come alive.
Xavier del Monte trabaja de payaso en una ciudad pequeña. En busca de mejores horizontes se muda a una gran ciudad. Allí una agencia de publicidad lo selecciona para encarnar al Payaso del Hot Dog, centro de una campaña publicitaria dirigida a niños y sus madres para promocionar salchichas. El éxito del personaje le cambia la vida: se compra un auto nuevo, se muda a un buen departamento, disfruta yendo de compras y también se enamora. Pero la agencia le prohíbe divulgar al público su verdadera personalidad: lo que le importa a los publicitarios es el Payaso del Hot Dog, no el artista que le da vida.
LALO GUERRERO: THE ORIGINAL CHICANO
World Premiere
Country: USA
Produced by Dan Guerrero, Nancy De Los Santos
Written by Nancy De Los Santos, Dan Guerrero
Synopsis: LALO GUERRERO: THE ORIGINAL CHICANO! is a one hour television documentary about the legendary “Father of Chicano Music”, Lalo Guerrero. His career and songbook guide the viewer through seven decades of Mexican-American/Chicano history from Repatriation, the Zoot Suit riots and the UFW to the minifalda and Chicano pride and prejudice. Guerrero captured it all in a dazzling array of musical genres including rancheras, boogie, salsa, norteño, cha-chas and beautiful boleros. Rare photographs, historic footage and music performances bring this eclectic tapestry to life.
Lalo tells his own story on camera as no one else could – with warmth, unique humor and musica. Artists and activists influenced by the late Chicano icon share their personal stories. Linda Ronstadt, Paul Rodriguez, Edward James Olmos, Ry Cooder, UFW co-founder Dolores Huerta, Cheech Marin, Luis Valdez, Culture Clash and Los Lobos all provide rare insight about the music pioneer.
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERES:
UN MUNDO MARAVILLOSO, 118 minutes, North American Premiere
Country: Mexico:
Directed by Luis Estrada
Written by Luis Estrada, Jaime Sampietro
Cast: Damián Alcázar, Pedro Armendáriz Jr., Cecilia Suarez, Martin Altomaro, Noe Alvarado, Carlos Arau, Jose Antonio Barón.
A fairy tale about the political and socioeconomic realities of Mexico.
LA PUNTA DEL DIABLO, Marcelo Paván, 90 min. North American Premiere
Country : Uruguay
Director Marcelo Paván
Producer Pablo Rovito
Screenwriter Enrique Cortes
Cast Manuel Callau, Romina Paula, Lautaro Delgado, Axel Pauls, Prakriti Madur
A brain surgeon accustomed to removing brain tumors discovers that he himself is suffering from a tumor and has only a short time to live. Deciding to travel with no set destination, thinking he‚s seen one of his former patients, he sets off after the woman to a distant spot known as La punta del diablo. There he discovers his loneliness, and that of other people who live in a small paradise where it‚s possible to fish sharks. An intimate movie, laced with long silences, in which nature has the same importance as people.
U.S. PREMIERES:
EL BENNY, 2006, 120 min. U.S. Premiere
Country: Cuba
Director: Jorge Luis Sánchez
Producer: Iohamil Navarro
Screenwriters: Abrahán Rodríguez, Jorge Luis Sánchez
Cast: Renny Arozarena, Enrique Molina, Mario Guerra, Carlos Ever Fonseca, Limara Meneses, Isabel Santos, Salvador Wood, Laura de la Uz, Kike Quiñones, Carlos Massola
El Benny, based on the life of Benny Moré, tells the story of the greatest Cuban musician of all time, who died far too young yet profoundly, changed the course of Latin music forever.
El Benny, basada en la vida de Beny Moré, cuenta la historia del músico más importante que ha producido Cuba. A pesar de morir muy joven, Moré cambió para siempre el curso de la música latina.
