NEWS

15th annual Latin American Film Festival to focus on immigration, cultural challenges

By BRIAN BEDSWORTH
UNC News Services

CHAPEL HILL -- The 15th annual Latin American Film and Video Festival, Nov. 4-19 at six colleges and universities around North Carolina, will focus on Latin American immigration and the cultural issues it raises.

The festival, "Cruzando fronteras/Crossing Borders," will showcase 16 feature films and documentaries from Mexico, Guatemala, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Germany and the United States. It will include a locally produced documentary on the rapid growth of North Carolina’s Spanish-speaking population.

Films will be shown at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, N.C. State University in Raleigh, Duke and N.C. Central universities in Durham, UNC-Greensboro and Guilford College in Greensboro. The festival will coincide with the third annual William Brown Jr. Latin American Film and Video Festival at UNC-Charlotte and Davidson College Nov. 5-9.

"We have a very large immigrant population in North Carolina," said Sharon Mújica, outreach director of the Consortium in Latin American Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke, which sponsors the festival. "It’s a topic that’s very much on people’s minds."

The festival kicks off with the premiere of "Nuestra Comunidad: Latinos in North Carolina" at NCSU’s Witherspoon Center on Nov. 4. Joanne Hershfield, a UNC documentary filmmaking instructor, and UNC graduate Penny Simpson directed the video. The documentary uses personal experiences and cultural encounters to illustrate the impact of rapid growth of North Carolina’s Spanish-speaking population on communities. Hershfield and Simpson will introduce the video at the premiere and at additional screenings at UNC and Guilford College.

"I think you can show a film like ("Nuestra Comunidad…") and have some really good

discussions," Mújica said. "It’s a very balanced film, and it really talks about what’s going on in North Carolina. I think a lot of communities are waiting for something like this."

Films such as "Chulas Fronteras" and "Del Mero Corazón," both by independent filmmaker Les Blank, address life on the Texas-Mexican border and how immigration affects that area. Blank will introduce his films at NCCU on Nov. 6.

Other films will address immigration and the mixing of cultures within Latin America. Mexican director Guita Schyfter will introduce her film "Novia Que te Vea/May I Live to See You Married" at NCSU on Nov. 9. Her first feature film and a critical success, the 1993 movie tells the story of the conflicting loyalties of two Jewish girls growing up in Catholic Mexico in the 1960s. The film won five awards in Mexico and international awards.

The festival’s closing feature, "Gaijin" at UNC Nov. 19, chronicles the experiences of a Japanese couple who move to Brazil in the 1890s encountering challenging cultural differences.

"I think that film will be really interesting, because a lot of people probably don’t have any idea about that side of immigration," Mújica said, referring to Asian migration to Latin America.

But not all the films deal explicitly with immigration. Film scholar and Wake Forest University professor Dr. Keith Richards will introduce and lead discussions on two of the biggest commercial and critical successes in recent Latin American cinema.

Richards will speak before the critically acclaimed Mexican film "Amores perros/Love’s a Bitch" at its Nov. 6 screening at Duke. "Amores perros" has won more than 25 international film awards and was nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film last year.

Richards also will speak at the screening of the Chilean box office hit "El chacotero sentimental/The Sentimental Teaser" at UNC’s Hanes Art Center Nov. 15. A success in Latin America and Europe, the film has never been shown commercially in the United States.

The Consortium in Latin American Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke aims to enhance the Latin American curriculum on both campuses, increase awareness of Latin American cultures and traditions and provide research and training opportunities for faculty and students.

For more information, contact the program’s outreach office, 919-962-2414, or visit the festival’s Web site at http://www.unc.edu/depts/ilas/filmfest.html. A festival schedule follows below.

Duke: Griffith Theatre, Bryan Center, West Campus, Science Drive, 684-2323; Richard White Auditorium, East Campus; Center for Documentary Studies, 1317 W. Pettigrew St., 919-681-3980.

Guilford: Leak Auditorium, Duke Memorial Hall, turn into campus from New Garden Road, 910-316-2301.

NCCU: Miller-Morgan Health Science Building, Nelson Street near the Student Union, 919-316-2301.

NCSU: Campus Cinema, Witherspoon Student Center, turn off Hillsborough Street onto Dan Allen Drive, go straight through one stop light, turn left onto Cates Avenue; 919-515-5161.

