Something Is Cooking in Nicaragua

Last week the Nicaraguan Congress approved a considerable law that will help stimulate the nascent local film community. Nicaragua thus becomes the second country in Central America to pass a similar law after Panama. Among other attributes, Law 723 contemplates the creation of local film council under the name of Consejo Nicaragüense de Cinematografía y de las Arts Visuales that will be integrated by the National Cinematheque and the Nicaraguan Institute for Culture, it establishes a 50% minimum quota for the participation of local talent in international productions shot in the country, and it will create a fund to support local film productions.

These Nicaraguan efforts coincide with the local box office success of La Yuma  directed by French-born Florence Jaugey, the first feature film produced in Nicaragua in 20 years that became the top grossing film on its opening weekend outselling even American blockbuster Iron Man 2. The film, which garnered Best First Film and Best Actress prizes at the last edition of the Guadalajara Film Festival, tells the story of Yuma (played by Alma Blanco), a rebellious girl from the outskirts of Managua who dreams of being a boxer.

Strong Latin American Component at Human Rights Watch Film Fest, NewFest and SilverDocs

Three upcoming American film festivals that will take place this June have announced their official lineups, all of which include several films from Latin America.  The 21st edition of the Human Rights Watch Film Festival, taking place June 10-24 at the Walter Reade Theater of the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York City, will screen the local premieres of the Mexican films Presunto culpable / Presumed Guilty (pictured) by Roberto Hernández and Geoffrey Smith, and Backyard / El traspatio by Carlos Carrera -both films will be co-presented by Cinema Tropical. Haitian film Moloch Tropical by Raoul Peck will also be screened as the festival's centerpiece, with the attendance of the filmmaker in conversation with film critic Kent Jones.

NewFest 2010, running June 3 - 13 at the SVA Theater in the heart of Chelsea in NYC, has chosen film Peruvian-Colombian coproduction Contracorriente / Undertow by Javier Pérez León as its opening night. The New York premier LGBT film series in its 22nd edition will screen three featured films from Argentina including Julia Solomonoff's El último verano de la Boyita / Last Summer of la Boyita, Marco Berger's Plan B and José Celestino Campusano's Vil romance / Vile Romance; the Brazilian feature films Do começo ao fim / From Beginning to End by Aluisio Abranches and Quanto dura o amor? / Paulista by Robero Moreira, as well as the Uruguayan film El cuarto de Leo / Leo's Room by Enrique Buchichio.

And finally, SilverDocs, taking place June 21 - 27 at the AFI Silver in Silver Springs, Maryland, announced it will also feature in its official competition Presumed Guilty, along with the documentary features Circo by Aaron Schock, Monica and David by Ali Codina and the Swedish-Peruvian coproduction Familia by Mikael Wiström and Alberto Herskovits.

Latin American Winners at Cannes!

The Cannes Film Festival announced the winners of its 63rd edition that came to a close today and that was particularly good for Latin American productions. Mexican film Año bisiesto (pictured) by Australian-born director Michael Rowe took home the Caméra d'Or prize for Best First Feature Film, whilst Javier Bardem won the Best Actor Prize (ex aequo) for his leading role in Alejandro González Iñárritu's Biutiful. Even though Carlos Reygadas's Japón was awarded with a Special Mention for the Caméra d'Or in 2002, it's the first time a Mexican film wins the top prize in this category. In the Un Certain Regard section of the festival, Peruvian film Octubre by Daniel and Diego Vega won the Jury Prize, and Argentine actresses Adela Sánchez, Eva Bianco and Victoria Raposo of Iván Fund and Santiago Loza's Los labios were granted a Special Award.

Cannes You Speak Spanish?

By Mario Díaz*

The 2010 edition of the Cannes Film Festival is past the midway mark, so it's time to evaluate how the Latin American contingent has fared so far. Alejandro González Iñárritu's Biutiful, the only Latin American film in the main competition, has already screened and received a mixed critical reception. Eric Kohn, Indiewire's newly-appointed chief critic, called it a "misguided melodrama", explaining that the director doesn't know the difference between "understanding the tools of melodrama and successfully putting them together." Read his review here.


Hollywood blogger Anne Thompson printed this positive critique, saying that she "dived right into this chaotic milieu, caring for the guy" - referring to Javier Bardem's lowlife character. She reported that foreign critics were generally more positive about the film than their American counterparts, and that the film may have a hard time finding an audience stateside (it still doesn't have a U.S. distributor). The Hollywood Reporter, however, gushed about the film, calling it a "a gorgeous, melancholy tone poem about love, fatherhood and guilt." You can read the review here. The one constant in all the reviews I read was that Bardem gives a stellar performance. Could he be headed to the Kodak theater in Hollywood again next year? [Read more]


*Mario Díaz is a filmmaker and blogger [http://diazfilm.blogspot.com]

Paula Félix-Didier at Film Forum

Paula Félix-Didier (pictured), director of el Museo del Cine in Buenos Aires, was here in New York City this past weekend to introduce some of the screenings of Fritz Lang's The Complete Metropolis in its US theatrical premiere at Film Forum. As it's been widely covered, the new version of the silent cinema classic contains 25 extra minutes of footage that was thought long lost, but that was found in a 16mm print in el Museo del Cine in Argentina in 2008. Félix-Didier affirmed that the discovery of the print was not an epic endeavor, as the print was perfectly cataloged in the museum's vault, yet nobody had taken the time to check what version it was. In its opening weekend, The Complete Metropolis distributed by Kino International grossed an astounding $20,000 from its Film Forum release.