LA FIESTA DEL CHIVO, 2005, 120min. U.S. Premiere
Country: Peru
Director: Luis Llosa
Producer: Andrés Vicente Gómez
Screenwriter: Luis Llosa, Augusto Cabada, Zachary Sklar, based on the novel by Mario Vargas Llosa
Cast: Tomas Milian, Isabella Rossellini, Paul Freeman, Juan Diego Botto, Stephanie Leonidas, Steven Bauer, Shawn Elliot, Murphy Guyer, Richard Bekins, Jordan Lage, Gary Piquer, Carlos Miranda, David Zayas, Eileen Atkins, Pericles Mejía, Alfredo Álvarez-Calderón, Ramsay Ross
Based on the best-selling novel by Mario Vargas Llosa, this is the story of Urania Cabral, a beautiful, kind and intelligent Manhattan lawyer, who returns to República Dominicana after thirty years to face her ghosts. She will have to contend with the horrifying circumstances that altered her life forever when she was a teenager and Rafael Leónidas Trujillo, a.k.a El Chivo (The Goat), was the iron-handed ruler of this Caribbean paradise. After Urania faces her past, nothing in her present or future will ever be the same again.
Basada en el bestseller homónimo de Mario Vargas Llosa, La fiesta del Chivo cuenta la historia de Urania Cabral, una abogada de Manhattan, bella, inteligente y generosa, que vuelve a la República Dominicana después de treinta años para enfrentar los fantasmas del pasado y los hechos horrorosos que alteraron su vida de adolescente para siempre. Figura central del horror fue Rafael Leónidas Trujillo, conocido como El Chivo, el tirano de esta isla paradisíaca del Caribe. Cuand Urania enfrenta el pasado, su presente y su futuro se transformarán para siempre.
O Maior Amor do Mundo
(The Greatest Love in the World) 2006 U.S. Premiere
Country: Brazil
Director: Carlos Diegues
Screenwriter: Carlos Diegues
Cast: José Wilker, Sérgio Britto, Léa Garcia, Taís Aráujo, Sérgio Malheiros, Anna Sophia Folch
A lonely bachelor, Antonio is a famous and successful Brazilian astrophysicist who has spent most of his adult life in the United States. When he is 55, he discovers that he has a fatal brain tumor and decides to return to his native land to receive a last official tribute alongside his assistant. While in Rio de Janeiro, Antonio goes to an old age home to visit his adoptive father, a retired conductor and widower of an unsuccessful lyrical singer. On learning that Antonio is soon to die, the father confesses, for the first time in his life, that he knows who Antonio’s biological mother was and gives him a few clues about his birth. Antonio follows the clues to the Rio de Janeiro lowlands, on the outskirts of the city, where his real mother is said to have lived and died. There Antonio meets Mosca, a young boy working for a major drug dealer, who takes him to the house of his grandmother Mãe Santinha. He discovers that Mãe Santinha, formerly known as Zezé, was his deceased mother’s best friend. Zezé further informs him that she witnessed Antonio’s birth on the tragic day on which Brazil lost the World Cup in 1950 to Uruguay at the Maracana Stadium. Bit by bit, Antonio has his past revealed to him, including his parents’ identity and the astonishing love story that united them. But is it all too late; will he die before he learns the truth?
WEST COAST PREMIERES:
A MAQUINA (The Machine), 2005, 94min West Coast Premiere
Country: Brazil
Director: João Falcão
Producers: Diler Trindade, Geraldo Silva de Carvalho
Screenwriters: João Falcão, Adriana Falcão; Adapted from the book “The Machine” by Adriana Falcão
Cast: Paulo Autran, Gustavo Falcão, Mariana Ximenes
In Nordestina, a godforsaken little town lost in the wilderness, young Karina dreams of becoming an actress and wants to leave to see the world. Before his love escapes from him, Antonio, doña Nazaré’s son, will go in a kamikaze journey to bring the world to Karina. Antonio leaves the town and announces in a TV program that he will perform a sensational feat: he will travel into the future from Nordestina’s main square. If he fails, he guarantees, a death machine will kill him live on TV before everyone’s eyes. A story in which dreams contradict reality and love plays the role of a transforming element.
En Nordestina, un pueblito remoto abandonado de la mano de Dios, la joven Karina sueña con ser actriz y recorrer el mundo. Antes de que la muchacha se le escape, Antonio, el hijo de doña Nazaré, hará lo imposible para brindarle a su enamorada el mundo que desea. Para lograrlo, Antonio se va del pueblo y anuncia en un programa de televisión que se lanzará a una aventura fantástica: viajar al futuro desde la plaza principal de Nordestina. Si falla, garantiza que la ”máquina de la muerte” lo matara en vivo y en directo por televisión a la vista de todos.
