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Press Release
Contact: Julia McMahan
press@cinelasamericas.org
512-­710­-9544

21ST CINE LAS AMERICAS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES LINEUP,
FEATURING OPENING AND CLOSING NIGHTS

AUSTIN, Texas (April 17, 2018) – Cine Las Americas (CLA) is pleased to announce the program for the twenty-first Cine Las Americas International Film Festival (CLAIFF21), May 2-6, 2018, in Austin, Texas, highlighting this year’s opening night and closing night films.

Feature films, short films, and music videos, highlighting a diversity of themes, genres, and styles characteristic of contemporary national and international cinema trends will be presented at three primary partnership venues: AFS Cinema (6406 N I-35 Suite 3100); The Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center (600 River St.); and MASS Gallery (507 Calles St. Suite 108). Films are presented in English or with English subtitles (if English is not the original language). Additional screenings and events will take place at other venues around the capital city during the five-day festival.

This year’s Cine Las Americas will kick off at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 2nd, at the AFS Cinema. The opening night film is the drama/comedy EL ÚLTIMO TRAJE (THE LAST SUIT), directed by Pablo Solarz and starring Miguel Ángel Solá. Abraham Bursztein (Solá), an 88-year old Jewish tailor, leaves Buenos Aires for Poland to try to find the man who saved him from a certain death after surviving Auschwitz. Escaping from his family who wants to put him in a nursing home, after more than seven decades with no news from him, Abraham sets out to find his old friend and fulfill his promise of returning one day to tell him all about the life he had thanks to his friend’s courage. THE LAST SUIT has won numerous awards, including the Nueva Vision Award for Spain/Latin America at the Santa Barbara Film Festival, and Audience Awards at the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival and Miami International Film Festival.

On closing night, starting at 7 p.m., May 6th at AFS Cinema, CLAIFF will present this year’s festival winners, followed by a screening of KAYAK TO KLEMTU, with director Zoe Hopkins in attendance. Zoe is an indigenous filmmaker whose first short film premiered at Sundance International Film Festival, and she has since gone on to critical acclaim. Her new film is a story about a 14-year-old girl kayaking the Inside Passage to protest a proposed oil pipeline that would damage her home. One day after KAYAK TO KLEMTU was filmed, the inevitable happened, and Zoe’s home community of Bella Bella was devastated by an oil spill. KAYAK TO KLEMTU premiered at the 2017 imagineNATIVE film festival, winning the coveted Audience Award. We are thrilled that Zoe will be joining us for the screening and a Q&A after the film.

“It’s an annual challenge and delight to coordinate the team who selects all the films and videos that audiences will enjoy at the festival,” said festival director Jean Lauer, “and I’m proud of how it has all come together. We’re looking forward to welcoming new and returning guests to the screenings and events, including the screenwriter and director Zoe Hopkins, some of whose work we’ve shown previously. We’re honored to host Zoe as a guest and jury member for our international Narrative and Documentary Feature Competitions, along with all the guests who will be joining us from Texas and from all over the Americas, in anticipation of celebrating the multiplicity of voices and artists that the selection represents.”

The full schedule for the 2018 Cine Las Americas International Film Festival will be released online this week, with more details announced in upcoming releases. For more information and to check for screening schedule release go to www.cinelasamericas.org.

Official Selection for the 21st Annual Cine Las Americas International Film Festival

Film Titles from Full Program, by Program Section

NEW RELEASES

OPENING NIGHT: El último traje (The Last Suit), Dir. Pablo Solarz, Spain/Argentina

CLOSING NIGHT: Kayak to Klemtu, Dir. Zoe Hopkins, Canada

Additional New Release Titles

* Arábia (Araby), Dirs. João Dumans & Affonso Uchoa, Brazil

* Cocote, Dir. Nelson Carlo De Los Santos Arias, Dominican Republic

* El vendedor de orquídeas (The Orchid Seller), Dir. Lorenzo Vigas, Venezuela/Mexico

