In Memoriam: José Emilio Pacheco and Film

Beloved Mexican poet, novelist, translator and screenwriter José Emilio Pacheco (pictured) died yesterday at the age of 74, the day after suffering a traumatic fall resulting from a heart attack.

As a principal figure in the so-called Generación de los 50, Pacheco was considered one of the most significant Latin American poets of the second half of the 20th century. A winner of the Cervantes Prize for literature, among numerous other awards, Pacheco had also a short yet fruitful relationship with screenwriting, best known in the film world for his frequent collaboration with director Arturo Ripstein.

In the early 70s, he worked with Jorge Fons and Eduardo Luján in the script of Los cachorros / The Cubs, which was directed by Fons and was based on a short story by Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa.

In 1972, Pacheco worked for the first time with Ripstein in the the touchstone film El castillo de la pureza / The Castle of Purity (pictured right) which was based on a real story. Starring Claudio Brook, Diana Bracho, and Arturo Beristain, the film tells the story of a disciplined man who keeps his family isolated in his home for years to protect them from what he thinks is the evil nature of human beings while producing rat poison. Pacheco won Mexico's national film prize, the Ariel Award for Best Screenplay.

A few years later Pacheco teamed up with Ripstein again for the screenplay of the film El Santo Oficio / The Holy Office, a period production about the Inquisition played out in the Americas, and was followed soon after by the failed English language Mexican-British co-production, Foxtrot / The Far Side of Paradise, starring Peter O'Toole and Charlotte Rampling, in 1976.

Pacheco worked with Jaime Humberto Hermosillo in the script of La pasíon según Berenice / The Passion of Berenice, an uncredited collaboration, in 1976. He worked once again with Ripstein in the documentary film Lecumberri (1977), and in their last collaboration, he worked on the screenplay of El lugar sin límites / Hell Without Limits (pictured below right, 1978) with fellow writers José Donoso and Manuel Puig, based on Donoso's novel. 

Pacheco's last work as a screenwriter was for the short film El principio del placer, based on his own short story of the same name, directed by Hilda Soriano in 1981. Some years later, in 1987, Alberto Isaac directed the film Mariana, Mariana (pictured above left), based on Pacheco's novel “Battles in the Desert,” which was adapted for the screen by Vicente Leñero. Originally, the film was to be directed by José Estrada but he died before production began, and Isaac stepped in.

Meet the Nominees of the 4th Annual Cinema Tropical Awards: U.S. Latino

         

For the first time in this 4th annual edition the Cinema Tropical Awards will present a prize to the Best U.S. Latino Film of the Year as a way to build bridges between Latin American cinema and the film productions made in the United States by Latinos. Five films, both fiction and documentary have been nominated in this category as the most outstanding American film made by a Latino director. 

 
U.S Latino Film  Nominees

AMERICAN PROMISE
A film by Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson (USA, 2013)
Nominated for Best U.S. Latino Film 

Winner of the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, American Promise is a documentary film directed by Michèle Stephenson, a New York resident of Haitian-Panamanian heritage, and her husband Joe Brewster. The film spans 13 years as the couple, middle-class African-American parents in Brooklyn, turn their cameras on their son, Idris, and his best friend, Seun, who make their way through one of the most prestigious private schools in the country. Chronicling the boys' divergent paths from kindergarten through high school graduation at Manhattan's Dalton School, this provocative, intimate documentary presents complicated truths about America's struggle to come of age on issues of race, class and opportunity. 

FILLY BROWN
A film by Youssef Delara and Michael D. Olmos (USA, 2012)
Nominated for Best U.S. Latino Film

Filly Brown is an inspiring and gritty portrait of a young artist striving to find her voice and seize her dreams without compromise. Majo Tonorio, aka, "Filly Brown" is a young, raw hip-hop artist from Los Angeles who spits rhymes from the heart. With a mother in prison and a father struggling to provide for his daughters, Majo knows that a record contract could be her family’s ticket out. But when a record producer offers her a shot at stardom, she is suddenly faced with the prospect of losing who she is as an artist, as well as the friends who helped her reach the cusp of success. Directed by Youssef Delara and Michael Olmos, Filly Brown stars Gina Rodriguez, Lou Diamond Phillips, Edward James Olmos and the legendary Mexican-American singer Jenni Rivera in her final on-screen performance.

