| 30th CineFestival reflects digital direction |
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| Wednesday, 02 April 2008 | |||
For the 30th anniversary of CineFestival, the Latino film festival held at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, organizers are screening movies that might make you rethink what a “Latino film” is.
“They're not all immigration stories. They're not all downtrodden documentaries. There's a huge diversity of Latino film worldwide, and that's reflected in our festival,” said Sandra Peña-Sarmiento, co-director with Victor Payan of this year's festival. The selection of films is also a nod to the film industry's transition to digital media. The theme of the festival is “Digital Revolutionaries: Celebrating 30 Years of Chicano Film and Video.” “Today you can shoot a quality film on a $2,000-$12,000 camera, edit it on your Mac and upload it on YouTube without ever having to go through a studio,” Peña-Sarmiento said. “As this is the 30th anniversary of CineFestival, we thought it was important to orient the festival toward those new directions and the new technologies transforming the industry.” More than 200 entries were submitted from around the world. The films were considered to be Latino films if they were written, directed or produced by a Latino, starred a Latino or dealt with an issue of importance to Latinos. Besides screenings, the festival, which runs April 10-13, includes two galas with directors and actors from several of the films. More than 50 films, ranging from shorts to romantic comedies to documentaries to family films to animated movies, will be screened. Here's a sampling: “Sleep Dealer,” a Sundance prizewinner, is a sci-fi film that deals with migrant workers and border crossings “but it puts a real cyber-punk spin on the whole thing,” Peña-Sarmiento said. Director Alex Rivera will be present for the screening on April 10. “Alondra Smiles” follows a girl who is looking forward to her quinceañera until her cousin gets in the way. “Searchers 2.0” is a road-trip comedy by Alex Cox, director of “Repo Man.” “Propiedad Ajena” is a historical drama about Texas' independence that takes place in San Antonio. “The Bookie” is the first feature film by the San Antonio natives Mickey and Gibby Cevallos, who created “The Brothers Garcia” on Nickelodeon. Jessica Belasco | 210SA contributor |
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