April-June 2004

VIDEOTECA DEL SUR in NEW YORK
PROGRAM
APRIL – JUNE 2004

MILLENNIUM FILM WORKSHOP | 66 East 4th Street
Between 2nd Avenue & Bowery.
Train F, V, to 2nd Avenue or #6 to Blecker St. in Manhattan

 Notes from the Director 

The Quixotesque reality of Latin America and the Caribbean
Welcome to our new program featuring cutting-edge Latin American cinema and video.
Although this may seem one more step in the long path of our organizaton, this year we celebrate our 15th Anniversary, a commendable opportunity to acknowledge the effort and devotion to this valuable project.

Videoteca was born in 1989, when stablishing our organization was a major challenge and so was locating and acquiring films for our select video collection of Latin American movies. Today our video collection, which includes from footage of rare and seldom seen scenes of Latin American life to independently produced films, and from documentaries to timeless classics, is perhaps one of our most distinctive features today.

Nowadays, we are pleased to see many initiatives devoted to promote Latin American films. Only in the United States more than 50 events featuring Latin American cinema are hosted every year and our original project, is no longer a premise. We hope these new projects remain in time. Only then our purpose and our objectives will be fulfilled.
Our 2004 season depicts the Quixotesque reality of Latin America and the Caribbean. Our features include from Eliseo Subiela’s magnificent Argentinean classic “Man facing Southeast” that catapulted him to fame, to “Password, una mirada en la oscuridad”, a Costa Rican “opera prima” that features child sexual exploitation. We also take a look into “Novo Brazileiro” and “Revolutionary Cuban” cinema in “Rocha que Voa” where Glauber Rocha’s son pays celluloid tribute to his father; and into the the surrealist film “La isla del tesoro” by Chilean filmmaker Raúl Ruiz. We will witness the Latin American experience in the US in “Washington Heights” by Dominican filmmaker Alfredo Villa to the “opera prima” “Un mundo raro” from young talent Armando Casas.

Our screenings will include from a set of contemporary Ecuatorian short films to a documentary featuring the harsh reality of Nicaragua’s empoverished feral children in “Historias de Acahuelinca” by Marta Bautis. This time we include from controversial and laureate “Suite Habana” from Fernando Perez, to the irreverent “Y las vacas vuelan” by Chilean filmmaker Fernando Lavanderos.

Just like we have from the beginning, we invite you to continue to be a part of our controversial and stimulating 2004 Spring season.

There is plenty of room for you in this our small yet big space of Latin American cinema and video.

Pedro Zurita
Executive Director

TUESDAY, April 27 7:30pm
ROCHA QUE VOA
Dir.: Eryk Rocha BRAZIL-CUBA 94′

In this laureate tribute to his father, Eryk Rocha recreates his father’s ideas and work: Glauber Rocha. The producer, whose father died when he was only 3 years of age, rescues two interviews granted by his father (1971 and 1972), and uses them like a connecting link to his political and poetic outlook. Through the voices of Glauber and his Cuban counterparts’ such as Director Tomás Gutierrez Alea we hear a dialogue for two currents in Latin American film: Novo Brazilian Cinema and the Cuban Revolutionary Cinema. English subtitles.

TUESDAY, May 4 7:30pm
SUITE HABANA

Dir.: Fernando Pérez CUBA 86′
The sunrises in Havana. The city awakes. The day and the film unfold.
Havana is today a pivotal point for many; a mystery for others and a dream full of contradictions for those who love it and criticize it. But Havana is not only a space, a tune, a point of light. Havana is its people. And “Suite Havana” is one simple day in the life of ten plain “Habaneros.” There is not interviews, dialogues or narration: only images, sounds and music to express film the day to day of a unique and peculiar reality.

TUESDAY, May 11 7:30pm
SOUVENIR VIEWS

Dir.: Begonya Plaza NY 22′
A youngster from Barcelona travels New York after September 11, 2001, and makes his living by selling his crafts made of match boxes. English subtitles.

HISTORIAS DE ACAHUALINCA

Dir.: Marta Bautis NICARAGUA-NY 52′
This film features the lives of several women and children who scavenge the dumps of Chureca, Nicaragua. It also explores their effott to survive and to educate their children, revealing the effects of globalization in a marginal community. English subtitles.
THE DIRECTOR WILL BE AVAILABLE.

TUESDAY, May 18 7:30pm
WASHINGTON HEIGHTS

Dir.: Alfredo de Villa NEW YORK 82′
With: Bobby Cannavale, Jude Ciccolella, Danny Hoch, Andrea Navedo.
Carlos, an aspiring comic book artist, has dreams of moving downtown and establishing a new life for himself, but his girlfriend, Maggie, is growing tired of his lack of consideration for her own work. When Carlos’s father, Eddie, is shot at his deli, Carlos is forced to put his dreams aside to keep the business afloat. Meanwhile, Carlos’s best friend, Mickey, has dreams of his own. English subtitles.