Photo by Rodrigo Brandao.

Launching of 'Indocumentales' on a Cinco de Mayo

This past Wednesday, Cinco de Mayo, what moves you?, Cinema Tropical and the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at New York University, launched the series Indocumentales / Undocumentaries: The US/Mexico Interdependent Film Series with a packed auditorium at the King Juan Carlos I Center at NYU. The film component of the evening included the screening of Natalia Almada's Al Otro Lado and a sneak preview of the new short film Subterráneos: Música norteña en Nueva York by Gaspar Orozco and Karina Escamilla. The screening was followed by a discussion with directors Gaspar Orozco and Karina Escamilla, as well as with the musicians Los Inmigrantes del Sur and Ethan Nadelmann from the Drug Policy Alliance. Los Inmigrantes del Sur played some of their music at the reception that followed the event.

Click here to see more photos of the event.

Pictured (from left to right): Karina Escamilla, Ethan Nadelmann, Gaspar Orozco and the members of Los Inmigrantes del Sur. Photo by Gala Narezo.

Two Mexican Films Awarded at the San Francisco Film Fest

Two Mexican films won prizes at the San Francisco Film Festival  that ended yesterday. Produced by the San Francisco Film Society, the 53rd edition of the Californian festival gave Mexican filmmaker Pedro González Rubio the New Directors Award for his film Alamar, whilst Roberto Hernández and Geoffrey Smith's documentary Presunto culpable / Presumed Guilty won the Golden Gate Award for Bay Area Documentary Feature. Each of the winners received $15,000 in cash prizes and editing software. 

Fritz Lang's METROPOLIS, the Latest Film Release from Argentina

Kino International is presenting the US theatrical premiere of what The New York Times has called 'the definitive restoration' of Fritz Lang's silent cinema masterpiece Metropolis. After its Berlin premiere in 1927, the legendary film (running estimated 153 minutes) was never seen in its original version as it underwent several cuts by its distributors. However, in 2008 Argentine film archivist Fernando Peña came across a full-length 16mm print of the film at the vaults of the Museo del Cine in Buenos Aires that had belonged to a local private collector since 1928. This print contained 1,257 shots of the film that were thought long lost.

After extensive restoration, Metropolis is now been presented in a new version of 147 minutes, which includes the footage found in Argentina along with the original orchestral score that was incorporated in a restoration done in 2002. The film, billed as The Complete Metropolis, opens this Friday, May 7th for an exclusive two-week engagement at NYC's Film Forum, followed by its L.A. release at the Laemmle's Royal Theater and a national rollout. Paula Félix-Didier, director of the Museo del Cine, will be present to introduce some of the screenings on the film's opening weekend, click here for showtimes and more information.

Click here to read Larry Rohter's piece on the Argentinean discovery of the lost footage of Metropolis published in The New York Times.

Mucho Latino at the L.A. Film Fest 2010

Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Festival, announced the official lineup of the 16th edition of the film festival that will run June 17 -27. In comparison to other many similar US festivals, the L.A. Film Festival will showcase a healthy dose of Latin American cinema presenting the diversity of the region's production. The Colombian-Costa Rican production De amor y otros demonios / Of Love and Other Demons by Hilda Hidalgo, as well as the US-Mexico documentary Circo by Aaron Schock will be both in the official competition, whilst the Argentinean production El ambulante / The peddler and the film Secrets of the Tribe by Brazilian director José Padilha will be screened in the 'International Showcase' section. Additionally the feature film Revolución composed by ten segments made by prominent young Mexican filmmakers will have its US premiere as a gala screening, and the Chilean film Mandrill by Ernesto Díaz Espinosa will be screened in 'The Beyond' section.

The festival will also have a special program presented by the Ambulante Film Festival composed of the Mexican documentary films Un día menos / One Day Less by Daniela Ludlow; Presunto culpable / Presumed Guilty by Roberto Hernández and Geoffrey Smith; and El reporte Toledo / The Toledo Report by Albino Álvarez Gómez. Furthermore, this year's 'International Spotlight' section has been dedicated to the late renowned Argentinean filmmaker Leopoldo Torre Nilsson with the showing of four of his classic films including La casa del ángel / The House of the Angel from 1957.

ENTRE NOS: A Real-Life Family Drama

By Mario Díaz*

In Hollywood, multi-hyphenate filmmakers like writer-director-producer-editor James Cameron are sometimes characterized as narcissists, their numerous credits seen as an insatiable need for control. In the indie film world, however, when filmmakers take on multiple roles it’s often due to sheer necessity.


Such was the case for Colombian actress Paola Mendoza, whose touching and nuanced new feature film Entre Nos was a hit at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival. When she first conceived of the project, Mendoza simply set out to write a screenplay (along with co-screenwriter Gloria LaMorte) that would do justice to the real-life story of her immigrant mother who became homeless with two children when she first arrived in the U.S. The process took two years.

"We were just focused on writing a good script," Mendoza said in an interview during a recent screening of her film at the San Diego Film Festival. "And once that was done we went on to the next job." [Read more]

ENTRE NOS INTERVIEW from Mario Diaz on Vimeo.

Entre Nos opens at the Quad Cinema in NYC on Friday, May 14th and will be shown on HBO Latino in the fall.

*Mario Díaz, is a filmmaker and blogger [http://diazfilm.blogspot.com/]