* Estiu 1993 (Summer 1993), Dir. Carla Simón, Spain

* Gringo Rojo (Red Gringo), Dir. Miguel Ángel Vidaurre, Chile

* La memoria de mi padre (My Father’s Memory), Dir. Rodrigo Bacigalupe Lazo, Chile

* Las hijas de Abril (April’s Daughter), Dir. Michel Franco, Mexico

* Los versos del olvido (Oblivion Verses), Dir. Alireza Khatami, France/The Netherlands/ Germany/Chile

* Mi mejor amigo (My Best Friend), Dir. Martín Deus, Argentina

* Nadie (Nobody), Dir. Miguel Coyula, Cuba

* Niñas araña (Spider Thieves), Dir. Guillermo Helo, Chile

* Pariente (Guilty Men), Dir. Iván D. Gaona, Colombia

* Zama, Dir. Lucrecia Martel, Argentina/Brazil/Spain/France/The Netherlands/Mexico/ Portugal/USA

NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION

* El vigilante (The Night Watch), Dir. Diego Ros, Mexico

* Jovens Infelizes ou Um Homem que Grita Não é Um Urso que Dança (Young and Miserable or a Man Screaming Is Not a Dancing Bear), Dir. Thiago B. Mendonça, Brazil

* Marisa en los bosques (Marisa in the Woods), Dir. Antonio Morales, Spain

* Tourments d’amour (Torments of Love), Dir. Caroline Jules, France/Guadeloupe/French West Indies

* Vigilia (Being Awake), Dir. Julieta Noemí Ledesma, Argentina/Uruguay

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION

* 52 Segundos (52 Seconds), Dir. Javier Andrade, Ecuador

* El proyecto (The project), Dir. Alejandro Alonso, Cuba

* Estado de Exceção (State of Exception), Dir. Jason O’Hara, Brazil/Canada

* My Bolivia, Remembering What I Never Knew, Dir. Rick Tejada-Flores, USA/Bolivia

* Nada queda sino nuestra ternura (Nothing Is Left but Our Tenderness), Dir. Sébastien Jallade, Peru

HECHO EN TEJAS

Feature Film

* A Strike and an Uprising (in Texas), Dir. Anne Lewis, USA

Short Films

* Atmahaú Pakmát, Dir. Cameron G. Quevedo, USA

* Autopista Norte (North Highway), Dir. Andrés F. Torres, USA

* Calling, Dir. Artemis Anastasiadou, USA

* Hacia el sol (Towards the Sun), Dir. Monica Santis, UK/USA

* Hakla (Stammer), Dir. Tania Romero, USA

* Retornados (The Returned), Dirs. Sarah M Kuck & Meredith Hoffman, Honduras/USA

* The Allied King, Dir. Jason Outenreath, Mexico/USA

NARRATIVE SHORTS COMPETITION

* Capacocha, Dir. Tomás Pernich, Argentina

* La hora de la merienda (Teatime), Dir. Alba González de Molina, Spain

* La suerte del salao (Unlucky’s Luck), Dir. Felipe Holguín Caro, Colombia

* Macanao, Dir. Clarissa Duque, Venezuela

* My Soul is Old, Dir. Claudia González-Rubio, Mexico

DOCUMENTARY SHORTS COMPETITION

* Abigail, Dirs. Isabel Penoni & Valentina Homem, Brazil

* Den Himmel Berühren (Touch the Sky), Dir. Rosa Baches, Spain/Germany

* Palenque, Dir. Sebastián Pinzón Silva, Colombia

* Sigo acá (I’m Still Here), Dir. Tana Gilbert, Chile

* Umunhum, Dirs. Andy Miller & Robin Moore, USA

AMBULANTE SHOWCASE

Feature Films

* Batallas íntimas (Intimate Battles), Dir. Lucía Gajá, Mexico

* El sembrador (The Sower), Dir. Melissa Elizondo, Mexico

* Mi vida dentro (My Life Inside), Dir. Lucía Gajá, Mexico

Short Film

* Nos faltan (Missing), Dirs. Lucía Gajá & Emilio Ramos, Mexico

FEMME FRONTERA SHOWCASE

* Child, Bride, Mother: Nigeria, Dirs. Stephanie Sinclair & Nichole Sobecki, Nigeria

