LATIN FILMS

Press about Memory is a Culinary Affair

2011-06-01T19:07:00.000-07:00

6/1/11
The Jewish Week

Ted Merwin wrote the article "Crying for Argentina" in The Jewish Week.

Go to:
www.thejewishweek.com/arts/theatre/crying_argentina

5/31/11

Channel 1 Noticias
Jose Simian interviews the director Fabian Gonzalez and actor Ron Sarcos about the new production
www.ny1noticias.com/content/140067/vuelve-a-la-ciudad-la-obra--memory-is-a-culinary-affair-

MEMORY IS COMING TO THE VILLAGE!!!

2011-04-05T07:56:00.000-07:00

After moving from Argentina to New York City, Carina, 36, learns that it is never easy to leave the past behind- especially when the past is a childhood lived during a dictatorship that destroyed her family.

HORSE TRADE THEATER GROUP

PRESENTS

MEMORY IS A CULINARY AFFAIR

Written and produced by Graciela Berger Wegsman

Directed by Fabian Gonzalez

JUNE 9-17 @ THE RED ROOM

The production will feature George Bass*, Ben Bucher*, Michelle Concha, Ydaiber Orozco, Mariana Parma, and Ron Sarcos.

*AEA member appears courtesy of the Actors' Equity Association

Performances:

Thursdays: June 9 and 16 at 8 PM

Fridays: June 10 and 17 at 8 PM

Saturday: June 11 at 3 PM

Saturday: June 11 at 8 PM

Sunday: June 12 at 3 PM

The Red Room Theatre

85 East 4th Street, 3rd Floor

(no wheelchair access)

Between Second and Third Avenues (Bowery)

New York

Tickets are: $18 and $15 (students and seniors)

Tickets are available online at:
www.horsetrade.info

or by calling Smarttix: 212-868-4444

www.smarttix.com

For more information you can contact me at: spanishconfidence@gmail.com

Thanks,

Graciela

REVIEWS OF MY PLAY MEMORY IS A CULINARY AFFAIR

2010-10-13T10:57:00.000-07:00

MEMORY IS A CULINARY AFFAIR

Reviewed by Susan J. Maskin
Librarian, writer and composer

An historical event is never more poignant than when it is seen through the eyes of those living through it. It is also true that these events, especially traumatic ones, affect future generations.

In the late 1970's to the early years of the decade that followed, a dictatorship ruled Argentina, and the resulting consequences on the lives of many thousands were to be tragic. For reasons difficult to understand -or for no reason at all- perhaps at least 30,000 people were abducted, tortured and killed.
For all the families of "The Disappeared" the trauma was extreme, and passed down through the generations. The play, Memory is a Culinary Affair, written by Argentinean Graciela Berger Wegsman, shows the emotional effect the era of "the Disappeared" had on some young people living in the aftermath.

Carina, a 36 year old woman, brilliantly played by Mariana Parma is caught between two worlds: her new life in New York with her boyfriend Marc, portrayed by Ben Joseph and her life, family and former boyfriend still living in Argentina. Marc is insistent that Carina make a commitment to him and share an apartment. Carina is hesitant. The problem comes to the surface when Carina's sister Flor played by Ydaiber Orozco visits Carina.

The drama is excellent; the acting superb. When riding home with other people who attended the performance, there was a discussion about the characters as if they were real people that we all knew. My husband and I were talking about Carina and Flor several days later. What could be a better testament to the quality of a play than the audience reacting in such a way?

I am hopeful that this drama will be produced again so that others can have the same meaningful experience that I and my husband had.

###

Reviewed by Mariela Dreyfus, PhD
DGS, Creative Writing in Spanish
New York University

"Memory: you have the key"
Cito de memoria un verso de T.S. Eliot en el titulo para decirte que me gusto mucho tu obra; el modo en que la memoria se vuelve el eje para hilvanar una historia rica, compleja y sobre todo, bastante intensa y conmovedora. Excelente la manera en que elegiste las canciones para tu obra, desde el dramatismo de la Negra Sosa hasta ese final divertido con el estribillo mas famoso de Blades: "La vida te da sorpresas". Me gusta mucho tambien como manejas los distintos registros emocionales, desde la risa (muy bien dosificado el humor) hasta las lagrimas.
Felicidades!