EAST SIDE STORY, 2006, 88min. – West Coast Premiere
Country: USA
Director: Carlos Portugal
Producer: Charo Toledo, Blanca Valdez, Mary Feuer, Nely Galan
Screenwriter: Carlos Portugal, Charo Toledo
Cast: Luis Achinelli, Rene Alvarado, David Beron, Stephen Callahan, Irene de Bari, Yel de Leon, Gladise Jimenez, Luis Raul Martinez, Cory Schneider
Awards: Newfest, NY; Piglff, Philadelphia
In this playfully provocative story set amidst the often-turbulent backdrop of gentrification, things get hot when an openly gay white couple moves into an East L.A. neighborhood where the locals have more than skeletons in their closets.
La historia, cómica y provocativa, transcurre en East Los Angeles y tiene como telón de fondo el complejo proceso de mejoramiento de un barrio tradicional, al cual se muda una pareja homosexual. Resulta que los vecinos esconden más de un secreto detrás de las puertas cerradas
FUGA, 2005, 110 min. West Coast Premiere
Country: Chile
Director: Pablo Larrain
Producer: Hernán Larraín, Juan de Dios Larraín
Screenwriter: Hernán Rodríguez Matte, Mateo Iribarren, Pablo Larrain
Cast: Benjamín Vicuña, Gastón Pauls, Francisca Imboden, María Izquierdo, Willy Semler, Héctor Noguera, Alfredo Castro, Alejandro Trejo, Paulina Urrutia, Mateo Iribarren, Marcial Tagle, José Soza, Luis Dubó, Héctor Morales
Montalban is a composer unable to finish a musical score. As a child, he witnessed the murder of his sister. As she fell on a piano, a melody was accidentally composed. Haunted by this piece of music, he becomes a composer, obsessive and mentally disturbed, trying to recreate this traumatic event into an avant-garde composition. Many years later, Ricardo Coppa, a mediocre composer craving for recognition like Salieri, searches for Montalban, now a forgotten figure, looking to revive his musical creation and make it his own, unaware of the dangers involved in such a pursuit.
Montalbán es un compositor incapaz de terminar una pieza musical. De niño fue testigo del asesinato de su hermana, sobre un piano. Al caer sobre este, surgió por accidente una melodía. Obsesionado por esta música y mentalmente desequilibrado, Montalbán se hace músico para recrear este hecho traumático en una composición de vanguardia. Muchos años después, Ricardo Coppa, un compositor mediocre y hambriento de fama como Salieri, busca a Montalbán, una figura olvidada, para revivir esta creación musical y hacerla propia. No puede imaginarse los riesgos que conlleva tal aventura.
LA NIEBLA EN LA PALMERAS (The Mist in the Palm Trees), 2006, 87min
West Coast Premiere
Documentary Feature
Country: Spain
Directors: Carlos Molinero, Lola Salvador
Producer: Lola Salvador
Screenwriters: Salvador Maldonado, Carlos Molinero
Cast: Mirtha Ibarra, Carmen Suarez, Isabelle Clerc, Ana Villa
Who was Santiago Bergson, born in 1905, and why has the world forgotten him? In this film the Spanish photographer and physicist (voiced by Ana Villa) recalls his eventful life, questions whether photography can indeed confer immortality on its subjects, and mourns the consequences of his work on the "weapon to end all wars."
Structured in five parts named for properties of quarks -strangeness, charm, beauty, truth, and color, the film follows its Zelig-like protagonist as he tinkers with the space-time continuum to help a miner who saved his life, contributes to the invention of the X-ray machine, gets spirited away by the Americans to work on the Manhattan Project, somehow finds time to help Orson Welles with The War of the Worlds, and finally dies fighting in the French Resistance. Or does he?
Quién fue Santiago Bergson, nacido en 1905, y por qué el mundo se ha olvidado de él? En esta película el fotógrafo y físico español (en la voz de Ana Villa) recuerda su vida azarosa, se pregunta si la fotografía puede realmente conferir inmortalidad a personas y objetos, y deplora las consecuencias de su trabajo en la bomba atómica, el “arma para terminar con todas las guerras”.
Estructurada en cinco partes, cuyos títulos aluden a las propiedades de los quark- extrañeza, encanto, belleza, verdad y color – la película traza la vida de este personaje camaleónico como el Zelig de Woody Allen experimentando con las coordenadas de tiempo y espacio para ayudar a un minero que le salvó la vida; contribuye a la invención de la máquina de rayos X; colabora con los norteamericanos en el Proyecto Manhattan; e incluso tiene tiempo para ayudar a Orson Welles con la trasmisión radiofónica de “La guerra de los mundos”. Finalmente muere luchando en la Resistencia francesa durante la Segunda Guerra. Pero..muere realmente?
