TropicalFRONT Reports from DOC Buenos Aires

By Richard Shpuntoff

DOC Buenos Aires closed out its 13th Documentary Co-Production Forum this evening giving important production awards to a number of films that participated in its competitive pitching session. The Forum, held within the framework of the Ventana Sur film market, co-organized by the Marché du Film of the Cannes Festival and the Argentine National Institute of Film and Audiovisual Arts (INCAA), focused on ten projects representing nine Latin American nations.

In preparation for the pitching sessions, filmmakers and producers spent two days working in mentoring sessions that were run by Carmen Guarini of DocBuenosAires and José Rodríguez Morales of the Tribeca Film Institute.

The Arte International Award of 3,000 euros, given to the "most creative project," went to the Argentine David Rubio’s The Torres Broders and the Amaranto Bombs (Los Torres broders y las bombas de amaranto, about a small village’s fight against a transgenic soy agribusiness. Andrés Habegger’s The (im)possible oblivion (El (im)possible olvido), an Argentine-Brazilian-Mexican co-production, about the director’s relationship with his father who was disappeared by the military junta in Brazil in 1978, won a cash award of 10,000 Argentine pesos from DAC, the Association of Argentine Cinematographic Directors. Never Better (La flor de la vida), an Uruguayan film about the life stories of six people who are all around 80 years old, by Claudia Abend and Adriana Loeff won the Full Dimensional Award for digital finishing with an encrypted DCP.

Sundance Selects Argentinean and Chilean Films

The Sundance Film Festival has announced the 56 films in the festival's dramatic and documentary competition as well as 11 titles in the Next lineup for the 30th edition of the festival.

Two South American films will be featured in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition: the Argentine film, Lock Charmer / El cerrajero, written and directed by Natalia Smirnoff and To Kill a Man / Matar a un hombre, (pictured), a Chilean and French production written and directed by Alejandro Fernández Almendras. Smirnoff's film deals with a locksmith who begins to have strange visions about his clients. Fernández Almendras' film is a story about the chain of violence and retribution set off after a man is mugged.

This year's U.S. Documentary Competition includes Cesar's Last Fast, directed by Richard Ray Perez and Lorena Parlee, which presents a portrait of Cesar Chavez's devotion and personal sacrifice in the fight for economic justice for America's poorest workers. The documentary competition also includes Marmato, directed by Mark Grieco, which takes place in a historic Colombian mining town which becomes the center of a modern gold rush.

The 2014 edition of the Sundance Film Festival will take place from January 16 - 26 in Park City, Utah.

Slamdance to Premiere Mexican Film REZETA

The Slamdance Film Festival announced today its official lineup for its 20th anniversary edition, and it will feature the US premiere of the Mexican film Rezeta (pictured), the directorial debut by Fernando Frías in its Narrative Feature Film Competition. The Narrative competition will present breakthrough films by first-time feature film directors working with budgets of less than $1 million and without US distribution. This year's selection features 10 films, including several world and North American premieres.

Starring Rezeta Veliu, Roger Mendoza, Paulina Dávila and Sebastián Córdova, Rezeta tells the story of a jet-setting model who leads a freewheeling and spontaneous life in Mexico City that starts to change when she falls in love with an unexpected young artist.

Born and raised in Mexico City, Fernando was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to complete a Masters in Fine Arts by Columbia University in New York City. He has worked as a director, cinematographer, and editor for short films, art videos and TV series. His documentary Calentamiento local was awarded the prize for Best Digital Film at FICCO (Festival de Cine Contemporáneo) in 2009, as well as the prize for Best TV Documentary in DOCSDF that same year.

The 2014 Slamdance Film Festival will take place from January 17th - 23rd, 2014 in Park City, Utah.

Watch the trailer for the film:

Educational Catalog

CINEMA TROPICAL'S EDUCATIONAL CATALOG

Subcine + Cinema Tropical, the country’s leading Latino media distributors, are pleased to announce the formation of an alliance designed to serve the needs of American educators and librarians seeking a definitive resource for Latino and Latin American film and video.