###
Reviewed by Barbara Haimowitz, PhD
We wanted to let you know how much we enjoyed "Memory is a Culinary Affair." The play was outstanding, the dialogue lively and intense, the actors entrenched in their roles...loved Blanca as mother and "ghost" steering her daughter Carina to make her own decisions in her life. Great portrayal of the tight-knit bond between the sisters carina and Flor. What an excellent use of voice overs in the letter from Jorge! Striking contrast between the Buenos Aires -born and typical American Marc!
We think that this play should be adapted for a movie...
Many thanks and much continued success, here is to Broadway!
Your friends,
Barbara and Ira

WE WERE SOLD OUT FOR THE THREE SHOWS!!!

2010-09-08T05:52:00.000-07:00

My play Memory is a Culinary Affair had a succesful run on August 18, 20 and 21 at Manhattan Repertory Theatre in New York City.

The three shows were sold out and there was a waiting list.

Memory is a Culinary Affair explores the impact of the 1970's dictatorship in Argentina through the eyes of Carina, who was a small child at the time. Now in her mid-30s and living in New York, Carina must decide whether to return to Argentina and her former boyfriend, who is still in love with her, or to stay in New York and make a new life with her current boyfriend. As she ponders her choices, Carina must confront the scars left by events that tore her family apart during her childhood. Her family is Jewish.

A Spanish-language version of the play was a recipient of an award in the 2007 MetLife Nuestras Voces National Playwriting Competition at Repertorio Espanol.

PRESS ABOUT THE PLAY

The NY Daily News
www.nydailynews.com/latino
Two Latina playwrights draw on childhood experiences for new works "Memory is a Culinary Affair" and "Viva la Evolucion! open this week.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/latino/2010/08/18/2020-08-18 stages of life.html#ixzzOxTZOSZOJ

The Forward
http://blogs.forward.com/the-arty-semite/130353/

Channel 1 Noticias
Interview in Spanish
http://www.ny1noticias.com/content/123744/teatro---la-memoria-es-un-affaire-culinario-

El Diario
Arte y Cultura: Drama de una Dictadura
www.impre.com/laraza/...2010/8/.../drama-de-una-dictadura-203477-1.html

Daily News/Hora Hispana
El Blog de Pablo

I'm trying to bring the play to a bigger venue.

Thank you for your support.
Graciela

PRESS FOR MEMORY IS A CULINARY AFFAIR

2010-08-17T16:43:00.000-07:00

If you go to channel NY 1 Noticias you can see an interview about the play "Memory is a Culinary Affair" (Teatro)

Also check the article in El Diario: Drama de una dictadura.

Check my last posting about the Daily News/Hora Hispana.
And we are in many blogs and listings including the Village Voice.

Don't forget to get tickets. Wednesday is sold out with a waiting list but there are tickets left on Friday and Saturday.
For reservations please call:646-329-6588 $20

It opens tomorrow!

Play on Desaparecidos Tragedy Opens at the Manhattan Repertory Theatre - By Pablo García Gámez (El Blog de Pablo)

2010-08-11T10:57:00.000-07:00

Play on Desaparecidos Tragedy Opens at the Manhattan Repertory Theatre - By Pablo García Gámez (El Blog de Pablo)

MEMORY IS A CULINARY AFFAIR

2010-07-01T08:02:00.000-07:00

MANHATTAN REPERTORY THEATRE
SUMMERFEST 2010

WRITTEN AND PRODUCED BY GRACIELA BERGER WEGSMAN

DIRECTED BY HEATHER VIOLANTI

WITH: MARIANA PARMA, MICHELLE CONCHA, YDAIBER OROZCO, MIGUEL BELMONTE, BENJAMIN JOSEPH AND JUAN VILLARREAL

SET DESIGN: MARIANO CINAT

PERFORMANCES:
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 18 AT 9 PM
FRIDAY AUGUST 20 AT 9 PM
SATURDAY AUGUST 21 AT 9 PM

TICKETS ON SALE NOW! PLEASE CALL: (646) 329-6588 $20
After moving from Argentina to New York City, Carina, 36, learns that is never easy to leave the past behind-especially when that past is a childhood lived during a dictatorship that destroyed her family.

MANHATTAN REPERTORY THEATRE
303 WEST 42ND STREET 3RD FLOOR
NEW YORK CITY
http://www.manhattanrep.com/

MEMORY IS A CULINARY AFFAIR AT MRT!

2010-06-04T06:20:00.000-07:00

I WANT TO ANNOUNCE THAT MY PLAY "MEMORY IS A CULINARY AFFAIR" WAS SELECTED TO PARTICIPATE IN SUMMERFEST AT MANHATTAN REPERTORY THEATRE IN NYC!