TUESDAY, May 25 7:30pm

FRANKIE, DESDE LA CALLE

Dir.: Victor Javier Ramos PUERTO RICO 28′
“A true winner is that who upon seeing he has made mistakes, modifies them, and uses this experience in order to win”. Frankie, a street vendor who struggles to survive in the streets, invites us to his contradictory world of addiction, suffering and hope. English subtitles.

Y LAS VACAS VUELAN

Dir: Fernando Lavanderos CHILE 60′
Karl, a young Danish man walks through the streets of Santiago de Chile while holding a videocamera he uses to make a short film. In this risky audiovisual journey he meets a young Chilean girl who becomes his movie’s main character. While getting to know eachother, they walk through the city that reveals its secrets in a film charged with ambiguity. English subtitles.

TUESDAY, June1 7:30pm

ECUADOR EN CORTO

A selection of short Ecuatorian films.

ALO

Dir.: Tania Hermida 6′
A telephone boot serves as a space for intrigue, as its occupants plot a story about a young woman’s conversation.

DESCENSOR

Dir.: Mauricio Samaniego 6′
A chauffeur’s confessions unveil the truth behind his relationship about the deceased woman who used to be his boss.

TEST

Dir.: Pablo José Magravejo 6′
While Ernesto riding the bus, Ernesto reflects on the nature and the outcomes of AIDS.

EL TROPEZON

Dir.: Víctor Manuel Arregui 6′
Years after confessing to a crime he did not commit, a teenage drug addict is interviewed by a journalist.

1200cc

Dir.: Juan Pablo Rovayo 6′
Based on short story “The night face up” by Julio Cortazar, this movie evokes the cultural collision between modernity and ancient cultures.

TUYO HASTA LA MUERTE

Dir.: Daniel Andrade 6′
A deceased man’s dignity is challenged when during his wake someone calls on his cell.

CHOCLOTANDA

Dir.: León Felipe Troya 4′
A mayor makes a fool of himself before his guests, all because of a delicious corncob.

CINCOMPASION

Dir.: Eduardo Villacis 7′
Movie animation whose images and characters are based on the number five.

TRAILER

Dir.: Tito Molina 10′
A colorful character satirizes our eating habits from the inside of a fake trailer.

MALASANGRE

Dir.: Mateo Herrera 10′
An imaginative film that portrays a psychopatic vampire or someone with a wild imagination.

TUESDAY, June 8 7:30pm

PASSWORD, UNA MIRADA EN LA OSCURIDAD

Dir.: Andrés Heidenreich COSTA RICA 92′
With: María Chaves, Andrés de la Ossa, Alejandra Portillo, Arnoldo Ramos, Anabelle Ulloa, Marco Martín, Guisella Solís, Gerardo Arce, Ana Istarú.
This film of suspense tells the history of an adolescent and her ill-fated Internet adventure. After being abandoned by the breadwinner, a mother and her 12-year-old daughter move into her mother’ s house while both struggle to make ends meet. The daughter finds a escape by seeking friends in Internet chats. But her life takes a dangerous and unexpected turn when she is contacted by a criminal network that abducts her and sells her for sexual exploitation. English subtitles.

TUESDAY, June 15 7:30pm

HOMBRE MIRANDO AL SUDESTE

Dir.: Eliseo Subiela ARGENTINA 106′
With: Lorenzo Quinteros, Hugo Soto, Inés Vernengo.
A young man calling himself Rantés suddenly appears in a psichiatric hospital claiming to be an extraterrestrial carrying a secret mission on planet Earth. There he meets a psychiatrist, Doctor Dennis and gradually, a strange relation develops into a peculiar friendship.Filmed in 1986, Eliseo Subiela’s second film became an instant success, confirming his talent, originality and his mastery of cinematography. In Spanish..

TUESDAY, June 22 7:30pm
UN MUNDO RARO

Dir.: Armando Casas MEXICO 95′
With: Víctor Hugo Arana, Emilio Guerrero, Ana Serradilla, Jorge Sepúlveda, Juan
While riding a taxi, Salvador, a famous comedian and television producer known as “Toltín” is kidnapped by two brothers who head a small gang. Emilio, one of the kidnappers, recognizes his victim as “Toltin” and inmediately confesses his admiration, un be knowst to his brother, becoming diffident to him and telling him about his hopes of becoming a professional comedian. This unexpected encounter raises Emilio’s hopes that he can change his life and realize his dream of becoming part of the world of television some day. English subtitles.

TUESDAY, June 29 7:30pm
LA ISLA DEL TESORO

Dir.: Raúl Ruiz CHILE-FRANCIA 117′
With: Martin Landau, Lou Castel, Anna Karina, Jean Pierre Leaud, Pedro Armendáriz.
For two million children in the world, the squeal of Captain Flintz evokes the terror of a cane striking pavement. Through this adaptation of the classic tale “La Isla del Tesoro”, Raúl Ruiz has found his tru calling. This marathon adventure with pirates becoming mercenaries introduce us to the best of places for adventure and discovery. In English.

NEXT PROGRAM: AUGUST 2004