upcoming

Latino Film Festival

What:

College of the Redwoods Modern Languages Department and Humboldt State University Department of World Languages and Cultures present the 13th annual Latino Film Festival on March 1, 2, and 3 at the Minor Theatre in Arcata.  This is a great opportunity to enjoy and learn from a three-day seminar/workshop.  Three outstanding films from Ecuador will be featured this year.  

 

The film content and mode of representation will be compared and discussed.  There will be a half-hour speaker’s presentation in Spanish/English at 6:00 p.m., followed by a screening of each film.  After the film screening there will be a panel discussion.  A short opinion paper is required for academic credit.  Non-credit participants may purchase tickets to films at the Minor Theatre box office for $6 per film.

 

The special guest speaker for this year’s festival is well-known Ecuadorean cinema scholar, writer and literature professor, Dr. Gabriela Alemán.  Alemán teaches Latin American Film in Universidad de San Francisco de Quito, and Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar in Quito, Ecuador. She is a regular contributor to the International Film Guide put out by Wallpaper Press. Her most recent academic publication appeared in Latsploitation, Exploitation Cinemas, and Latin America, London: Routledge, 2009. She is a Guggenheim fellow and a published author of six fiction books.

   

Here are descriptions of the films that will be shown at the festival:

 

March 1:  Ratas, ratones, rateros Ecuador (1999) (Rodents)

Salvador is a teenager who has become expert in street robbery with some friends, but everything is disrupted by the arrival of his cousin Angel, an ex-convict in trouble. Rodents shows the world of petty criminals in an Ecuadorean city, reflecting on the loss of innocence through the story of a young man who lost the few things that had meaning in his life.

Director: Sebastián Cordero

The moderator for this film will be Professor Rosamel Benavides-Garb, Chair, HSU Department of World Languages and Cultures.  Panelists will be Dr. Gabriela Alemán, Scholar and Professor of  Cinema, Quito, Ecuador; George Potamianos, CR History and Cinema Professor; Gary Sokolow, CR Law Enforcement Training Professor; and Lilianet Brintrup, HSU Spanish and Literature Professor.

   

March 2: Qué tan lejos Ecuador (2006) (How Much Further?)
Esperanza and Tristeza both have to get to Cuenca. However, by an unlucky turn of events, the bus they are on gets delayed due to a worker strike. Taking their journey into their own hands, they decide to hitchhike to Cuenca. Along the way they meet interesting characters who help them re-evaluate the purpose of their journey.

Director: Tania Hermida

 

The moderator for this film will be CR  English Professor Peter Blakemore. Panelists will be Dr. Gabriela Alemán, Scholar and Professor of  Cinema, Universidad de San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador;  Susana Muñoz, CR Spanish Professor; and  Francisco de la Cabada, HSU Spanish Professor.

   

March 3: *Prometeo deportado Ecuador (2009) (Prometheus Deported)*
 A plane from Ecuador lands in Europe, and the members of the European Union quickly pass through customs, while the line of Ecuadoreans doesn’t move. They are questioned, their passports are confiscated, and with no explanation they are taken to a waiting room. This is the beginning of Prometeo Deportado, but as time passes and the possibility of leaving fades, a new way of life is created in the waiting room.

Director: Fernando Mieles  

 

The moderator for this film will be CR Professor of Spanish Ana María Romo de Mease. Panelists will be Dr. Gabriela Alemán, Scholar and Professor of  Cinema, Quito, Ecuador; Dana Maher, CR Sociology Professor;andMatthew Dean, HSU Spanish Professor.

   

For more information on this event, please call CR Professor Ana María Romo de Mease at 707-476-4324, or HSU Professor Rosamel Benavides-Garb 707-826-3123, co-directors of the film festival.

When/where:

Dates
Time	6 p.m.
Phone	707-476-4324
Venue	Minor Theater
Cost	$6.00