Cinema Tropical's online orders are handled by TransitMedia

To order films on our catalog via email, telephone or fax, click here

Click here for Subcine's U.S. Latino Non-Theatrical Catalog

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EL ESTUDIANTE

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Subjects: Latin American Studies, Political Studies, Cinema Studies, Argentina
A film by by Santiago Mitre. Argentina, 2011, 110 min.
El Estudiante is a poignant political coming-of-age film that follows a student as he enters the complicated world of university politics.

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LOS QUE SE QUEDAN / THOSE WHO REMAIN

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Subjects: Latin American Studies, Latino Studies, Cultural Studies, Mexico, Migration, Political Studies
A film by by Juan Carlos Rulfo and Carlos Hagerman. Mexico, 2007 96 min.

Those Who Remain shines a light on the families left behind by loved ones who have traveled North for work, while also illuminating the rich glow of the Mexican spirit.

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ELVIRA

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Subjects: Latin American Studies, Latino Studies, American Studies, Mexico, Migration, Women Studies, Political Studies
A film by Javier Solórzano Casarin, Mexico, 2009, 65 min.
Elvira narrates the drama of an undocumented mother who has become an international symbol for undocumented workers' rights.

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SUITE HABANA

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Subjects: Latin American Studies, Cuba, Political Studies, Film Studies

A film by Fernando Pérez, Cuba/Spain, 2003, 80 min.
A poetic homage to the city of Havana, this breathtaking film portrays Cuba’s capital as no other art form has before.

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YOUNG REBELS / JÓVENES REBELDES

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Subjects: Latin American Studies, Latino Studies, Cuba, Political Studies, Music, Cultural Studies, Hip-hop
A film by Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck. USA/Cuba, 2005, 70 min.
Young Rebels follows five Cuban hip-hop groups and two producers over the course of a Havana summer.

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TORO NEGRO

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Subjects: Anthropology, Indigenous Studies, Latin American Studies, Mexico, Cultural Studies, Human Rights

A film by Pedro González-Rubio and Carlos Armella. Mexico, 2005, 87 min.
Fernando Pacheco, a.k.a El Suicida (The Suicide), is a young bullfighter who fights not in big arenas but at popular parties of small Mayan communities in the Yucatán Peninsula.

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MÁS ALLÁ DEL MAR / BEYOND THE SEA

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Subjects: Latin American Studies, Latino Studies, American Studies, Cuba, Migration, Political Studies

A film by Lisandro Pérez-Rey. USA/Cuba, 2003, 80 min.
Weaving together riveting stories along with rare historical images and footage from present-day Cuba, this film recreates the Mariel Boatlift, a crisis that shook the very foundations of Cuban as well as American society. 

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DEL OLVIDO AL NO ME ACUERDO / I FORGOT, I DON'T REMEMBER

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Subjects: Anthropology, Latin American Studies, Mexico, Cultural Studies, Literature

A film by Juan Carlos Rulfo. Mexico, 1998, 75 min.
Made by the son of famed Mexican writer, Juan Rulfo, purports to be the son’s search for his father among the people who knew him. But as their memory betrays them, the film becomes a brooding reverie on love, memory, death and old age.

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HERMANAS

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Subjects: Latin American Studies, Argentina, Human Rights, Political Studies, Women Studies

A film by Julia Solomonoff. Argentina/Spain, 2005, 88 min.
Exploring the secrets and silences of a family and a society that lived under a decade of fear, complicity with the dictatorship and concealment, Solomonoff debuts with a compelling story in a film that shines with exceptional performances by Valeria Bertuccelli and Ingrid Rubio.

Meet the 2013 Latin American Oscar Contenders

This year, 10 Latin American countries have selected their candidates to compete in the 86th edition of the Academy Awards in the Foreign Language Film category. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce the shortlist of 9 pre-nominees early January and the nominees on January 16, 2014. The last Latin American film to have won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film was Juan José Campanella's El secreto de sus ojos / The Secret in their Eyes in 2009. Meet this Latin American contenders!