MEMORY IS A CULINARY AFFAIR

PERFORMANCE DATES:

Wednesday August 18 at 9 PM

Friday August 20 at 9 PM

Saturday August 21 at 9 PM

For tickets call: (646) 329-6588 $20

MANHATTAN REPERTORY THEATRE
303 W. 42nd St. Suite 308 Third Floor
New York
http://www.manhattanrep.com/

Hope to see you there!

For press inquiries please contact me at: wegsman@optonline.net

Graciela Berger Wegsman

The Secret in their Eyes/ El secreto de sus ojos

2010-04-28T12:26:00.000-07:00

The Secret in their Eyes

Director: Juan Jose Campanella, Argentina

Ricardo Darin, Soledad Villamil, Guillermo Francella, Javier Godino, Pablo Rago.

I went with a friend to the Angelika to see the Argentinian movie "The Secret in their Eyes" and I suggest you do the same. You will enjoy the complexity of the intertwined stories and the good acting. The theatre was packed, thanks to the Oscar the movie received for Best Foreign Film. I was so proud...I felt like shouting: Viva Argentina!!!

How many movies from my country have opened in a commercial theatre in Manhattan? Few. I remember Nine Queens which also starred Ricardo Darin, one of the leading Argentinian actors. But it's hard to find a Latin American movie playing in a theatre and the rare opportunities are usually confined to film festivals. That's why I like to promote Latin American cinema.

"El secreto de sus ojos" centers on a violent crime that took place in Buenos Aires in 1974. We get a glimpse of the political times that preceded the 1976 dictatorship. Isabelita Peron appears on a TV screen and the character of Gomez as her bodyguard caused me to have goosebumps. The movie switches from past to present portraying the country 25 years earlier. The corruption of the legal system and its consequences are at the core of the movie.

Ricardo Darin plays Exposito, a court investigator who after retiring wants to write a novel about a case that he investigated 25 years before. Soledad Villamil plays the character of his boss. Lawyer Menandez-Hastings, an attractive woman that is the love of his life, but whom he never dared to date. Argentinians can translate the name Menandez-Hastings as indicating upper class upbringing, money and power.

Campanella also depicts the urban differences among the poor who need the train or -as an irony of the film- bus 96 to reach Capital Federal coming from the poor suburbs of Laferrere, Isidro Casanova or Gonzalez Catan to work as construction workers or maids.

In a country like Argentina that has gone through six dictatorships and many financial crises in the 20th century we need to deal with many painful memories, and that is why the issue of memory is central to our lives. How we remember, what we remember, what we choose to forget, and how we deal with victims and murderers are issues still current. Just recently "The Museum of Memory" ("El Museo de la Memoria") was unveiled in Buenos Aries, at the ESMA (Escuela de Mecanica de la Armada) the largest concentration camp that functioned during the last dictatorship (1976-1983.)

For more information (in English) please visit the site: http://www.memoriaabierta.org.ar/

NEVER AGAIN!

2010-04-20T08:07:00.000-07:00

PHOTOGRAPHY

A new exhibition of Latin American photographers opens today at Instituto Cervantes.
It's free and open to the public.

RESILIENCIA
Fotografía emergente latinoamericana

Inauguración:
20 de abril

Lugar:
Instituto Cervantes Nueva York
211E 49th st, entre las avenidas 2 y 3.
Nueva York, NY 10002

RESILIENCIA

El Instituto Cervantes Nueva York se complace en anunciar la recepción
inaugural de Resiliencia, una exposición de fotografía latinoamericana
emergente considerada una de las mejores muestras de arte realizadas
en España el año pasado. Ganadora del Premio del Público M2 EL Mundo
como mejor exposición de PhotoEspaña 2009, Resiliencia presenta la
obra de diez jóvenes fotógrafos latinoamericanos que participaron en
de la sección Discoveries del prestigioso festival de fotografía. De
un total de 342 fotógrafos de la región, un jurado nombrado por
PHotoEspaña hizo una selección de 40 proyectos para participar en la
panorámica de portafolios que tuvo lugar en los Centros Culturales de
España en Ciudad de México y Lima. Posteriormente, el comisario
designado por el Instituto Cervantes, Claudi Carreras, identificó el
trabajo de 10 creadores para componer esta exposición que representa
un recorrido heterodoxo por el quehacer fotográfico contemporáneo de
América Latina, donde todo tipo de estilos y temas encuentran su
lugar.