* Do not Come to Europe, Dirs. Minna Lundberg, Hanna Pousette & Pontus Joneström, Sweden/Uganda

* Filip, Dir. Nathalie Alvarez Mesen, Sweden

* That Day Will Come, Dir. Sarah Hope, USA

* Raven, Dir. Razelle Benally, USA

* We Did not Fall from the Sky, Dirs. Tabs Breese & Georgia Oakley, India/UK

* Windows, Dir. Maru Buendia-Senties, USA

OFFICIAL SELECTION, PANORAMA

Feature Films

* Abrazos imborrables (Unforgettable Hugs), Dir. Pablo Hadis, Argentina

* Ceux qui viendront, l’entendront (Those Who Come, Will Hear), Dir. Simon Plouffe, Canada

* El reino de la Sirena (The Mermaid Kingdom), Dir. Luis Rincón, Dir. Mexico

* Jeffrey, Dir. Yanillys Perez, Dominican Republic/France

* La selva negra (The Modern Jungle), Dirs. Charles Fairbanks & Saul Kak, Mexico/USA

* Olancho, Dirs. Chris Valdes & Ted Griswold, Honduras/USA

* Out of State, Dir. Ciara Lacy, USA

* Por los camiones del sur (On Southern Buses), Dirs. Sven Kirschlager & Sirio Magnabosco, Germany/Mexico

* Si yo muero primero (If I Die First), Dir. Rodolfo Muñoz, Ecuador

* Ukamau y Ké (That’s how It Is, and What!), Dir. Andrés Ramírez, Ecuador/Bolivia

Short Films

* 2 Spirit Dreamcatcher Dot Com, Dir. Thirza Cuthand, Canada

* Beneath the Trees, Dir. Crystal Avila, USA

* Casting in Jaguey Grande, Dir. Thomas Winston, Cuba/USA

* DACAmented, Dir. St. Clair Detrick-Jules, USA

* Detroit’s Rivera, Dir. Julio Ramos, USA

* Gifts of Silver, Dir. Eddie Frost, Chile/UK

* Kat Waj, Dir. Teresa Jiménez, Guatemala

* Kitci Nehirowiskwew (The Great Atikamekw Lady), Dir. Sipi Flamand, Canada

* Lecciones de vuelo (Flying Lessons), Dir. Patricio Pino Hernández, Chile

* Mariah ¡qué baile! (Dance, Mariah!), Dirs. Anita Abbasi & Martin Baena, Canada

* Merê, Dir. Urânia Munzanzu, Brazil

* Nacimientos (Giving Birth), Dir. Analicia López, Canada/Panama

* Nan Isht Aiokpachi (The Gift), Dir. Steven Paul Judd, USA

* Ni una sola línea (Not Even a Line), Dir. Víctor E.D. Somoza, Spain

* Poliangular, Dir. Alexandra Castellanos Solís, Mexico

* Polvo de estrellas (Stardust), Dir. Aldo Sotelo Lázaro, Mexico

* Porgies & Bass, Dir. Thomas Barnes, USA

* Taller protegido nº19 (Protected Workshop #19), Dirs. Danielle Hebscher & Fernando De Negro, Canada/Argentina

* Tengo talent (Dance with Your Heart), Dir. Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi, Cuba/USA

MUSIC VIDEOS

Competition Line-up

* Barlovento by Bairoa, Dir. Juanchi González, Puerto Rico

* Black Lipstick by Chicano Batman, Dir. Bernabé Bolaños, USA

* Campesino by Quitapenas, Dir. Shireen Alihaji, USA

* No Regreso by Combo Chimbita, Dir. Hugo Rubiano, USA/Colombia

* Sobrenatural by Jassiel, Dir. Vadim Lasca, Venezuela

Official Selection, Non-competition Line-up

* All Nations Rise by Lyla June, Dir. Lyla June Johnston, USA

* Gospel No. 1 by Shireen Alihaji, Rene Pacheco, Andrew Ramirez, Crystal Cerecedes, Jonathan Rivera & Art Zavala Jr., Dirs. Shireen Alihaji & Brandy Young, USA