UNC: Carolina Union Film Theater and The Cabaret in the Frank Porter Graham Student Union at the corner of Raleigh Street and South Road; Hanes Art Center Auditorium, 115 S. Columbia St., off Cameron Avenue near Columbia Street. 919-962-2414.

UNC-Greensboro: Stone Auditorium, Stone Building, College Avenue, 910-334-5655.

For information on the films at UNC-Charlotte and Davidson College, call 704-547-4635 and 704-894-2000, respectively.

Nov. 4, 7 p.m., NCSU: First public screening of "Nuestra Comunidad: Latinos in North Carolina," (60 minutes), 2001, directed by Joanne Hershfield and Penny Simpson of Chapel Hill. This video looks at the impact of the rapidly increasing Spanish-speaking population on North Carolina communities. The film focuses on personal experiences, dimensions of cultural encounters and future prospects for these new Southerners. Hershfield and Simpson will introduce the video.

Nov. 5, 7:30 p.m., Guilford: "The Flight of Pedro Pan," (90 minutes), 1999, black and white, by Americans Joe Cardona and Mario de Varona; portrays the heartache and uncertainty of a 1960s flight of more than 14,000 unaccompanied Cuban children to the United States. The children of Operation Pedro Pan share their stories of sacrifice, survival, broken hearts and new beginnings through interviews and archival footage.

Nov. 6, 7:30 p.m., NCCU: "Chulas fronteras/Borderlands" (51 minutes) and "Del mero corazón /From the Heart" (28 minutes), both 1974, by American independent filmmaker Les Blank. Blank will introduce these documentaries, which capture life on the border between Texas and Mexico. Norteña music, the music of northern Mexico, is explored at dance halls and family gatherings.

Nov. 7 p.m., Duke, Richard White Auditorium: "El otro lado / The Other Side," (10 minutes), 1993, by American director Alex Webb, and "Maquila: A Tale of Two Mexicos," (55 minutes), 2000, directed by Saul Landau and Sonia Angulo.

The first film captures the odd panorama of the U.S.-Mexican border. Americans simply pass through the turnstiles for cheap thrills in Tijuana. But Mexicans face barriers of barbed wire, attack dogs and armed border patrols. Duke and UNC professors Altha Cravey, Juan Ricardo Cruz and Gary Gereffi will lead a discussion afterward.

"Maquila" examines the impact of corporate globalization on Mexico, focusing on the maquiladoras, U.S.-owned factories employing cheap Mexican labor. Archival footage and interviews provide historical background. The film won first place at the 2001 Pomona Film Festival.

Nov. 8, 7:30 p.m., UNC, Hanes Art Center: "Lista de espera / Wait List," (106 minutes), 2000, directed by Juan Carlos Tabio of Cuba. A diverse group of Cubans find themselves stuck at a remote bus station. Their shared situation brings them together so that they transform the bus station into a kind of socialist utopia, and when they finally can leave, they don’t want to. This film was shown at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival and the 2001 Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival.

Nov. 9, 7 p.m., NCSU: "Novia que te vea /May I Live to See You Married," (115 minutes), 1993. Mexican director Guita Schyfter’s first feature film tells the story of two Mexican Jewish girls’ struggle with conflicting loyalties as they come of age in the early 1960s. It has won awards including Heraldo Awards for Best Actress, Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography, México, 1993; Ariel Awards for Best Actress, Best Ópera Prima, Best Screenplay, Best Sound and Best Costume Design, Mexico, 1994; and Best Film, Chicago International Film Festival, 1993. Schyfter will introduce the film.

Nov. 10, 7:30 p.m., Guilford College: "La otra conquista /The Other Conquest," (110 minutes), 1999, directed by Salvador Carrasco of Mexico. Cultural identities resulting from the forcible conversion of Mexico’s indigenous people by the Spanish are explored through the eyes of the mistress of Hernando Cortez -- conqueror of the Aztecs in 1524-28 -- and a fictional half-brother. Winner of the Special Jury Award at the 1999 San Antonio Cine Festival.

Nov. 11, 7:30 p.m., UNC, Hanes Art Center: "Nuestra Comunidad: Latinos in North Carolina," (60 minutes), 2001, directed by Joanne Hershfield and Penny Simpson of Chapel Hill. The video documentary looks at the impact of the rapidly increasing Spanish-speaking population on communities in North Carolina, focusing on personal experiences, cultural encounters and prospects for the future. Hershfield and Simpson will introduce the documentary. A reception will follow.