PARENTESIS (Time Off), 2005, 95min, Country: Chile West Coast Premiere
Country: Chile
Directors: Francisca Schweitzer, Pablo Solís
Producer: Follow Films
Screenwriters: Francisca Schweitzer, Pablo Solís
Cast: Francisco Pérez-Bannen, Carolina Castro, Sigrid Alegría, Luis Gnecco, Iñigo Urrutia, Néstor Cantillana, Jordi Castell, Francisca Opazo
Camilo is 28 years old; he has insomnia and works in a video store at night. His girlfriend Pola, tired of his irresponsible and childish approach to life, decides at dawn one Monday to ask him for a week off (a parenthesis) to think through their relationship. Disconcerted, Camilo resigns himself to Pola’s decision. During this week he meets Mikela, a strange 16 year-old girl, who shows him a new and simpler world where only the present counts. Camilo begins to live a more harmonious life, until Mikela disappears…
Camilo tiene 28 años, sufre de insomnio y trabaja por las noches en un negocio de video. Cansada de su actitud infantil e irresponsable, su novia Pola decide en la madrugada del día lunes pedirle una semana para distanciarse (un paréntesis) y aclarar su relación. Camilo desconcertado acepta resignado la decisión de Pola. Durante esa semana, Camilo conoce a Mikela, una extraña niña de 16 años, que le muestra un mundo nuevo, más simple y en donde sólo se vive el presente. Camilo empieza a vivir una vida más armoniosa, hasta que Mikela desaparece…
PRETENDIENDO, 2005, 107 min. West Coast Premiere
Country: Chile
Director: Claudio Dabed
Producer: Abraham Cassis
Screenwriter: Claudio Dabed, Franklin McDonald
Cast: Barbara Mori, Marcelo Mazzarello
When her boyfriend cheats on her with her best friend, a beautiful woman (Barbara Mori) swears off relationships and re-makes herself in a new town. However, a chauvinist co-worker’s remarks soon draw her back into the battle of the sexes. Claudio Dabed’s comedy combines sharp observations about inter-gender friendship with farcical hijinks, to winning effect.
SE EU FOSSE VOCE, (If I Were You), 2006, 94min West Coast Premiere
Country: Brazil
Director: Daniel Filho
Producer: Walkiria Barbosa, Iafa Britz, Vilma Lustosa,
Marcos Didonet and Daniel Filho
Screenwriter: Adriana Falcão, Renê Belmonte, Carlos Gregório, Roberto Frota and Daniel Filho
Cast: Tony Ramos, Glória Pires, Thiago Lacerda, Glória Menezes, Daniele Winits, Lavínia Vlasak, Maria Gladys, Maria Ceiça, Lara Rodrigues, Thomas Morkos.
Cláudio and Helena have been married for years and have fallen into a tedious routine. They are clearly still in love, but have occasional spats – after all, what couple doesn´t? One night, after one of these routine fights gets out of hand, the couple goes to bed furious at each other…and the next morning, inexplicably wake up in each other´s bodies. As they try to “be” each other, the couple eventually realizes that the only way they will get through their fantastic ordeal is by working together.
Cláudio y Helena están casados hace muchos años y viven en la rutina del matrimonio. Todavía se quieren mucho, pero de repente pelean por tonterías – total, ¿cuál pareja no pelea? Sin embargo, un día una de esas peleas se transforma en algo más serio y al otro día, la pareja sorprendentemente despierta con sus cuerpos cambiados. Mientras intentan disfrazar sus personalidades cambiadas, la pareja percibe que trabajar juntos es la única manera de resolver su fantástica situación.
SPLINTER, 2006, 96min West Coast Premiere
Country: USA
Director: Michael D. Olmos
Producers: Adrian Cruz, Michael D. Olmos, Enrique Almeida, Steven Machat
Screenwriters: Enrique Almeida, Adrian Cruz, Michael D. Olmos
Cast: Tom Sizemore, Edward James Olmos, Enrique Almeida, Resminé Atis, Noel Gugliemi, Hector Atreyu Ruiz, Delilah Cotto, Ivonne Coll, Diamond Dallas Page
On the mean streets of LA, two gangsters, Dreamer and Dusty, unite over the mysterious murder of their brother. Dreamer, with the bullet that killed his brother still lodged in his skull, is desperately seeking revenge when he crosses paths with Detective Gramm, a confident rookie cop partnered with corrupt veteran Cunningham. Amidst a rising body count and the threat of an all-out gang war, the four characters lock themselves in a ferocious end-game as they discover who among them is creating the brutal chaos.