* Make It Right (Dile) by Olmeca, Dir. Olmeca, USA

* Marea de Lumbre (Tide of the Flame) by La Chamba, Dir. Luis Horacio Pineda, USA

* Never Been Alone by El Bles, Dir. Giovany Revelle, USA

Special Presentation, Videos by @stereosonico

* Back Again by Lemarroy, Dir. Andres Ibañez Diaz Infante, Mexico

* Blueboy by Subdivision, Dirs. Andres Ibañez Diaz Infante & Stacy Perskie, Mexico

* Como quisiera by MonteNegro, Dir. Andres Ibañez Diaz Infante, USA

* Todavía by Matisse, Dir. Andres Ibañez Diaz Infante, Mexico

* Vía Láctea by Zoe, Dirs. Andres Ibañez Diaz Infante & Stacy Perskie, Mexico

EMERGENCIA YOUTH FILM FESTIVAL

Special Presentations

* A World in Motion, PHS Productions, Dirs. Khue Tran, Makayla Moore & An Nguyen, Pflugerville, TX, USA

* Latinitas Video, Latinitas Magazine, Austin, TX, USA

* The Trail, Creative Action Youth Cinema Collective, YCC Group Project, Austin, TX, USA

* YouthCam Student PSA Contest, 1st-Place Award Winners, Various Travis County High Schools, TX, USA

Emergencia, Competition Lineup (Audience: All Ages)

* A Tale of Four Sisters, Dir. Emily Silva/Real to Reel, Lynn, MA, USA

* Blanche’s Bichon Buzz, Dir. Isabella Caroline Sharp, Santa Monica, CA, USA

* Celestial Anomaly, Dirs. Jose Miranda & Abraham Serrano, Dallas, TX, USA

* Find a Way, Dirs. Akil Carrillo & Ellie Aronica/BAYCAT, San Francisco, CA, USA

* Hart Immigration Movie, Dir. Yolanda Gamble/Austin Film Society, Austin, TX, USA

* Lilly Hits the Road, Dir. The Bum Family, Calgary, AB, Canada

* Re-Painting the Mission, Dir. Akil Carillo/BAYCAT, San Francisco, CA, USA

* The Rich Man, Dir. Say Sí Middle School Group Project, San Antonio,TX, USA

* They Said, But., Dirs. Marie Lambiase, Rauliz Paez, Rebecca Unubun, Rebecca Vu, Sophia Quigley, Tiffany Cespedes & Yeison DeLeon/Real to Reel, Lynn, MA, USA

* White NoiseWhite Noise, Dir. Say Sí Middle School Group Project, San Antonio,TX, USA

Emergencia, Competition Lineup (Recommended Audience: Ages 14+)

* Alone, Dir. Sara Eustaquio, Valencia, CA, USA/Portugal

* Calavera, Dir. Adele Rankin/Creative Action Youth Cinema Collective, Austin, TX, USA

* Carhop, Dirs. Alexander Puga, Monica Matute, Gabriella Gonzalez & Jewel Berrios, Miami, FL, USA

* Desconectada (Disconnected), Dir. Matheus Bosco, Sao Paulo, Brazil

* Enjoy the Show, Dirs. Gabby Fiszman & Dina Katgara, Delray Beach, FL, USA

* Memoria de los Revolucionarios (Memories of the Revolution), Dir. Miguel Salazar / Say Sí, San Antonio,TX, USA

* Still Love, Dirs. Alexander Puga & Monica Matute, Miami, FL, USA

* What Now?, Dirs. Gregory Aragon/Real to Reel, Lynn, MA, USA

LATINITAS SPECIAL VR DOCUMENTARY PRESENTATION

* Latinx Culture in East Austin, Dir. VR Cine Chicas Cohort, Austin, TX, USA

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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.