THE CINEMA TROPICAL SERIES
In the past few years, several Latin American countries have seen
their filmmaking industries show signs of recovery and growth, as new
grounds in both the commercial and independent fronts are being broken.
This series will bring a selection of films from both tendencies, giving
US viewers a glimpse into the exciting revitalized cinema from Latin America.
The Cinema Tropical Series will showcase recent Latino/Latin American
in co-presentation with venues from New York City.
As the first film of the series, Cinema Tropical is proud to an extraordinary new documentary that won the Special Jury Prize in Documentary at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival and the 2002 Nestor Almendros Award at Human Rights Watch International Film Festival.
Señorita Extraviada / Missing Young Women
(Lourdes Portillo, Mexico/US, 2001, 75 min.
In Spanish with English subtitles)
Señorita Extraviada tells the haunting story of the over
200 kidnapped, raped and murdered young women of Juárez, Mexico.
The murders first came to light in 1993 and young women continue to
"disappear" to this day without any hope of bringing the perpetrators
to justice.
Who are these women from all walks of life and why are they getting murdered so brutally? The filmmaker poetically investigates the circumstances of the murders and the horror, fear and courage of the families whose children have been taken. As the main economic force of Ciudad Juárez, women occupy a unique place in a town otherwise overrun by men seeking to cross the border for work in the United States. This discrepancy has made Juárez one of the most dangerous towns for young women to reside in Mexico. In the midst of the city's international mystique and high profile job market, there exists a murky history of grossly underreported human rights abuses and violence against women. Relying on what Portillo comes to see as the most reliable of sources - the testimonies of the families of the victims - Señorita Extraviada documents a two-year search for the truth in the underbelly of the new global economy.
Lourdes Portillo is a multiple award winning filmmaker, Mexican born
and Chicana identified. Her films have focused on the search for Latino
identity. She has worked in a richly varied range of forms, from television
documentary to satirical video-film collage. Her impressive body of
film work includes After the Earthquake(1979), Columbus on Trial (1993), The Devil Never Sleeps
(1996), and the Academy Award nominated Las Madres: The Mothers
of Plaza de Mayo (1985). The recipient of several distinguished
grants and awards, including the Rockefeller Foundation Intercultural
Film and Video Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts grants, a
Guggenheim Fellowship and the American Film Institute Filmmakers' Award,
Portillo's films have shown to wide acclaim throughout the North America,
Latin America and Europe.
Señorita Extraviada is distributed through Women
Make Movies.
Screenings:
Monday, October 7 at 8pm
Two
Boots Pioneer Theater
155 East 3rd St. (at Avenue A)
Tel. (212) 254-3300
Friday, October 18 at 8pm
American Museum of the Moving Image
Part of the International Film Fridays Series
35 Avenue at 36 Street (Astoria, Queens)
Info line: (718) 784-0077
Tuesday, November 26 at 8pm
Flushing Meadows Corona Park
Box Office: (718) 760-0064
The Cinema Tropical Series is made possible by the generous support of Chivas Regal and partner organizations The Museum of the Moving Image, Queens Theatre in the Park, and Pioneer Theater. Additional support provided by the Mexican Cultural Institute.
Cinema Tropical is made possible by the generous support of Chivas Regal, The Mexican Cultural Institute, the New York State Council on the Arts, and partner organizations like The Museum of the Moving Image, Queens Theatre in the Park, and Pioneer Theater.