En las calles peligrosas de Los Angeles, dos gangsters, Dreamer y Dusty, se unen a partir del asesinato misterioso de su hermano. Dreamer – que tiene todavía incrustada en la cabeza la bala que mató a su hermano – está obsesionado con vengarse cuando su camino se cruza con el del detective Gramm, un policía novato y capaz , cuyo compañero de tareas, Cunningham, es un veterano corrupto. Estos cuatro personajes se ven envueltos en una guerra a muerte, mientras que el número de muertos asciende y van descubriendo quién entre ellos es responsable del caos brutal que se va generando.
UNA ESTRELLA Y DOS CAFES (One star and two coffees), 2006, 85min West Coast Premiere
Country: Argentina
Director: Alberto Lecchi
Producer: Luis A. Sartor
Screenwriters: Daniel García Molt, Alberto Lecchi
Cast: Gaston Pauls, Ariadna Gil, Marina Vilte, Ruben Fleitas, Gabriela Bertolone, Rosa Raina, Gerardo Albarracin, Silvia Gallegos, Faustino Flores
Thirteen-year old Estela lives in Purmamarca, a picturesque and isolated village in Northwestern Argentina. She establishes a very tender and pure relationship with Carlos, an architect hired to build a housing development. Ana – Carlos’ ex-wife – arrives in Purmamarca with the intention of saving her marriage. A delicate situation ensues, with the adults trying to protect the young girl’s feelings, while their own relationship is still at stake. Finally, Carlos and Ana leave town. Nothing will ever be the same for Estela in beautiful Purmamarca. She has lost two friends, from a very different world, but, above all, she has lost her childhood.
Estela, una niña de trece años vive en Purmamarca, un pueblo pintoresco y aislado del Noroeste argentino. Establece una relación muy tierna y pura con Carlos, un arquitecto contratado para construir unas viviendas. Ana – la ex-esposa de Carlos – llega al pueblo con la intención de reconstruir el matrimonio. Se desarrolla entre lost res una situación delicada, ya que los adultos tratan de proteger los sentimientos de la niña, mientras que su propia relación sigue sin definirse. Carlos y Ana, finalmente, se van de Purmamarca. La vida de Estela nunca más será la misma en el bello pueblito. Ha perdido dos amigos, provenientes de un mundo muy diferente, pero, sobre todo, su niñez ha quedado atrás.
YELLOW, 2006, 93min West Coast Premiere
Country: USA
Director: Alfredo Villa
Producer: Steve Brown, Roselyn Sanchez, Dennis Murphy
Screenwriter: Nacoma Whobrey
Cast: Roselyn Sanchez, Bill Duke, DB Sweeny, Manny Perez, Jaime Tirelli, Sully Diaz, Erika Michels, Richard Petrocelli, Nancty Millan.
A young Puerto Rican woman moves to New York City seeking to make it despite the odds and the haunting memories of her dead father.
Una joven mujer portorriqueña se muda a Nueva York, para poder lograr sus sueños, a pesar de los obstáculos por vencer y los recuerdos perturbadores de su padre muerto.
LOS ANGELES PREMIERES:
BARRIO CUBA, Humberto Solas, 2005, 105min. Los Angeles Premiere
Country: Cuba
Director: Humberto Solás
Producers: Camilo Vives, Jorge Gómez, Santi Camuñas
Screenwriters: Humberto Solás with the collaboration of Elia Solás
Cast: Jorge Perugorría, Luisa María Jiménez, Isabel Santos, Mario Limonta, Adela Legrá, Rafael Lahera, Ana Domínguez, Yeandro Tamayo, Angel Toraño, Enrique Molina, Manuel Porto, Coralia Veloz, Rubén Araujo
Magalis, Ignacio, Vivian, Miguelito and Santo – the leading characters of Barrio Cuba – are human beings striving for a little happiness in La Habana. They live life to its fullest, fighting against an uncertain fate, searching for a way out. In spite of the harsh reality of the barrio, they never lose the hope of a better future, of regaining a lost love – or finding a new one – or of improving themselves. Barrio Cuba is the story of fighters whose lives weave a tapestry of emotions, at times bitterly confused, but always honest. The film is also the portrait of country at a time when preserving the dignity becomes a hard, demanding task.
