LA NAVE DE LOS MONSTRUOS this weekend at Mass MoCA

Mass MoCA in collaboration with Cinema Tropical is presenting a special screening of the classic Mexican sci-fi film La nave de los monstruos (The Monster's Ship, 1959) this Friday, October 30 just in time for Halloween celebrations. The screening features a live original score performed by the nation's premier rock-infused, postclassical string quartet, Ethel. Click here for all of the complete information.

The Sixth Edition of Corto Circuito

This Thursday, Friday and Saturday, the King Juan Carlos I Center at NYU will be presenting the sixth edition of Corto Circuito, the Latino Short Film Festival of New York. The series presents eight different programs including the local premieres of award-winning shorts such as Carlos Armella's Tierra y Pan and Gustavo Taretto's Hoy no estoy. Corto Circuito also features a special program on shorts made by students from Universidad del Cine in Buenos Aires that includes work by renowned filmmakers Pablo Trapero, Ana Katz, Rodrigo Moreno and Paz Encina.

Great Weekend for Latin American Cinema in the U.S.

Helped by very positive reviews, the Chilean film The Maid (La Nana) directed by Sebastián Silva had a very strong opening weekend at the box office (an estimated $18,418 in just three days) in its New York release at the Angelika Film Center.

Additionally, Adrián Biniez's Gigante -which premiered in New York City last Friday as part of BAMcinématek and Cinema Tropical's ¡Go Uruguay! series, won this weekend the prize for Best Film in the New Director Competion at the Chicago Film Festival. The film opens November 20th at the IFC Center.

Uruguayan Cinema this Weekend at BAM

BAMcinématek and Cinema Tropical are presenting ¡Go Uruguay! a film series presenting some of the best recent films from the South American country. The series which runs Friday - Sunday, October 16 - 18, presents the New York premiere of the film Gigante by Adrián Biniez which won the Silver Bear prize at this year's Berlin Film Festival. Both Biniez and producer Fernando Epstein will be in person at the 7pm screening on Friday.

'Uruguay Finds Film Mojo'

Variety published an article in its weekly edition on the revitalized Uruguayan cinema. Be sure to check the ¡Go Uruguay! film series at BAM Rose Cinemas October 16 -18 presented by Cinema Tropical and BAMcinématek.

"Festivalism" and the New York Film Festival

We were glad to read A.O. Scott's article on the New York Film Festival as he touches upon some critical issues that we see crucial to resolve in order to open up new and more accurate models for the distribution and exhibition of foreign cinema in this country. We are happy that The New York Times is finally catching up on this momentous debate. The “festivalism” that Scott diagnoses has not been particularly good with Latin American cinema this fall, as the NYFF didn’t include a single film from the region in the current lineup, and we just learnt that was also the case with this year’s Philadelphia Film Festival.

New Restored Print of the Venezuelan Classic ARAYA Premieres at the IFC Center

Celebrating its 50th anniversary, the classic Venezuelan documentary film Araya by Margot Benacerrat opens this Wednesday, October 7th at the IFC Center in New York City in its North American theatrical premiere. Winner of the International Critic's Award (shared with Alan Resnais' Hiroshima Mon Amour) at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival, the documentary has been compared to Robert Flaherty's Man of Aran and Luchino Visconti's La terra trema. Distributed by Milestone Films, the film has been restored and will be shown in a new 35mm print. The director will be present for Q&A at the Wednesday 10/7, Friday 10/9 and Saturday 10/10 screenings.

Visit the film's official website.

Watch the trailer.

The Revolution Is Coming to Houston

After its successful presentation in New York City, the '¡Revolución! The New Latin American Left' film series will travel to Houston, Texas this October. Hosted by the Department of Hispanic Studies at Rice University, the series will present six documentary films featuring some of the current presidents from Latin America that have emerged from the Left. The series runs October 9 - 12 and 16- 18 at Rice Cinema. For more information visit: http://hispanicstudies.rice.edu/Content.aspx?id=226

Welcome to the New Cinema Tropical Blog!

Dear friends of Cinema Tropical,

Welcome to our brand new blog. We'll be posting news, links to film reviews, as well as relevant information on Latin American cinema. Please be sure to check in constantly for new updates, and please feel free to leave any comments. As there are so limited resources for the exhibition of Latin American cinema in the United States, Cinema Tropical is committed to creating new real and virtual spaces for the promotion of the region's cinema in this country. Join our community and our tropical revolution!

¡Bienvenidos / Bem-vindos!

The Cinema Tropical Staff