HELI, GLORIA, and JAULA to AFI FEST

The AFI FEST announced today its complete lineup for its annual celebration of international cinema in Los Angeles. For the 2013 edition, running November 7-14 and featuring 119 films representing 43 countries, three Latin American feature films have been selected for the World Cinema section: the Mexican films Heli by Amat Escalante and La Jaula de Oro (pictured) by Diego Quemada-Diez, and Chilean film Gloria by Sebastián Lelo. Both Heli and Gloria are representing their respective countries in the Foreign Language Film category at the Oscars.

Two Latin American film have also been selected for the American Film Institute's festival in the New Auteurs section: Argentinean film The Owners / Los dueños by Agustín Toscano and Ezequiel Radusky and Mexican film We Are Mari Pepa / Somos Mari y Pepa by Samuel Kishi Leopo.

Bruno Barreto's REACHING FOR THE MOON Opens in November in the U.S.

Wolfe Releasing with DaDa Films have announced the U.S. theatrical release of Bruno Barreto's award-winning Reaching for the Moon / Flores Raras (pictured). The Brazilian film opens Friday, November 8 at the Paris Theater in New York City, and on Friday, November 29 at the Royal Theater in Los Angeles.

The film features a critically acclaimed and beautifully nuanced performance by Miranda Otto (The Lord of the Rings Series) and Glória Pires. Based on the true love story of Elizabeth Bishop and Lota de Macedo Soares, Reaching fro the Moon won the Audience Award at both Outfest and Frameline Film Festivals, and was an official selection at the Berlin and Tribeca Film Festivals. 

Academy Award nominated filmmaker Bruno Barreto (Four Days in September, Dona Flor and her Two Husbands) returns with a sophisticated tale of an unlikely romance between two extraordinary artists, set  against the backdrop of political upheaval and a clash of cultures. Grappling with  writer’s block, legendary American poet Elizabeth Bishop (Otto) travels  from New York City to Rio de Janeiro in the 1950s to visit her college friend, Mary (Tracy Middendorf).

Hoping to find inspiration on Mary’s sprawling estate, Elizabeth winds up with much more — a tempestuous relationship with Mary’s bohemian partner, architect Lota de Macedo Soares (Pires), that rocks the staid writer to her foundation. Alcoholism, geographical distance and a military coup come  between the lovers, but their intimate connection spans decades and forever  impacts the life and work of these two extraordinary artists. The attraction of two  polar-opposite women has rarely been so volatile and so erotically charged on the big screen.

The film will have additional theatrical engagements at Encino, Pasadena and San Francisco, California in December.

Locarno Gives Carte Blanche to Brazil

The Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland has announced that the fourth edition of its work-in-progress Carte Blanche program will focus in Brazil featuring between five and seven films in post-production from the South American country seeking funds for competition. Carte Blanche will take place during the 67th edition of the Swiss film festival running August 6-16, 2014. Launched in 2011, Carte Blanche has featured Colombia, Mexico, and Chile in the past. A jury composed of film industry professionals will select the winner of the Best Film with a cash prize of CHF 10,000 (about $11,100 USD).

TropicalFRONT at Intelatin Cloudcast: October Show

In the October edition of TropicalFRONT on Intelatin Cloudcast, Sergio Muñoz and Carlos A. Gutiérrez talk about Brazilian film on this month's show. Our featured film is Eles Voltam / They Will Come Back by Marcello Lordello. We break down the Academy Award entries from Latin America and we dialogue about titles and trailers. Sergio does a review of Pablo by the filmmaker Richard Goldgewicht. Vanessa Erazo, film editor of Remezcla.com, chooses two films for our audience, Sin Nombre and Which Way Home and speaks over a sound bed played by Antonio Carlos Jobim. Music for the show is curated by DJ Canyon Cody of Subsuelo and Afroxander. The selected tracks are performed by Munchi, Orquesta and Tropkillaz. And we close the show with Sergio's 20 minutos en español con el director mexicano, Pedro González-Rubio.

Listen to the show on iTunes or on the Cloud.

Ambulante Doc Film Fest Heads to California in 2014

Ambulante, the Mexican traveling documentary film festival created in 2005 by Gael García Bernal, Diego Luna, and Pablo Cruz, will arrive in Los Angeles, California in the fall of 2014, the organization announced. Leading Ambulante California will be Christine Davila, an independent film programmer and curator for various film festivals and film series, including her role as Programming Associate for The Sundance Film Festival since 2008.

The Ambulante California Film Festival tour, presented by the Ford Foundation, will run from September 21 to October 4, 2014, and each day it will screen at a different venue, from universities, highs schools, museums, community centers, to outdoor venues and makeshift spaces. Filmmakers will be invited to present their films at each screening event in order to exchange dialogue and share context with the public.

Ambulante California will feature a 15-feature film program which will be a selection of documentaries reflecting the social cultural realities of Mexico, as well as innovative stories and perspectives from all parts of the world exploring themes of transnational identity, underrepresented voices, and global social impact.

The symbolic crossing of Ambulante into the U.S. will kickoff with special border screenings in Tijuana, and there are plans to have a precursor event on May Day prior to its full launch on September 21. Director of Ambulante California, Christine Davila says, “Ambulante California will have all of what makes Ambulante radical; the mobile and social engagement aspect, focus on the local community, and intervention of public spaces. What will uniquely define Ambulante California is its targeted programming objective. Our goal is to curate films which reflect a spectrum of niches and subcultures, and place them in front of their specific audience, as well as making them accessible to a critical and broader mass”.

The 15th Rio Film Fest Announces Winners

Two films were announced as the top winners at the 15th edition of the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival: Underage / De Menor (pictured) by Caru Alves de Souza, (pictured) and Wolf At The Door / O Lobo Atrás Da Porta by Fernando Coimbra. The winners, both which happen to be first films, were awarded with the Redentor Award for Best Fiction Film in the Premiere Brazil competitive section of the festival. Cao Guimarães and Marcelo Gomes shared the Best Director award for The Man of the Crowd / O Homem Das Multidoes.

Souza’s Underage follows the steps of a young woman, Helena (Rita Batata), a recently graduated attorney that shares her routine between her job and taking care of a teenager, Caio. Wolf At The Door is about a kidnapping with acclaimed Brazilian actress Leandra Leal playing a mistress of the father whose child has been abducted. This is Leal’s second consecutive time winning the Best Actress award at The Rio Festival.

Stories of Arcanjo / Historias De Arcanjo- Um Documentário sobre Tim Lopes by Guilherme Azevedo won the Best Documentary prize, and Paulo Morelli took the Best Screenplay prize for Sheep’s Clothing / Entre Nós. The Special Jury prize for Best Fiction Feature was awarded to Hilton Lacerda’s debut, Tattoo / Tatuagem, which won other awards at the festival. The Special Jury award for Best Feature Length Documentary went to Ruckus at The Circus / A Farra Do Circo by Roberto Berliner and Pedro Bronz. The official Jury consisted of President Fabiano Canosa with Doris Hegner, Helena Ignez, Lázaro Ramos and Marie-Pierre Macia.

President Anna Azevedo, Maria Flor, and António Ferreira formed part of The New Trends jury or Novos Rumos, which awarded prizes to: Eliza Capai, Best Feature Film award for Here Is So Far / Tão Longe é Aqui. For Best Short in this category, the prize went to All These Days When I am Foreign / Todos Esses Dias em Que Sou Estrangeiro by Eduardo Morotó.

The Rio International Film Festival took place during September 26 through October 10, 2013 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.