Los protagonistas de Barrio Cuba – Magalis, Ignacio, Vivian, Miguelito y Santo – son seres humanos lanzados a la búsqueda de una cuota de felicidad en La Habana. Luchan por vivir con plenitud, desafiando a un destino incierto y la falta de oportunidades. A pesar de la dura realidad del barrio, nunca pierden la esperanza de un futuro mejor, de recuperar un viejo amor – o encontrar uno nuevo, y de progresar como personas. Barrio Cuba es la historia de estos luchadores, cuyas vidas se entrecruzan como los hilos de un tapiz, mezclando emociones, a veces confusas pero siempre honestas. El filme constituye también el retrato de un país en un momento donde la preservación de la dignidad resulta una tarea ardua y exigente.
ELSA Y FRED, Marcos Carnevale, 2005, 106 min. Los Angeles Premiere
Country: Argentina
Director: Marcos Carnevale
Producer: José Antonio Félez
Screenwriter: Marcos Carnevale, Lily Ann Martin, Marcela Guerty
Cast: Manuel Alexandre, China Zorrilla, Blanca Portillo, Roberto Carnaghi, José Ángel Egido, Gonzalo Urtizberea, Omar Muñoz, Carlos Álvarez Nóvoa, Federico Luppi
Elsa is 82 years-old and for the past 60 years has dreamt of the moment Fellini immortalized in “La Dolce Vita”: Anita Ekberg and Marcello Mastroiani at the Fontana di Trevi in Rome. Elsa imagines herself in this scene, with the love of her life, who took so long to arrive. A little younger than Elsa, Alfredo always did everything he was supposed to do. After losing his wife, he feels distraught and confused. Elsa bursts into his life like a whirlwind, determined to teach him that the time he has left to live is precious and that he should enjoy it to the full. A story about love late in life, Elsa y Fred shows that it is never too late to love…or to dream.
Elsa tiene 82 años, 60 de los cuales vivió soñando la escena inmortalizada por Fellini en “La Dolce Vita”: Anita Ekberg y Marcello Matroiani en la Fontana de Trevi en Roma. Elsa se imagina en este mismo lugar con el amor de su vida, que tardó tanto tiempo en llegar. Un poco más joven que Elsa, Alfredo fue siempre un hombre de bien, que cumplió con su deber. Al enviudar, se queda desconcertado y angustiado. Elsa irrumpe en su vida como un torbellino, dispuesta a demostrarle que el tiempo que le queda de vida es precioso y puede disfrutarlo con plenitud. Una historia de amor tardío, Elsa y Fred muestra que nunca es tarde para amar…o para soñar.
EN EL HOYO (In The Pit), Juan Carlos Rulfo, 2006, 84min Los Angeles Premiere
Documentary
Country: Mexico
Director: Juan Carlos Rulfo
Producer: Eugenia Montiel
Screenwriter: Juan Carlos Rulfo
Cast: Sofía García López, Isabel Dolores Hernández, José Guadalupe Calzada, Pedro Sánchez Bernal, Natividad Sánchez Montes, Isahín Octaviano Simón, Agustín Zárate Centeno, Vecencio MartÍnez Vásquez
Awards: Sundance Film Festival World Cinema Documentary Jury Prize Winner 2006
According to a Mexican legend, for every bridge built the devil will ask for one soul, so that the bridge will never fall down. This documentary tells the story of the workers building the second deck of Mexico City’s inner Periferico freeway. A mammoth work of concrete steel and asphalt, this construction will transform the city, its landscape and the lives of its inhabitants. In the Pit deals with the workers’ daily lives, their hopes, dreams and dignity. From this world of contrasts, emotions and small moments, the devil will snatch a soul. This soul will remain a testament to the endurance of the freeway workers.
Según una leyenda mexicana, por cada puente construido el diable se cobra un alma, para que el puente no se derrumbe. Este documental cuenta la historia de los obreros que trabajan en la ampliación de la autopista periférica de la ciudad de Mexico. Una obra ciclópea de acero y asfalto, este agrande transformará la metrópolis, su paisaje y la vida de sus habitantes. A este mundo de contrastes, emociones y pequeños momentos, el diablo pedirá su cuota. El alma ofrendada será un testamento a la tenaciad de estos dedicados trabajadores.