Nov. 12, 8 p.m., Duke, Center for Documentary Studies: "Border Brujo," (50 minutes), 1990 and "The Mojado Invasion," (30 minutes), 2000. In the first film, U.S. performance artist Guillermo Gómez-Peña directs himself, focusing on cross-cultural issues along the U.S.-Mexican border. He alternates characters and languages, reflecting different aspects of border culture. Directors Gustavo Vásquez and Guillermo Gómez-Peña of the United States narrate the second film, a pseudo-documentary fantasizing an invasion of mojados ("wetbacks") who re-conquer lost Mexican territory to create the "U.S. of Aztlán." This new regime propagandizes by portraying Anglos with the same stereotypes often attached to Latinos.

Nov. 13, 7:30 p.m., NCCU: "El otro lado /The Other Side," (10 minutes) 1993, and "El super," (80 minutes) 1979. The first film by American director Alex Webb, captures the odd panorama of the U.S./Mexican border. Americans simply pass through turnstiles for cheap thrills in Tijuana. But Mexicans face endless barriers of barbed wire, attack dogs and armed border patrols. The second film,

directed by Americans León Ichaso and Orlando Jiménez-Leal, is the humorous and touching story of a building superintendent, a Cuban exile living in a basement apartment during a snowy winter in New York. He dreams of his warm homeland and stubbornly refuses to assimilate into the new culture.

Nov. 14, 7:30 p.m., Guilford College: "Nuestra Comunidad: Latinos in North Carolina," (60 minutes) 2001, directed by Joanne Hershfield and Penny Simpson of Chapel Hill, who will introduce the film. This video documentary looks at the impact of the rapidly increasing Spanish-speaking population on North Carolina communities. The documentary focuses on personal experiences, cultural encounters and prospects for the future.

Nov. 15, 7 p.m., NCSU: "Los civilizadores: alemanes en Guatemala/The Civilizers: Germans in Guatemala," (130 minutes), 1999, a Guatemalan/German production directed by Uli Stelzer and Thomas Walther. German colonizers dominated many coffee estates in Guatemala during the early 20th century, importing their own culture rather than assimilating into the native culture. Mayans continue to contest the concentration of land and military and police abuse today.

Nov. 16, 7 p.m., Duke, Griffith Theatre: "Amores perros/Love’s a Bitch," (153 minutes), 2000, directed by Alejandro González Iñarritu of Mexico. This film is a bold, intensely emotional and ambitious story of lives that collide in a Mexico City car crash. Inventively structured as a triptych of overlapping and intersecting narratives, "Amores perros" explores the lives of disparate characters who are catapulted into unforeseen dramatic situations. Wake Forest University professor Keith Richards will introduce the film, winner of Grand Prix for Best Film and Best Director at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival and nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at last year's Academy Awards.

Nov. 17, 7:30 p.m., UNC-G: "Si me comprendieras/If You Only Understood Me," (87 minutes) 1998, directed by Ronaldo Díaz of Cuba, featured at the 1998 Havana Film Festival and the 2000 Latino Film Festival. A film director embarks on a search for black women actresses to play the central dramatic role in his new project, a musical comedy. Rather than opt for an experienced actress, he searches for the freshness and spontaneity of inexperience. The film is based on interviews with candidates and the film crew, who are drawn into the underlying social and racial conflicts of Cuba.

Nov. 18, 7:30, p.m., NCCU: "Incidents of Travel in Chichén Itzá," (90 minutes). 1997, directed by American Jeffrey Himple and Quetzil Castañeda of Mexico. This video shows how New Agers, the Mexican state, tourists and 1920s archeologists all contend to clear the site of the ancient Mayan city of Chichén Itzá. All aim to produce their own idealized and unobstructed visions of the city while the local Maya struggle to occupy the site as vendors and artisans. The film won the 1997 Society for Visual Anthropology Film Festival Award, was featured at the 1997 Margaret Mead Festival and was the 2001 Latin American Studies Association Film Festival entry.

Nov. 19, 7:30, p.m., UNC, Carolina Union Film Auditorium: "Gaijin," (105 minutes), 1979, directed by Tizuka Yamasaki of Brazil. A young Japanese couple come to seek their fortune on a Brazilian coffee plantation in the 1890s. They find in Brazil an alienating, exploitative society and are driven to disillusionment. Yet life in Brazil also offers opportunities for friendship and romance and to challenge cultural perspectives.

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(Bedsworth is a senior Spanish and Journalism and Mass Communication major from Winston-Salem.)