ARGENTINA

WAKOLDA | THE GERMAN DOCTOR
Directed by Lucía Puenzo
(Argentina/France/Spain 2013, 93 min.)
Cast: Natalia Oreiro, Àlex Brendemühl, Diego Peretti
U.S. distributor: Samuel Goldwyn Films
U.S. theatrical release date: Spring 2014

 
BRAZIL

O SOM AO REDOR | NEIGHBORING SOUNDS
Directed by Kebler Mendonça Filho
(Brazil, 2012, 131 min.)
Cast: Ana Rita Gurgel, Caio Almeida, Maeve Jinkings, Dida Maia.
U.S. distributor: Cinema Guild
U.S. theatrical release date: August 24, 2012

CHILE

GLORIA
Directed by Sebastián Lelio
(Chile/Spain, 2013, 110 min.)
Cast: Paulina García, Sergio Hernández, Diego Fontecilla, Fabiola Zamora.
U.S. distributor: Roadside Attractions
U.S. theatrical release date: January 17, 2014

COLOMBIA

LA PLAYA DC
Directed by Juan Andrés Arango
(Colombia/Brazil/France, 2012, 90 min.)
Cast:  Luis Carlos Guevara, Jamés Solís, Andrés Murillo.
U.S. distributor: ArtMattan Films
U.S. theatrical release date: July 18, 2013

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

¿QUIÉN MANDA? | WHO'S THE BOSS?
Directed by Ronni Castillo
(Dominican Republic, 2013, 87 min.)
Cast: Frank Perozo, Nashla Bogaert, Cuquín Victoria, Amauris Pérez.
U.S. distributor: N/A
U.S. theatrical release date: N/A

ECUADOR

MEJOR NO HABLAR DE CIERTAS COSAS | PORCELAIN HORSE
Directed by Javier Andrade
(Ecuador, 2012, 100 min.)
Cast: Víctor Arauz, Andrés Crespo, Alejandro Fajardo, Leovanna Orlandini.
U.S. distributor: N/A
U.S. theatrical release date: N/A

MEXICO

HELI
Directed by Amat Escalante
(Mexico, 2013, 105 min.)
Cast: Armando Espitia, Andrea Vergara, Linda González.
U.S. distributor: N/A
U.S. theatrical release date: N/A

PERU

EL LIMPIADOR | THE CLEANER
Directed by Adrián Saba
(Peru, 2012, 95 min.)
Cast: Víctor Prada, Adrian Du Bois.
U.S. distributor: N/A
U.S. theatrical release date: N/A

URUGUAY

ANINA
Directed by Alfredo Sordeguit
(Uruguay/Colombia, 2013, 80 min.)
Cast: Federica Lacaño, María Mendive, César Troncoso, Cristina Morán.
U.S. distributor: N/A
U.S. theatrical release date: N/A

VENEZUELA

BRECHA EN EL SILENCIO | BREACH IN THE SILENCE
Directed by Luis and Andrés Rodríguez
(Venezuela, 2012, 90 min.)
Cast: Caremily Artígas, Juliana Cuervos, Vanessa Di Quattro.
U.S. distributor: N/A
U.S. theatrical release date: N/A

Two Chilean Fims Nominated for the Spirit Awards

The Independent Spirit Awards have announced today the contenders for its 2014 edition, which includes two Chilean films: Crystal Fairy by (pictured) Sebastián Silva and Gloria by Sebastián Lelio.

Silva's film is competing for the John Cassavetes Award, which honors features made for under $500,000. The film's protagonist, Gaby Hoffman, is also nominated for Best Female Lead. Gloria is up for Best International Film, competing against A Touch of Sin (China), Blue is the Warmest Color (France), The Great Beauty (Italy), and The Hunt (Denmark).

Additionally Una Noche by director Lucy Mulloyhas been nominated in the Best First Feature category and Aaron Douglas Johnston's My Sister's Quinceañera, made with Mexican-American residents of Iowa is up for the 20th Annual Someone to Watch Award. Latino actors have also been included in this year's mix as Guatemalan-born Oscar Isaac is nominated for Best Male Lead in the Cohen Brothers film Inside Llewyn Davis. Melonie Diaz, of Puerto Rican descent, is nominated for Fruitvale Station, directed by Ryan Coogler. 

The Independent Spirit Awards will be broadcast on March 1, 2014.