ILUMINADOS POR EL FUEGO
Los Angeles Premiere
Country: Spain
Director: Tristan Baur
Producer: Carlos Ruta
Screenwriter: Edgardo Esteban, Gustavo Romero Borri, Tristan Bauer, Miguel Bonasso
Cast: Gaston Pauls, Pablo Ribba, Virginia Innocenti
Iluminados por el fuego dwells on the memories of Esteban Leguizamón, a 40-year old man who was drafted in 1982, at age 18, to fight in the Malvinas/Falkland war, in the South Atlantic. Spurred by the suicide attempt of one his former mates, Esteban remembers the experiences he shared with two fellow soldiers: Vargas, the suicide one, and Juan, who died in the war. The stories are a mixed bag: there were the horror, suffering, cold, hunger and mistreatment associated with the conflict, but also stories of friendship and solidarity. From Esteban’s perspectiva, the film examines the gradual immersion of those lives into death. Twenty yers after the war, Esteban decides to go back to the islands to revisit his past and heal old wounds.
Iluminados por el fuego narra los recuerdos de Esteban Leguizamón, un hombre de 40 años que en 1982, cuando tenía 18 años, fue llevado como soldado conscripto a combatir en las Islas Malvinas. A partir del intento de suicidio de uno de sus ex compañeros, Esteban se sumerge en la memoria de esa guerra que compartió con otros dos jóvenes conscriptos: Vargas, el suicida, y Juan, muerto en combate. Allí aparecen no sólo los horrores propios de la guerra, el frío, el hambre y el maltrato de los mandos militares sino también las historias de amistad y compañerismo. Desde la mirada de Esteban, la película pone en evidencia la lenta y gradual inmersión de sus frágiles vidas en el corazón mismo de la muerte. Pasados 20 años de la guerra, Esteban decide volver a las islas para reencontrarse con su pasado y cerrar viejas heridas.
LOS AIRES DIFICILES, (Rouge Winds), 2006, 117min. Los Angeles Premiere
Country: Spain
Director: Gerardo Herrero
Producers: Gerardo Herrero, Pancho Casal, Antonio Pérez
Screenwriters: Ángeles González Sinde, Alberto Macías
Cast: José Luis García Pérez, Roberto Enríquez, Cuba Escribano, Alberto Jiménez, Carmen Elías, Monti Castiñeiras, Pilar Castro, Celia Freijeiro, Antonio Dechent, Andrés Gertrúdix, Natalia Sánchez, Paula Sebastián
Juan Olmedo is 40. He has survived a shipwreck, able to save only his niece and his mentally retarded brother. His past lies behind him, as dramatic and capricious as the winds that sweep the Atlantic coast of Cadiz, where he settles to escape from his memories. In this remote place, his cleaning lady Maribel and Sara, another outsider like himself, will unexpectedly help the protagonist face the memories that torment him relentlessly: a star-crossed love affair with his brother’s wife, and the mysterious death of the brother he loved best and hated most: Damian.
Juan Olmedo, a los cuarenta años, ha sobrevivido un naufragio, del que sólo ha podido rescatar a su sobrina y a su hermano, deficiente mental. Atrás ha quedado el pasado, dramático y caprichoso como los vientos que azotan la costa atlántica gaditana, lugar que ha elegido para huir de sus recuerdos. En este apartado rincón del mundo, Juan, con la ayuda inesperada de Maribel, la mujer de la limpieza, y Sara, una “extranjera” como él, confrontará los recuerdos que le torturan: la relación secreta y trágica con su cuñada, y el misterio de la muerte de su hermano más querido y más odiado: Damián
LOS LONELY BOYS: COTTONFIELDS & CROSSROADS
Los Lonely Boys: Cottonfields & Crossroads, Hector Galan, 2006, 90min
Los Angeles Premiere
Documentary Feature
Country: USA
Producer: Hector Galan, Evelyn Ledesma Galan
Cast: Los Lonely Boys, Joseph Thomas Campos
After a childhood of playing in cantinas and honky tonks from Texas to Tennessee, this band of brothers, ‘Los Lonely Boys, from San Angelo, Texas, rocked their way to the top of the American music industry, determined to fulfill their father’s long held dream.
