‘Cinefest Nuestra’ announces schedule of events
Here is the complete schedule of films and related events planned at the university Nov.16-19 as part of the 2nd Annual Madison CineFest Nuestra, “Sin Fronteras: Films from Greater Mexico.”
Thursday, Nov. 16
3:30 p.m., lecture, UW Cinematheque, 4070 Vilas Hall, 821 University Ave. “New Mexican Cinema: Films of the Political Transition,” by Carlos Bonfil, a leading Mexican film critic and author. Co-sponsored by the Chicana/o Studies Program and Department of Communication Arts.
7:30 p.m., Majestic Theater, 115 King St. Madison premiere of “Bajo California,” with special appearance by award-winning star, Damián Alcázar. Admission: $5.
“Bajo California: El límite del tiempo / Under California: The Limit of Time ” (Mexico, 1998, 96 minutes, 35 mm, in Spanish with English subtitles) Director: Carlos Bolado. First feature from the editor of “Like Water for Chocolate” won eight Ariel Awards (Mexico’s Academy Award) including best film and best actor for Damián Alcázar. Featured at the 1999 Sundance and Toronto Film Festivals and the 2000 Chicago Latino Film Festival.
Bajo California is the spiritual odyssey of one man’s search for redemption. Damián, a Mexican-American artist, accidentally kills a pregnant women crossing the Mexico-California border. Haunted by grief and guilt, he sets off on a pilgrimage to his ancestral homeland, Bajo California. He encounters indigenous people, confronts the ghosts of Jesuit missionaries and, ultimately, his own mortality. “Part passion play, part western, and part road movie, Carlos Bolado’s debut feature is a breath-taking homage to the powers of nature, art, ritual and love,” says Rebecca Yeldham, Sundance Film Festival.
Friday, Nov. 17
10 a.m.-2:30 p.m., 206 Ingraham Hall, 1155 Observatory Drive. The 2nd Annual Latino/a Latin American Film Conference, a symposium on recent Latino/a and Latin American films and filmmakers. Keynote speakers include festival curator Ray Santisteban, featured filmmaker Dan Banda, and Mexican film critic Carlos Bonfil. Presented by the UW–Madison departments of Spanish and Portuguese, Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies, and the Chicana/o Studies Program. For information, contact Martin Pflug, (608) 238-7631; mppflug@students.wisc.edu, or Jean Janecki, (608) 233-8576; jmjanecki@students.wisc.edu.
6 p.m., Memorial Union Play Circle, 800 Langdon St. “Indigenous Always: The Legend of La Malinche and the Conquest of Mexico” (USA, 2000, 57 minutes, video, English and Spanish with English subtitles) Producer: Dan Banda. Introduction by Dionne Espinoza, assistant professor, Chicana/o Studies and Women’s Studies, UW–Madison. Post-film dialogue with Wisconsin producer Dan Banda.
“Indigenous Always” takes a dramatic new approach to the history of La Malinche, the 16th century teenage Indian girl who helped Cortes conquer Mexico. Nominated for 5 Midwest Emmys. “A first-rate documentary … sets the record straight while preserving the mystery of this shape-shifting matriarch,” says Dean Robbins, Isthmus/syndicated TV critic.
8 p.m., Memorial Union Play Circle, 800 Langdon St. “Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara: The Bolivian Diary” (Switzerland, 1994, 94 minutes, 35 mm, in English and Spanish with English subtitles). Director: Richard Dindo. This haunting portrait of revolutionary Che Guevara’s last days uses his personal diary to reconstruct the events that led to his capture and death.
Saturday, Nov. 18
6 p.m., Memorial Union Play Circle, 800 Langdon St. Short Film Program (two hours total).
“Las Papas del Papa” (USA, 1999, 8 minutes, video, fiction, Spanish with English subtitles). Director: Alex Rivera. The commercialization of the Pope’s recent visit to Mexico is the basis for satirical commentary on the marketing of religion.
“Guapear” (USA, 1999, 4 minutes, experimental, 16 mm) Director: Maja Tillman Salas. The hand is quicker than the eye in this lyrical voyage to other worlds just beyond our daily lives.
