Cine Las Americas International Film Festival

[caption id="attachment_3709" align="alignnone" width="550"]MEJOR NO HABLAR DE CIERTAS COSAS (PORCELAIN HORSE)[/caption]

Cine Las Americas announced the award winners for the 16th Cine Las Americas International Film Festival, which took place on April 16 to 21, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The Ecuadorian film MEJOR NO HABLAR DE CIERTAS COSAS (PORCELAIN HORSE) won the Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature and YOUNG LAKOTA won the Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature. YOUNG LAKOTA also won the Audience Award for Documentary Feature.

16th Cine Las Americas International Film Festival Award Winners:

Narrative Feature Competition

Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature
MEJOR NO HABLAR DE CIERTAS COSAS (PORCELAIN HORSE)
Dir. Javier Andrade, Ecuador

Special Jury Award for Cinematography
LA JUBILADA (THE RETIREE)
Dir. Jairo Boisier, Chile

Special Jury Award for Performance
Cecilia Suárez – NOS VEMOS, PAPA (SEE YOU, DAD)
Dir. Lucía Carreras, Mexico

Special Jury Mention for Experimental Approach to Narrative
EL EFECTO K. EL MONTADOR DE STALIN (THE K EFFECT. STALIN’S EDITOR)
Dir. Valentí Figueres, Spain 

Documentary Feature Competition

Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature
YOUNG LAKOTA
Dir. Marion Lipschutz & Rose Rosenblatt, USA

Honorable Mention for Documentary Feature
EL ALCALDE (THE MAYOR)
Dir. Emiliano Altuna, Diego Enrique Osorno, Carlos Rossini, Mexico

Honorable Mention for Documentary Feature
HABANA MUDA
Dir. Eric Brach, France/Cuba

Texas Archive of the Moving Image Hecho en Tejas Award
SOUTHMOST U.S.A.
Dir. Trish Dalton, USA 

Short Film Competition

Jury Award for Best Narrative Short
ZOMBI (ZOMBIE)
Dir. David Moreno, Spain

Special Jury Award for Visual Storytelling
LA NOCHE ANUNCIA LA AURORA (NIGHT ANNOUNCES DAWN)
Dir. Gerard Uzcategui, Venezuela

Special Jury Award for Animated Narrative
LA NORIA (THE WATERWHEEL)
Dir. Karla Castañeda, Mexico

Jury Award for Best Documentary Short
UNA HISTORIA PARA LOS MODLIN (A STORY FOR THE MODLINS)
Dir. Sergio Oksman, Spain

Audience Awards

Audience Award for Narrative Feature
DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR
Dir. Iris Almaraz, Guest Dir. Gustavo Ramos, USA

Audience Award for Documentary Feature
YOUNG LAKOTA
Dir. Marion Lipschutz & Rose Rosenblatt, USA

Audience Award for Emergencia Youth Film Competition
SIBLINGS
Dir. Leo Aguirre, Aruba

WHITE WASHED
Dir. Caytlyn Isham
In Progress, St. Paul, MN

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 [caption id="attachment_3437" align="alignnone" width="550"]A Última Vez que Vi Macau (The Last Time I Saw Macao)[/caption]

The 16th Cine Las Americas International Film Festival to run from April 16 to 21, 2013 in Austin, Texas, will screen 54 feature films and 66 short films in 10 program sections. 

The festival will feature a selection of new films from North, Central, and South America, the Caribbean and the Iberian Peninsula. Films made by or about Latinos in the U.S. or the rest of the world, and films by or about indigenous groups of the Americas are also included in the program.

The lineup includes:

The New Releases section presents a selection of fifteen narrative and documentary features by the finest emerging and established filmmakers to audiences in Central Texas.

This selection highlights a diversity of themes, genres and styles characteristic of contemporary national and international cinema trends:

3 ­- Dir. Pablo Stoll Ward, Uruguay

A Última Vez que Vi Macau (The Last Time I Saw Macao) ­- Dir. João Pedro Rodrigues & João Rui Guerra da Mata, Portugal

Carrière, 250 metros (Carrière: 250 Meters) ­- Dir. Juan Carlos Rulfo, Mexico

Colegas (Buddies) Dir. Marcelo Galvão, Brazil

De jueves a domingo (Thursday till Sunday) ­- Dir. Dominga Sotomayor, Chile

[caption id="attachment_3438" align="alignnone" width="550"]Elefante blanco (White Elephant) ­- Dir. Pablo Trapero[/caption]

Elefante blanco (White Elephant) ­- Dir. Pablo Trapero, Argentina

Hijos de las nubes: La última colonia (Sons of the Clouds) ­- Dir. Alvaro Longoria, Spain

La noche de enfrente (Night Across the Street) ­- Dir. Raúl Ruiz, Chile

Las acacias ­- Dir. Pablo Giorgelli, Argentina

Los mejores temas (Greatest Hits) ­- Dir. Nicolás Pereda, Mexico

O Som ao Redor (Neighboring Sounds) ­- Dir. Kleber Medonça Filho, Brazil

Path of Souls ­- Dir. Jeremy Torrie, Canada

Polvo (Dust) – Dir. Julio Hernández Cordón, Guatemala

Twenty features are included in the Narrative and Documentary competitive sections. The Narrative Feature Competition presents a selection of films from emerging and promising talent, including selections from all over the Americas and Spain in a variety of genre and form. The works screened in this category are eligible for both a jury award and an audience award for Best Narrative Feature:

[caption id="attachment_3439" align="alignnone" width="550"]Delusions of Grandeur Dir. Iris Almaraz, Gustavo Ramos, USA[/caption]

Delusions of Grandeur Dir. Iris Almaraz, Gustavo Ramos, USA

El efecto K. El montador de Stalin (The K Effect. Stalin’s Editor)- Dir. Valenti Figueres Jorge, Spain

Estrella del Sur (Southern Star) – Dir. Gabriel González Rodríguez, Colombia

Hasta nunca – Dir. Mark Street, Uruguay/USA

I Am a Director – Dir. Javier Colón, Puerto Rico

La jubilada (The Retiree) – Dir. Jairo Boisier, Chile

La segunda muerte (The Second Death) – Dir. Santiago Fernández Calvete, Argentina

Mejor no hablar de ciertas cosas (Porcelain Horse) – Dir. Javier Andrade, Ecuador

Nos vemos, Papá (See You, Dad) – Dir. Lucia Carreras, Mexico

Nove Crônicas para um Coração aos Berros (Nine Chronicles for a Screaming Heart) – Dir. Gustavo Galvão, Brazil

The Documentary Feature Competition presents a selection of documentaries on a wide variety of topics, with the common thread of including themes and points of view that are underrepresented in popular media. The works screened in this category are eligible for both a jury award and an audience award for Best Documentary Feature:

Cuéntame de Bia (Tell me about Bia) – Dir. Andrea Franco, USA/Peru

El Alcalde (The Mayor) – Dir. Emiliano Altuna, Diego Enrique Osorno, Carlos Rossini, Mexico

El cuaderno de barro (The Clay Diaries) – Dir. Isaki Lacuesta, Spain

Goudougoudou – Dir. Pieter Van Eecke, Fabrizio Scapin, Belgium

Há Tourada na Aldeia (Facing the Bull’s Eyes) – Dir. Pedro Sena Nunes, Portugal

Habana muda – Eric Brach, France/Cuba

[caption id="attachment_3440" align="alignnone" width="550"]O Céu Sobre os Ombros (The Sky Above) – Dir. Sergio Borges[/caption]

O Céu Sobre os Ombros (The Sky Above) – Dir. Sergio Borges, Brazil

Smoke Traders – Dir. Jeff Dorn, Catherine Bainbridge, Canada

Yo, indocumentada (I, Undocumented) – Dir. Andrea Baranenko, Venezuela

Young Lakota – Dir. Marion Lipschutz, Rose Rosenblatt, USA

The New Visions/Works in Progress section of the program includes two productions that are in the process of finalizing post-production, including one USA-Peru co-production and one film made in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas:

La navaja de Don Juan – Dir. Tom Sanchez, USA/Peru

Los Scavangers – Dir. Valente Rodriguez, USA

Feature films included in the Panorama selection represent a diverse array of important Narrative and Documentary feature films, which we consider essential to share with Central Texas audiences. Collectively, the films represent innovative and independent filmmakers in compliment to the rest of the features program; they showcase a variety of traditionally underrepresented cultures and issues, personal experiences, new perspectives and aesthetic innovation:

A Última Estação – Dir. Marcio Curi, Brazil

Calle del arte (A Street for the Arts) – Viviane Blumenschein, Germany/Venezuela

Campo abierto (Open Field) – Dir. Juan Carlos Martín, Mexico

[caption id="attachment_3441" align="alignnone" width="550"]Corazón del Cielo, Corazón de la Tierra (Heart of Earth, Heart of Sky)[/caption]

Corazón del Cielo, Corazón de la Tierra (Heart of Earth, Heart of Sky) – Dir. Eric Enrico Black, Frauke Sandig, Germany/Mexico/Guatemala

El mal del sauce (The Evil Willow) – Dir. Sebastián Sarquís, Argentina

El sueño de Lu (The Dream of Lu) – Dir. Hari Sama, Mexico

Fraylandia (Frayland) – Dir. Ramiro Ozer Ami, Uruguay

Justicia para mi hermana (Justice for My Sister) – Kimberly Bautista, USA/Guatemala

La Montaña (The Mountain) – Dir. Tabaré Blanchard, Iván Herrera, Dominican Republic

Las cosas como son (Things the Way They Are) – Dir. Fernando Lavanderos, Chile

Mi amiga Bety (My Friend Bety) – Dir. Diana Garay, Mexico

My Village, My Lobster – Dir. Joshua Wolff , Nicaragua/USA

Niños de la memoria (Children of Memory) – Dir. María Teresa Rodríguez, USA

RUTZ – Global Generation Travel – Dir. António Caetano Faria, Macao/Portugal

Sosúa: Make a Better World – Dir. Peter Miller, Renée Silverman, USA

Hecho en Tejas, presents a series of films shot and/or produced in Texas, to showcase the wide variety of work being produced in the state by filmmakers with varied backgrounds. Two features as well as a selection of short films are scheduled during this year’s festival. For a fourth consecutive year, Cine Las Americas is pleased to announce the Texas Archive of the Moving Image (TAMI) award for the best Hecho en Tejas film. The two features scheduled for Hecho en Tejas this year include:

Blood Cousins – Dir. Regan Arevalos, Larry Garza, Jess Castro, Comedia A Go-Go, USA

Bordando la frontera (The Border) – Dir. Rene Rhi, Mexico/USA

As a celebration of filmmakers on the rise, Cine Las Americas will include the Emergencia Youth Film Competition, a special section of the festival showcasing filmmakers 19 years or younger.

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Pablo Berger’s BLANCANIEVES will open the 16th Cine Las Americas International Film Festival, on Tuesday, April 16 at the Stateside Theatre. Winner of multiple awards and chosen to represent Spain at the 2012 Academy Awards, the film stars Maribel Verdú, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Angela Molina and newcomer Macarena García.

Closing the festival is 7 CAJAS (7 BOXES) on Sunday, April 21 also at the Stateside Theatre. A cunningly plotted action thriller, the film shows a rarely seen Paraguay on the cinematic map, bringing an inventive, lo-fi ingenuity to the traditional crime thriller. 

A re-telling of the classic Brothers’ Grimm fairy tale “Snow White”, BLANCANIEVES is described as a breathtakingly beautiful film and a uniquely spirited homage to the black-and-white Golden Age of Europe’s silent cinema. Set in a romanticized 1920s Seville, Berger’s Snow White is Carmen, the daughter of a famous bullfighter, who lives under the tyrannical rule of her monstrous, evil stepmother, Encarna. She escapes and joins a troupe of bullfighting dwarves, where her beauty and natural talent in the ring attract notices from the press. But soon the news reaches Encarna, who at last she knows where to find Carmen, and she prepares for the final showdown.

7 CAJAS develops on a single, sweltering hot night in Asuncion, Paraguay. Víctor, a 17-year-old wheelbarrow delivery boy, dreams of becoming famous and covets a fancy TV set in the infamous Mercado 4. He’s offered a chance to deliver seven boxes with unknown contents in exchange for a quick hundred bucks. But what sounds like an easy job soon gets complicated. When something in the boxes is highly coveted, Víctor and his pursuers quickly find themselves caught up in a crime they know nothing about.

The 16th Cine Las Americas International Film Festival, which runs April 16-21, 2013, will take place at the Stateside Theatre in downtown Austin, the Alamo Drafthouse Village, and the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center (MACC), with additional screenings at St. Edward’s University. All screenings at the MACC and at St. Edward’s University are free and open to the public. All films are subtitled in English.

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[caption id="attachment_2663" align="alignnone" width="550"]Gonzalo Justiniano’s ¿ALGUIEN HA VISTO A LUPITA? (HAVE YOU SEEN LUPITA?)[/caption]

Gonzalo Justiniano’s ¿ALGUIEN HA VISTO A LUPITA? (HAVE YOU SEEN LUPITA?) will open the 15th Cine Las Americas International Film Festival on Tuesday, April 24 at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar in Austin. Partially shot in Austin, the film stars Dulce María, Carmen Salinas, and Cristián de la Fuente. Scheduled to attend the opening night screening are actress Carmen Salinas, Director Gonzalo Justiniano, and Producer Daniel de la Vega.

Closing the festival is Selton Mello’s O PALHAÇO (THE CLOWN) on Sunday, April 29 also at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar. Actor and director Selton Mello’s sophomore feature brings to the screen the magic and enchantment of a family circus traveling through the dirt roads of the Brazilian inlands. Scheduled to attend the screening is Producer Fernanda Kalume.

¿ALGUIEN HA VISTO A LUPITA? (HAVE YOU SEEN LUPITA?) stars Dulce María, of RBD fame, as a young mexican girl who runs away from her family when they try to send her to a mental hospital, starting a journey through which she will take us to discover a world that seems much crazier than she is. With her sensuality, innocence and romanticism, Lupita invites us to believe that life can be experiencedin different ways.

[caption id="attachment_2664" align="alignnone" width="550"]Selton Mello’s O PALHAÇO (THE CLOWN)[/caption]

O PALHAÇO (THE CLOWN) follows the life of Benjamim (Selton Mello), who along with his father Waldemar (Paulo José) form the clown duo Thoroughbred and Mongrel, the main attraction of Circo Esperanza, a 15 people circus that travels through the dirt roads in the Brazilian inlands. Father and son share the ring and, supposedly, the same vocation, yet in spite of making the audience burst into laughter, Benjamim lives a personal crisis and tries to find his own identity. 

The 15th Cine Las Americas International Film Festival runs April 24-29, 2012 and will take place at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar, the Violet Crown, and at the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center (MACC), with additional screenings at St. Edward’s University in Austin Texas.

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