MOSQUITA Y MARI
A film by Aurora Guerrero (USA, 2012)
Nominated for Best U.S. Latino Film

Mosquita y Mari, Aurora Guerrero's assured directorial debut, is a coming of age story that focuses on a tender friendship between two young Chicanas. Yolanda and Mari are growing up in Huntington Park, Los Angeles and have only known loyalty to one thing: family. When Mari moves in across the street from Yolanda, they maintain their usual life routine, until an incident at school thrusts them into a friendship and into unknown territory. As their friendship grows, a yearning to explore their strange yet beautiful connection surfaces. Lost in their private world of unspoken affection, lingering gazes, and heart-felt confessions of uncertain futures, Yolanda's grades begin to slip while Mari's focus drifts away from her duties at a new job. Mounting pressures at home collide with their new-found connection, forcing them to choose between their obligations to others and staying true to themselves.

REPORTERO
A film by Bernardo Ruiz (USA, 2012)
Nominated for Best U.S. Latino Film

A timely and urgent film, Reportero follows a veteran reporter and his colleagues at Zeta, a Tijuana-based independent newsweekly, as they stubbornly ply their trade in one of the deadliest places in the world for members of the media. In Mexico, more than 50 journalists have been slain or have vanished since December 2006, when President Felipe Calderón came to power and launched a government offensive against the country’s powerful drug cartels and organized crime. As the drug war intensifies and the risks to journalists become greater, will the free press be silenced?

WONDER WOMEN! THE UNTOLD STORY OF AMERICAN SUPERHEROINES
A film  by Kristy Guevara-Flanagan (USA, 2012)
Nominated for Best U.S. Latino Film

Krisry Guevara-Flanagan's Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines traces the fascinating evolution and legacy of Wonder Woman. From the birth of the comic book superheroine in the 1940s to the blockbusters of today, the film looks at how popular representations of powerful women often reflect society’s anxieties about women’s liberation. Wonder Women! goes behind the scenes with Lynda Carter, Lindsay Wagner, comic writers and artists, and real-life superheroines such as Gloria Steinem, Kathleen Hanna and others, who offer an enlightening and entertaining counterpoint to the male-dominated superhero genre.

GLORIA Shines in its U.S. Opening Weeking

The Chilean film Gloria (pictured) by Sebastián Lelio had a strong opening weekend at the U.S. box office earning a total of $58,800 in three theaters (the Angelika and Lincoln Plaza Center in New York City and The Landmark in Los Angeles) for a solid $19,600 average per location. Released by distribution company Roadside Attractions, Gloria received very positive reviews from the American critics.

"Astute, unpretentious and thrillingly humane" called it A.O. Scott writing for the New York Times, while the Los Angeles Times' Betsy Sharkey called it a "near-perfect film." The film will expand in other markets this Friday, January 31 to 20 screens approximately.

Cuarón Wins Directors Guild Award

Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón (pictured) won the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film prize for his film Gravity at the 66th Annual Directors Guild of America (DGA) Awards which were announced at a dinner ceremony last night in Los Angeles. Having won the Golden Globe and DGA Award for Best Director, Cuarón becomes the frontrunner to win the Academy Award in that category.

"This is truly an honor and I'm humbled by it," said Cuarón in his acceptance speech, winning the DGA prize on his first nomination. And he added: "Move the actor as little as possible and move the universe around the actor. That's pretty much how actors work, right?" 

Chilean Film TO KILL A MAN Wins Sundance's Grand Jury Prize

The Chilean film To Kill a Man / Matar a un hombre by Alejandro Fernández Almendras was awarded the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema Dramatic competition at the 2014 edition of the Sundance Film Festival. Fernández Almendras becomes the third Chilean director to win this award after Sebastián Silva's La Nana / The Maid in 2009, and Andrés Wood's Violeta se fue a los cielos / Went to Heaven in 2012.