“Manhatitlan Chronicles” (USA, 1999, 7 minutes, animation, 16 mm, English and Spanish). Director: Felipe Galindo. A humorous portrayal of Mexican immigration in New York City and the resulting vibrant cultural exchange.
“Mandrake e os Cubanos” (Brazil, 1999, 4 minutes, music video, Portuguese) Director: Roberto Berliner. This frenetic music video features the Brazilian band Clipe Skank.
“Calle Chula” (USA, 1998, 12 minutes, experimental, 16 mm, English) Director: Veronica Majano. Through the memories of Calle, a mixed-up Salvadoran and Ohlone girl, Calle Chula explores changes brought on by
colonization and gentrification in San Francisco’s Mission District.
“My West Side” (USA, 2000, 8 minutes, experimental/ documentary, video) Director: Ray Santisteban. Three generations of West Siders speak about the community they call home.
“Natural Instincts” (Mexico, 1998, 3 minutes, experimental, video). Director: Ximena Cuevas. A street billboard serves as the forum for a multi-layered critique of blonde aspirations.
“In Audito (Unheard)” (Mexico, 1999, 19 minutes, fiction, 16 mm, in Spanish with English subtitles) Director: Agustin Calderon. A young man with an overprotective mother discovers a new and terrifying universe of knowledge when he creates a machine that allows him to hear sounds beyond the range of the human ear.
“Ballad of a Soldier” (USA, 1999, 56 minutes, fiction, video) Directors: Kinan and Anahuac Valdez. The story of a young Chicano soldier on his last night out before going to war, adapted from a play by Luis Valdez.
8:30 p.m., UW Cinematheque, 4070 Vilas Hall, 821 University Ave. “Paulina” (USA/Mexico/Canada, 1997, 88 minutes, 16 mm, Spanish with English subtitles). Directors: Vicky Funaria, Jennifer Maytorena Taylor and Pauline Cruz Suárez. This non-fiction feature juxtaposes documentary and narrative styles to tell the story of a working-class Mexican woman who was traded for land when she was a child. Now middle-aged, Paulina encounters a web of intrigue and denial when she returns to her village to confront her family and her past. “Paulina was 10 years in the making, but its passion and energy are fresh … a favorite at the Sundance Film Festival, it has a magical glow …” says the San Francisco Chronicle
Sunday, Nov. 19
6 p.m., Memorial Union Play Circle, 800 Langdon St. “Un Embrujo / Under a Spell” (Mexico, 1999, 125 minutes, 35 mm, in Spanish with English subtitles). Director: Carlos Carrera. Set in the Mexican town of Progresso during the late twenties, amidst the contradictions of the Mexican Revolution, Un Embrujo tells the story of Eliseo, the 13-year-old son of an impoverished and domineering longshoreman. Increasingly harassed by his father, Eliseo dreams of leaving, and seeks refuge at the home of his school teacher, Flipa. A fateful spell threatens to unravel both their lives.
CineFest Nuestra is presented by a coalition of eight UW–Madison and community organizations: UW Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies Program, Chicano/a Studies Program, Wisconsin Film Festival / UW Arts Institute, UW Cinematheque, Wisconsin Union Directorate Film Committee, Cine-Club Latinoamericano, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, and Organization of Latino Arts.
Film programs were curated by Ray Santisteban, director of the acclaimed San Antonio CineFestival, North America’s largest and oldest Chicano/Latino film festival and former UW–Madison visiting lecturer.
CineFest Nuestra co-coordinators are William Ney, assistant director, Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies, UW–Madison; Mark Fraire, grants programs and services specialist, Wisconsin Arts Board; and Mary Carbine, director, Wisconsin Film Festival, UW–Madison Arts Institute.
Funding for Madison CineFest Nuestra programs was provided in part by Associated Students of Madison, University Lectures Committee, and partner organizations. Special thanks to the Historic King District Association, the businesses in the greater King Street area, the Majestic Theatre and Isthmus.