Museum of Fine Arts in Houston Presents 7th Latin Wave Festival

By Hannah Webber

Tomorrow Thursday, April 26 through April 29, the seventh edition of Latin Wave: New Films from Latin America will begin at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. The four-day festival, programmed by Cinema Tropical's Co-Founder Monika Wagenberg, will include eight new Latin American films from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru.

Director Pablo Giorgelli's Las Acacias follows an unlikely trio on their journey from Asunción, Paraguay, to Buenos Aires. Rubén, a surly truck driver, grudgingly transports two illegal immigrants: a young mother and her infant daughter. Along the way, he finds himself increasingly attached to the pair. The Argentine film, whose script won the Coral Award for Best Unpublished Script at the 29th International Festival of New Latin American Cinema, is a quiet observation of the protagonists' interactions. 

Also from Argentina, filmmaker Santiago Mitre's El estudiante / The Student which debuted last year at the Buenos Aires Independent Film Festival (BAFICI), is an intriguing, fast-paced look into the Argentine university environment. Roque, a student from the suburbs, arrives in Buenos Aires to study social sciences. He soon meets Paula, a beautiful assistant professor, and is thrust into the world of university politics. Before directing this feature, Mitre wrote Pablo Trapero's Cannes-selected films Leonera and Carancho. 

The Argentine/Chilean co-production ¡Vivan las Antípodas! (pictured) asks the question, "If you could dig straight through to the other side of the Earth, where would you end up?" Director, cameraman and editor Victor Kossakovsky, who has received over 100 prizes internationally for his work, creates a visually breathtaking portrait of Earth in his most recent picture. The film, which was screened at this year's South by Southwest festival, examines four sets of antipodes (places that are located at the exact opposite side of the earth from each other).

Chilean director Cristián Jiménez delicately depicts a tragic romance in Bonsái. The film's young protagonists, Julio and Emilia, fall in and out of love. Years after their relationship has ended, Julio, now involved in an awkward affair with his neighbor, decides to write a novel about his romance and youth with Emilia. Jiménez's second feature film is a graceful portrayal of lost love. 

From Brazil, Histórias que só existem quando lembradas / Found Memories  (pictured) tells the story of a young photographer, Rita, and her experience in Jotuomba, a fictional community in rural Brazil whose residents honor the traditions and land that contain their memories. Director Julia Murat's first feature-length fiction film, Found Memories examines a generational and cultural clash between tradition and modernity. 

Fat, Short, and Bald Man (Gordo, calvo y bajito) follows Antonio, the man described in the title, who works in a notary office in Bogota, Colombia. The protagonist of this animated picture is a pitiable middle-aged virgin whose life is rooted in routine. In his first feature film, director Carlos Osuna presents a moving and honest tale of a man's confrontation of his fears and desires.

The Peruvian inclusion in the festival, Bad Intentions (Las malas intenciones), tells the story of Cayetana, an imaginative and isolated nine-year-old girl from a wealthy family living outside of Lima. The film navigates between her daydreams, her experience in a Catholic private school and her home life. Director Rosario García-Montero's coming of age story takes a turn when Cayetana's mother suddenly announces her pregnancy with a new child, and Cayetana declares that she will die the day the baby is born. García-Montero, internationally recognized, was recently named one of Filmmaker Magazine's "25 New Faces of Independent Film."

Lastly, director Gerardo Naranjo's explosive film, Miss Bala (pictured), will also screen at the film festival. Since it first premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last year, the film has sparked discussion and controversy. The picture tells the story of Laura, a beauty pageant contestant who is unwillingly thrust into the world of Mexico's violent drug war. Inspired by a true story, Naranjo explores the transformations Laura and her nation experience after the harrowing events she has lived.

A Record-Breaking Six Latin American Films at Directors' Fortnight

Directors' Fortnight (la Quinzaine des Réalisateurs),, the independent section of the Cannes Film Festival announced today its lineup for its 2012 edition which includes a record breaking number of six Latin American feature films in its competition: The Uruguayan film 3 by Pablo Stoll; the Mexican-Canadian co-production Fogo by Yulene Olaizola; the Argentine film Infancia clandestina / Clandestine Childhood by Benjamin Ávila; the Chilean-French co-production La noche de enfrente by the late Raoul Ruiz; the Colombian film La Sirga by William Vega; and the Chiean film No by Pablo Larraín.

