18th CINE LAS AMERICAS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES
PROGRAM SELECTION OF FILMS, INCLUDING “HECHO EN TEJAS” SHOWCASES
AUSTIN, Texas (April 8, 2015) – Cine Las Americas International Film Festival announced today its 2015 program, including what has become a signature of the festival lineup, the Hecho en Tejas showcases. All films are presented in English or with English subtitles (if English is not the original language). The 18th Cine Las Americas International Film Festival is scheduled for April 22-26, 2015, in Austin, Texas.
“The film review committee and programming team have risen to the challenges presented this year, to curate a strong program, from locally-produced work to national and international titles,” said festival director Jean Lauer. “We’re confident that fans and newcomers to the festival alike will find themselves engaged with the selections, and we’re pleased to present the Hecho en Tejas screenings among the many options for attendees to experience vibrant, entertaining, and sometimes challenging work from voices representing contemporary cinematic landscapes.”
The full festival lineup includes 41 feature films, 49 short films, and 5 music videos, in representation of 18 countries’ participation in production and co-production of the films. Together, they highlight a diversity of themes, genres and styles characteristic of contemporary national and international cinema trends. Films will be presented at partnership venues The Marchesa Hall & Theatre, The Mexican American Cultural Center and St. Edward’s University Jones Auditorium at the Ragsdale Center.
Hecho en Tejas films are shot and/or produced in Texas and showcase the wide variety of work by filmmakers with varied backgrounds and experience. These selections compliment the Festival’s national and international line up, and include films from both up-and-coming talent and veteran filmmakers. For the sixth consecutive year, Cine Las Americas is pleased to count on a partnership with the Texas Archive of the Moving Image (TAMI), to present a jury award to the best “Hecho en Tejas” film.
This year, the Hecho en Tejas program includes two feature films, six short films, and two music videos. The Hecho en Tejas film presentations will take place during the festival on Saturday, April 25th and Sunday, April 26th at the Marchesa Hall and Theatre, with more details to come.
About the Hecho en Tejas Films
Features
Agave is Life
Dir. David Brown, Meredith Dreiss
Historical/Cultural Documentary, 2014
AGAVE IS LIFE is the story of mankind’s alliance with the agave plant, from which tequila is derived. Told through the lens of archaeological and historical investigations, and narrated by Edward James Olmos, the film explores ten thousand years of the human-agave relationship. Once a critical resource for hunter-gatherers, agave was a source of food, drink, textiles, fuel, and medicines. We learn that this unique desert plant, once embedded in cultural identity, mythology, art, and rituals, faces an uncertain future. Today, ancient folkways, from fiber craftsmanship to traditional pulque and mescal productions, are rapidly disappearing. While entrepreneurs and scientists work to turn the tide, a loss of diversity of both cultivated and wild species may be the ultimate arbitrator.
What’s the Use?
Dir. Nicole Elmer
Alternative/Comedy/Drama, 2014
Seventeen year-old Sara defends her pride from a career oriented greasy-spoon waitress and her potty mouth. In the gymnastics of her self-defense, she recalls the night when she moved home to live with her father Tony, a skinny loser fresh out of rehab. Determined to start their lives over, he throws her a birthday party, only to have it wrecked by Shy, a dangerous loan shark. Pissed by her father’s passive retreat into his bedroom, Sara sets off to find Shy and take care of her father’s debt on her own. On her journey through the 4th of July heat of Austin, Texas, she meets a love-starved perfectionist, a professional Love Guru, and an eccentric who is planning a painless suicide. Finally reaching Shy, he pushes her fragile ego to the edge, where she is forced to finally see her family’s dark secret and realize she might be her own greatest enemy.