The film follows Jorge, a hard working family man, who earns just enough to cover basic expenses. One afternoon, he is mugged by Kalule, a local delinquent. Jorge’s son decides to confront Kalule and recover what was stolen. Kalule shoots Jorge`s son, who nearly dies. The police get there and arrest Kalule. When Kalule gets out, he begins to terrorize the family. They go to the police for help, but the authorities don´t listen. When Kalule moves one step closer to fulfill his desire for revenge, Jorge decides to take justice into his own hands.

Fernández Almendras has worked as a film critic, photographer, and journalist. He has directed several short films, which screened at the Berlin International Film Festival. His first feature, Huacho, won the Sundance/NHK International Filmmaker Award and premiered during Critics' Week at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. The film won the award for best first feature in Havana, best film at the Viña del Mar International Film Festival, and best director at the Punta del Este International Film Festival. Sentados frente al fuego / By the Fire, his second feature, premiered at the 2011 San Sebastián International Film Festival and won the jury prize at the Toulouse Latin America Film Festival.

This year's Sundance World Cinema Dramatic Jury was composed by Chilean director Sebastián Lelio, programmer Carlo Chatrian, and producer Nansun Shi. The 30th edition of the Sundance Film Festival took place January 16-26 at Park City, Utah.

Meet the Nominees of the 4th Annual Cinema Tropical Awards: Documentary

      

                 

In the Cinema Tropical Awards non-fiction competition, seven films -from Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Mexico, have been nominated as the most outstanding Latin American documentary films of the year. The winners will be announced at a special event on Wednesday, January 29 at The New York Times Company headquarters.

First Film Category Nominees

EL ALCALDE / THE MAYOR
A film by Emiliano Altuna, Carlos F. Rossini, and Diego Osorno (Mexico, 2012)
Nominated for Best Documentary

Winner of the Best Documentary prize at the Cartagena and the Baja Film Festivals, El alcalde is an engrossing portrait of Mexican millionaire  Mauricio Fernandez, a larger-than-life and frequently controversial politician who is the mayor of Latin America’s wealthiest municipality. He presents himself as an active ruler who is capable of cleaning his municipality of the drug cartels presence without questioning the methods he uses to achieve it. El alcalde describes the wild times of a country that is marked by violence and the complete discredit of the ruling class.

LA CHICA DEL SUR  / THE GIRL FROM THE SOUTH
A film by José Luis García (Argentina, 2012)
Nominated for Best Documentary and Best Director (Documentary)

Chance took photographer and filmmaker José Luis García to North Korea in July 1989 to attend the International Youth and Student Festival in Pyongyang, soon after the Tian’anmen massacre. But what seemed to be just another meeting of socialist delegations from all over the world –through one of the most impenetrable borders of the old communist world– becomes García’s obsession when South Korean peace activist Im Su-kyong shows up and revolutionizes the event by announcing she will cross the border by foot to go back to her country. Twenty years after recording that fascinating period with his Super VHS camera, García decides to go back through the footsteps of that enigmatic woman. Zigzagging and explosive, La chica del sur is marked by a unique life in the middle of the hurricane of history, but also by the eye –and a voice reflecting on its own process– of a filmmaker who sees in one character the condensation of everything he believes to be worth filming.

LA ETERNA NOCHE DE LAS DOCES LUNAS / THE ETERNAL NIGHT OF THE TWELVE MOONS
A film by Priscila Padilla (Colombia, 2012)
Nominated for Best Director (Documentary)

On the Guajira peninsula in northern Colombia the old traditions of the indigenous Wayuu still hold sway. As soon as they begin menstruating, young women have to go and spend a year in a simple hut where only a few women are allowed to visit them. Contact with men is taboo. The grandmother is chiefly responsible for preparing the girl for her role as a woman during this period of seclusion. Pili is 12 years old when, for her grandmother's sake, she decides to follow this custom. But does she really know what she is taking on? The men from her small village build the mud hut which she will not leave for the next twelve months. For the first few days she lies motionless in her hammock, only moving for ritual washing and to take special medicine. Children play and laugh in the village outside but laughter is forbidden for Pili. People come regularly to give her instruction. The twelve moons seem to be endless. Pili weaves and weaves and weaves to pass the time. When she finally emerges into the glaring light of the sun, she has visibly changed. A striking documentary about ancient customs in a modern world..