Since its creation in 1969, never before the Directors' Fortnight had such a heavy presence of Latin American cinema. six out of 21 feature films selected. Additionally, Directors' Fortnight will also feature two Brazilian short films in its official competition: Porcos raivosos / Enraged Pigs by Leonardo Sette et Isabel Penoni, and Os mortos vivos / The Living Dead by Anita Rocha da Silveira.

LOS SALVAJES and AQUÍ Y ALLÁ to Cannes' Critics' Week

The International Critics' Week section of the Cannes Film Festival announced today its official selections for its 51st edition which will run May 17 through 25. Included in the lineup there are two feature films from Latin America: the Argentine film Los Salvajes by Alejandro Fadel, and the Spanish-American-Mexican co-production Aquí y allá / Here and There (pictured) by Antonio Méndez Esparza. The selection also include the Argentine short film Yeguas y cotorras by Natalia Garagiola and the Brazilian short O Duplo by Juliana Rojas.

The International Critics’ Week only programs seven feature films and seven short films annually, and the films compete for the Critics’ Week Grand Prix which is awarded by the press.
 

Alonso, Martel, Pereda and Reygadas in Cinema Scope's Best 50 Filmmakers Under 50

 
Argentine filmmakers Lisandro Alonso and Lucrecia Martel as well as Mexican filmmakers Nicolás Pereda and Carlos Reygadas are the Latin American directors that made it to the list of the Best 50 Filmmakers Under 50 that Cinema Scope magazine publishes in its most recent issue, commemorating the magazine's 50th edition. According to Mark Peranson, editor of the magazine the list offers a snapshot of the current status of cinema and a "contemporary Cinema Scope canon."

The magazine features texts on each of the filmmakers written by film critics and filmmakers. Diego Brodersen writes about his fellow countryman Alonso, whilst Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul (also featured in the list) writes about Martel. Film critic Johnny Ray Houston writes about Pereda, and Filipino director Raya Martin (also included in the 50 Best list) wrote the entry for Reygadas, in which he argues the short Este es mi reino / This Is My Kingdom part of the omnibus film Revolución is his best work to date).

Click here to see the complete list, and both Houston's piece on Pereda and Martin's piece on Reygadas are available online, Brodersen text on Alonso and Weerasethakul's text on Martel are only available to subscribers online or in the print version.

Tribeca Film Institute Unveils the Winners of its Latin American Fund

Last night the Tribeca Film Institute announced the winners of its Latin American Media Arts Fund and Heineken Voces Grant at a party in the Meatpacking District in Manhattan. The TFI Latin America Media Arts Fund supports innovative film and video artists living and working in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America whose works reflect their diverse cultures in the documentary or mixed media form, four projects in production/post-production stages were selected and each one of them got $10,000 USD.

This year's winners are: Claudio Araya Silva's Cuando los muertos están más secos / When the Dead Are Drier from Bolivia; Ana Petra Costa's Elena from Brazil; Alejo Hoijman's El ojo del tiburón / The Shark's Eye from Argentina; and Francisco Hervé's La Ciudad de los Césares / City of Caesars (pictured) from Chile.

The Heineken Voces Grant supports Latin American artists living in the U.S. and working on feature-length narrative and documentary projects that offer new perspectives on their cultural experiences. Two projects (one feature narrative and one feature documentary) received $10,000 USD each: Las Marthas by Cristina Ibarra and Feriado by Diego Araujo. This year's jury was composed by Argentine actor Ricardo Darín, Mexican producer Fernando Rovzar and POV's Vice-President Cynthia Lopez. 

Guatemalan Film DISTANCIA Tops Havana Film Fest New York

Guatemalan production Distancia / Distance (pictured), the debut feature film by Sergio Ramírez won the Havana Star prizes for Best Film and Best Director at the 13th edition of the Havana Film Festival New York, as it was announced last night at the closing night ceremony. Other awards announced last night were for Ecuadorean film Con mi corazón en el Yambo / With My Heart in the Yambo by María Fernanda Restrepo for Best Documentary Film and for Brazilian film Hard Labor / Trabalhar Cansa by Juliana Rojas and Marco Dutra as Best Screenplay. Alejandro Brugués' Juan de los muertos / Juan of the Dead was the closing night film. On its 2012 edition, the festival screened over 50 films from 13 countries between April 12 and 20.