Shorts
¿Por qué el recuerdo? (The Solitude of Memory), Dir. Juan Pablo González
El fuego detrás (The Fire Behind), Dir. Leo Aguirre
Jornaleras (Women Workers), Dir. Marcela Moran
Morgan Robyn Collado, Dir. Danea Johnson
Sunrise, Dir. Diego Rico
Yo soy Juan (I am Juan), Dir. Patrick Rangel
Music Videos
El marinero y la sirena (The Sailor and the Mermaid), Dir. Patricia Vonne
Whispers and Dreams, Dir. Sharon Arteaga
Film Titles from Full Program, by Program Section
New Releases
OPENING NIGHT: The Martini Shot, Dir. Demetrius Navarro, USA
CLOSING NIGHT: Mr. Kaplan, Dir. Álvaro Brechner, Spain/Uruguay/Germany
ADDITIONAL TITLES:
Buscando a Gastón (Finding Gaston), Dir. Patricia Perez, USA/Peru
Castanha, Dir. Davi Pretto, Brazil
Dólares de arena (Sand Dollars), Dir. Israel Cárdenas, Laura Amelia Guzmán, Argentina/Mexico/Dominican Republic
Feriado (Holiday), Dir. Diego Araujo, Ecuador/Argentina
La isla minima (Marshland), Dir. Alberto Rodríguez, Spain
La voz en off (Voice Over), Dir. Cristián Jiménez, Chile/France/Canada
The Lodge, Dir. Terril Calder, Canada
This May Be the Last Time, Dir. Sterlin Harjo, USA
Tres D (Three D), Dir. Rosendo Ruíz, Argentina
Viejos amigos (Good Old Boys), Dir. Fernando Villarán, Peru
Narrative Feature Competition
Climas, Dir. Enrica Pérez, Peru
El futuro (The Future), Dir. Luis López Carrasco, Spain
Los enemigos del dolor (The Enemies of Pain), Dir. Arauco Hernandez, Uruguay
O Último Cine Drive-in (The Last Drive-in Theater), Dir. Iberê Carvalho, Brazil
Viento aparte (A Separate Wind), Dir. Alejandro Gerber Bicecci, Mexico
Documentary Feature Competition
Gazelle – The Love Issue, Dir. Cesar Terranova, Brazil/French Polynesia/USA
Hotel Nueva Isla, Dir. Irene Gutierrez, Javier Labrador, Cuba/Spain
La Violencia: The Untold Truths of Guatemala, Dir. Pia Janning, Til Frohlich, Ireland/Guatemala
Poder e impotencia, Un drama en 3 actos (Power and Impotence: A Drama in 3 Acts), Dir. Anna Recalde Miranda, Paraguay/France/Italy
Tres mujeres guerreras (Three Women Warriors), Dir. Alexander Preuss, Germany/Colombia
Ambulante Showcase
El hogar al revés (Upside Down Home), Dir. Itzel Martínez del Cañizo, Mexico
H20mx, Dir. José Cohen, Mexico
Retratos de una búsqueda (Portraits of a Search), Dir. Alicia Calderón, Mexico
Panorama Features
Algún lugar (On the Road, Somewhere), Dir. Guillermo Zouain, Dominican Republic
Anatomía de un vestido (Anatomy of a Dress), Dir. Flora Pérez Garay, Puerto Rico
Asolagados (Flooded), Dir. David Vázquez Vázquez, Spain
Ati y Mindhiva (As the Tree Under the Hurricane), Dir. Claudia Fischer, Colombia
BKLYN 11211, Dir. Zac73dragon, Spain/Bolivia/USA
Chuy, El hombre lobo (Chuy, The Wolf Man), Dir. Eva Aridjis, Mexico
Dos Aguas (Two Waters), Dir. Patricia Velásquez, Costa Rica/Colombia
Flory’s Flame, Dir. Curt Fissel, USA
Genoveva, Dir. Paola Castillo Villagran, Chile
Icaros, Dir. Georgina Barreiro, Argentina/Peru
Les indiens, l’aigle et le dindon (The Indians, the Eagle and the Turkey), Dir. Iphigénie Marcoux-Fortier, Karine van Ameringen, Canada
Movimientos espectaculares (Spectacular Movements), Dir. Mateo Hinojosa, Bolivia/USA/Venezuela
Oil & Water, Dir. Francine Strickwerda, Laurel Spellman Smith, USA
Salgán & Salgán: A Father-Son Tango, Dir. Caroline Neal, Argentina
Narrative Shorts Competition
Bolero para surfear en Moravia (Bolero for Surfing in Moravia), Dir. Valerio Mendoza Guillén, Venezuela/Czech Republic
El sermón de la montaña (Sermon on the Mount), Dir. Pepe Puertas Piñero, Spain
Indigo, Dir. Amanda Strong, Canada
La carta (The Letter), Dir. Mara Soler, Mexico