Después de haber tocado desde la infancia en cantinas y boliches de Texas a Tennessee, el conjunto musical ‘Los Lonely Boys’, integrado por hermanos procedentes de San Angelo, Texas, llegó a ocupar una posición de preeminencia en la industria musical norteamericana. Su meta era cumplir el sueño acariciado por su padre durante muchos años.
MADE IN USA, 2005,100 min, U.S. Premiere
Country: Peru
Director: Claudia Llosa
Producers: José María Morales, Antonio Chavarrías, Claudia Llosa
Screenwriter: Claudia Llosa
Cast: Magaly Solier, Carlos de la Torre, Yiliana Chong, Ubaldo Huaman
Madeinusa, a 14-year-old girl with a sweet Indian face, lives in a remote village in the Peruvian Andes. The religious fervor of the town has an unusual twist: from Good Friday until Easter Sunday, the people can do anything they want. Since God is dead during those three days, He cannot see them so they behave without feeling any remorse or regret. But when Salvador, a young geologist from Lima arrives, this tradition is put into question and the girl’s destiny will be changed forever.
Madeinusa es una niña de 14 años, de dulce rostro indígena, que vive en un pueblo perdido de la cordillera peruana. El fervor religioso de los lugareños tiene una característica peculiar: del Viernes Santos al Domingo de Pascua, la gente puede hacer lo que le viene en gana. Como durante esos tres días Dios está muerto y no los ve, los pobladores obran sin remordimiento alguno. Pero la llegada de Salvador, un joven geólogo de Lima, no sólo cuestiona esta tradición sino que cambiará, sin quererlo, el destino de la muchacha.
SI SUS BRUJO (Si Sos Brujo: A Tango Story)
SI SOS BRUJO, 2005, 79 min. Los Angeles Premiere
Country: Argentina
Director: Caroline Neal
Producers: TangoVia Buenos Aires, The Hawthorme Drives
Screenwriters: Alberto Muñoz, Caroline Neal
Cast: Ignacio Varchausky, Emilio Balcarce, Wynton Marsalis, Jose “Pepe” Libertella, Julian Plaza, Ernesto Franco, Nestor Marconi, Leopoldo Federico, Atilio Stampone, Raul Garello, Victor Lavallen, Mauricio Marcelli, Roberto Alvarez, Celso Amato, Luis Stazo, Horacio Cabarcos, Carlos Pazo, Gustavo Beytelmann, Guillermo Durante, Ramon Coronel, Alcide Rossi, Carlos Garcia, Horacio Romo, Ramiro Gallo, Pedro Pedroso, Eva Wolff, El Arranque Tango Orchestra, Ramiro Gallo Quintet
A young Argentine musician races to find legendary maestros from tango’s golden age – now men in their 80’s – in order to save the oral transmission of style, before the secrets of “the real tango” are lost forever.
Un joven músico argentino busca a los legendarios maestros de la época de oro del tango (hombres que ahora tienen 70 u 80 años) para rescatar la transmisión oral de los secretos del género, antes de que se pierdan para siempre.
SOLO DIOS SABE, (Only Gods Knows), 2005, 115min. Los Angeles Premiere
Country: México
Director: Carlos Bolado
Producers: Sara Silveira, Yissel Ibarra, Carlos Bolado
Screenwriters: Carlos Bolado, Diane Weipert
Cast: Diego Luna, Alice Braga, Damián Alcázar, Maria Alves, Mateo Evaristo Shapiro Bolado, Laurie Bushman, Sara Castro, Ângela Correa, Leigh Crow, Ana Csernik, Daniele Luz de Almeida, Montserrat de León, Dagoberto Gilb, Billy Hayes, Alwishus Jacko Jr., Jonathan Kakacek, David LaPlaca, Cecilía Suárez, José María Yazpik, Renata Zhaneta
On a lark in Tijuana, a carefree Brazilian art student crosses paths with a brooding Mexican journalist, sparking a cascade of events across both Mexico and Brazil. As Dolores and Damián discover an intimate love and a mysterious spiritual heritage, they struggle with ever more costly choices.
Cuando una brasilera, estudiante de arte y sin mayores ataduras, se cruza por casualidad con un taciturno periodista mexicano, se desencadenan una serie de acontecimientos en Mexico y Brasil. A medida que Dolores y Damián descubren que los liga un amor hondo y una misteriosa herencia spiritual, deben realizar elecciones cada vez más costosas.
For more information on LALIFF, please visit: www.latinofilm.org.
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