LA GENTE DEL RÍO / RIVER PEOPLE
A film by Martín Benchimol, Pablo Aparo (Argentina, 2012)
Nominated for Best Documentary and Best Director (Documentary)

Martín Benchimol and Pablo Aparo’s encounter with the good citizens of Ernestina, a small Argentinian town that’s seen better days, offers a droll, perplexed study of disassociation in action. There are few young people to be seen. The old people look at the picturesque dilapidation around them, remember better days, and deplore the state of affairs that has allowed their fine public and commercial buildings to become such ruins. There’s a lot of sitting around to be done – which means plenty of time for bending the ears of the young filmmakers. Soon – confidentially, mind you – they are letting the visitors in on their darkest preoccupation: the scourge of their dying days, the riff-raff who live on the banks of the river just outside town. No misfortune is too minor to be blamed on these mysteriously malevolent river people. Banding together to hire private security may well be Ernestina’s final expression of community spirit. This portrait of embattled old codgers comes tinged with the existential comedy of Latin American fabulism.

EL HUASO
A film by Carlo Guillermo Proto (Chile/Canada, 2012)
Nominated for Best Documentary

Gustavo Proto moved his family from Chile to Toronto to provide them with a better life. His father committed suicide when Gustavo was just 16. Now 58, he ponders his life and the possibility of ending it himself before he becomes a burden to those he loves. Before he makes this final decision, he wants to live out his childhood dream of returning to Chile and becoming a huaso, a Chilean cowboy. Carlo Guillermo Proto moves brilliantly between the complex roles of director and son, dissolving unspoken barriers to reveal an emotional and heart-wrenching portrait of a family torn between respecting Gustavo’s choices and confronting him with the burden he places on those left behind. As the film travels between continents, tensions rise. Carlo allows himself to become a vulnerable character, imbuing the film with a rare and compelling honesty about familial responsibility and personal freedom.

PALABRAS MÁGICAS (PARA ROMPER UN ENCANTAMIENTO) | MAGIC WORDS (BREAKING A SPELL)
A film by Mercedes Moncada (Mexico/Guatemala, 2012)
Nominated for Best Director (Documentary)

Filmmaker Mercedes Moncada Rodríguez returns to Nicaragua to explore her own memories and the country’s history. Her memories go back to 1979 when the Sandinistas came to power, ousting the Somoza family, which had been ruling the country since 1934 with the support of the United States. Managua Lake is used as the garbage dump for the capital city, and it’s where Somoza dumped the ashes of murdered general Sandino back in 1934. Ever since, the lake has been a metaphor for the corrupt, degenerate and polluted state. The lake is never cleaned up, so the amount of garbage is only increasing. The year the Sandinistas won was year zero – the victory of the people and the beginnings of hope. But that hope quickly evaporated. Today, poor adolescents talk about crack and street gangs. Young kids listen to their tough stories and join in the laughter. Back in the day, teenagers were part of the Sandinista army. By alternating present-day reminiscences with archive footage, the film becomes a contemporary frame story about the past.

EL OTRO DÍA / THE OTHER DAY
A film by Ignacio Agüero (Chile, 2012)
Nominated for Best Documentary and Best Director (Documentary)

The home of acclaimed Chilean filmmaker Ignacio Agüero is filled with objects that speak to both his family's history and to the tumultuous history of his country. Seeking to make a quiet, personal film centered on his home and his memories, it is fitting that The Other Day begins when a ray of sunlight shines on a photograph of his parents. Agüero turns the tables on his uninvited guests, and asks them if he may knock on their doors too. His spontaneous excursions into their neighborhoods and homes broaden the film's scope, bringing different aspects of contemporary Chilean society into the picture. Interweaving these threads, collapsing past and present, interior and exterior, the film is an elegant reflection on layers of history, and ways they are reflected in families and communities. The film was awarded with the Best Documentary prize at the Guadalajara Film Festival and Best Chilean Film at FIDOCS.