Leonard Peres, Dir. Missy Hernandez, USA
Documentary Shorts Competition
Dona Rosa, Dir. Mathias Mangin, Lucas Mandacaru, Brazil
Elena Asins – Génesis, Dir. Álvaro Giménez Sarmiento, Spain
Flor de la mar (Flower of the Sea), Dir. Jorge Thielen Armand, Venezuela
I Was Born in Mexico, But…, Dir. Corey Ohama, USA
Nuestro hogar (Our Home), Dir. Detsy “Mara” Barrigon, Iván Jaripio, Panama
Music Videos
C.T.R.L, Dir. Mariana Conde, United Kingdom
El marinero y la sirena (The Sailor and the Mermaid), Dir. Patricia Vonne, USA (Hecho en Tejas)
La ciudad (The City), Dir. Javier Orman, Tom Farrell, USA
Nitahkôtân (I Have Arrived), Dir. Moe Clark, Canada
Whispers and Dreams, Dir. Sharon Arteaga, USA (Hecho en Tejas)
Indigenous Shorts Program – Retrospective
Día 2 (Day 2), Dir. Dante Cerano Bautista, Mexico
Late, Dir. Christi Bertelsen, USA
Mohawk Midnight Runners, Dir. Zoe Leigh Hopkins, Canada
Poi Dogs, Dir. Joel Moffett, USA
Roberta, Dir. Caroline Monnet, Canada
Search for the World’s Best Indian Taco, Dir. Steven Judd, USA
Smoke Break, Dir. Sally Kewayosh, USA
Panorama Shorts
2 and 2, are 4, Dir. Pedro Sena Nunes, Portugal
Aceito (I Do), Dir. Felipe Cabral, Brazil
Beyond Recognition, Dir. Michelle Grace Steinberg, USA
Bloodlines, Dir. Christopher Cegielski, USA
Caballo de mar (Knight of the Seas), Dir. Fernando Alcántara, Iñaki Gaztañaga, Spain
Deseo (Desire), Dir. Carolina Cortella, Argentina
En la orilla (At the Edge), Dir. Liza Hoos, Xavier Basurto, Mexico
Inch’ Allah, Dir. Angélica Romanini, Mexico
Nudo (Knot), Dir. Juliana Gómez Castañeda, Cuba
Soberano papeleo (Sovereign Paperwork), Dir. Lala Severi, Uruguay
Una pared (A Wall), Dir. Javier Ferreiro, Cuba
YO, la PEOR de TODAS (I, the WORST of ALL), Dir. Francisco Lupini, USA
Emergencia “Youth Film” Special Presentation
Cine Joven Latinitas Showcase, Various Directors, USA
Emergencia “Youth Film” Competition Lineup
A Harmonious Cacophony, Dir. Marielle Boland, Isabela Reid, USA
A Pirate’s Life, Dir. Isabella Olaguera, Nick Haaf, USA
Can I Help You?, Dir. Pedro Salles Leite, Brazil
Ella (Elle), Dir. David Hebrero, Spain
Growing, Dir. Allison Coon-Come, Canada
Háblame (Talk to Me), Dir. Alba Linares, Spain
Kayna Wawaiki Jamuni (Now I Come as Your Son), Dir. Nicolas Page, Chile
La boda de las calaveras, Dir. Ricardo Miguel Salazar, USA
Little Red, Dir. Wynter Rhys, USA
Never Comes Easy, Dir. Naate, Canada
Pleasant, Dir. Miranda Whitus, USA
Sin madre (Without A Mother), Dir. Buffy Almendares, USA
The Lonely Baker, Dir. Cyntheara Tham, Allison McInerney, Ayanna Marte, USA
The Only Road, Dir. Sergio Valencia, Nathan Miguel, Alan Bagh, USA
For the 18th consecutive year, Austin will serve as host to a wide range of international films and filmmakers as the festival creates networking opportunities for industry professionals, and provides a rich cultural experience for statewide audiences. The festival will showcase contemporary films from the US, Canada, Latin America, and the Iberian Peninsula. All films are presented in English and/or subtitled.
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ABOUT CINE LAS AMERICAS: Cine Las Americas is a multi-cultural, 501(c)3 non-profit organization based in Austin Texas, offering theatrical screenings of films made by or about Latinos or indigenous peoples of the Americas. Films from Spain and Portugal are also included, enhancing a truly Pan-American cinematic experience. The mission of Cine Las Americas is to promote cross-cultural understanding and growth by educating, entertaining and challenging the diverse Central Texas community through film and media arts.