En Latinoamérica el proceso artístico surge en medio del caos
político, económico y social. La mayoría de obras alude, desde una
variedad de puntos de vista, a la capacidad de adaptación y
supervivencia de una sociedad que está sujeta a constantes
fluctuaciones; una necesidad de adaptación que afecta no solo los
puntos de referencia de estos proyectos, sino también a los artistas y
sus modos de representar.

Los fotógrafos escogidos por PHE Discoveries, Ciudad de México son
Dante Busquets, Ramiro Chaves, Livia Corona, Nicola Okin Frioli, Oscar
Fernando Gómez Rodríguez, Mark Powell y Pavka Segura. Los
seleccionados por PHE Discoveries Lima son Ana Cecilia Gonzales Vigil,
Morfi Jiménez y Tomás Munita.

HAVANA FILM FESTIVAL (April 16-23) IN NYC!

2010-04-15T06:11:00.000-07:00

I WANT TO LET YOU KNOW THAT THE 11TH HAVANA FILM FESTIVAL WILL TAKE PLACE IN NEW YORK FROM APRIL 16 TO 23

15 FILMS COMPETE FOR THE HAVANA STAR PRIZE.

HERE IS THE PRESS RELEASE:

April 16-23, 2010 with special events April 7 & 9

New York City, March 26, 2010. The Havana Film Festival New York (HFFNY) launches its second decade, April 16-23, with a program of award-winning films, panel discussions, and Q&A sessions with noted international filmmakers, actors and producers. Special events are scheduled for April 7th at El Museo del Barrio and April 9th at the Bronx Museum of the Arts. Over 40 highly anticipated and influential films from and about Latin America, the Caribbean and Latinos in the U.S. will be screened. A variety of genres and themes from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, U.S. and Uruguay, ranging from comedy, thrillers, drama, film noir and children’s tales, as well as films and documentaries about the influence of music and dance are all part of this year’s Festival.

On April 16th, HFFNY opens with the New York premiere of the Brazilian film, Veronica, 1 pm at the Quad Cinema, the Festival’s primary screening venue. The Opening Night Ceremony and Screening takes place at the New York Directors Guild Theatre, 110 West 57th Street, at 7 pm with the New York premiere of Los Dioses Rotos, the box office sensation and award-winning film by Cuban director Ernesto Daranas. Actress Silvia Aguila will present the film.

Since its inception, HFFNY has recognized and celebrated some of the most illustrious Latin American filmmakers in the industry. Continuing this tradition, HFFNY 2010 honors renowned Cuban writer, director, poet, actor and dramatist Enrique Pineda Barnet, who has given the public more than 4 decades of unforgettable cinema. HFFNY pays him tribute with screenings of Cosmorama, considered the precursor to the contemporary video art movement, and today is part of the permanent collection at the Centro Reina Sofia de España (Queen Sofia of Spain Center); La Bella de la Alhambra, Best Picture winner of the prestigious Goya award; and La Anunciación, his most recent film about the reunion of state-side Cubans and their families.

As the festival enters its second decade, HFFNY established the Havana Star Prize to recognize the work of outstanding filmmakers in the categories of Best Film, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. The first Havana Star prizes will be awarded at the Closing Night Ceremony on April 23rd at 7 pm at the New York Directors Guild Theatre. Internationally renowned Cuban artist, Yoan Capote, designed the Havana Star Prize especially for HFFNY. The recipients will be chosen by three prominent members of the film industry, producers Michael Hausman (Gangs of New York, Brokeback Mountain, The People vs. Larry Flynt), and Sandy Lieberson (The Rolling Stones’ Rock and Roll Circus, Stardust) and director Louis Perego (President of National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP) NY Chapter, owner of Skyline Features, a bilingual (English and Spanish) multimedia and educational production company.

FOR MORE INFORMATION GO TO: www.hffny.com

"THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES" OPENS IN NEW YORK!

2010-04-15T05:40:00.000-07:00

The Argentinian movie "The Secret in their Eyes" (El Secreto de sus Ojos) that got the Oscar as Best Foreign Language Film opens Friday in New York!

I didn't see it yet, but as an Argentinian I'm very proud that the movie by Juan Jose Campanella opens in a commercial theatre in New York City. It was a huge success in Argentina and I hope it will be successful here too.

You can see a full review in the New York Times.

I found out that will be shown in:

Angelika Film Center New York
18 West Houston Street
1-800-326-3264

I don't know yet about another theaters.

I wrote a previous post about this movie.

Please support Latin American Cinema!

BOLIVIA- From Argentina

2010-04-07T06:31:00.000-07:00

Hello again,

After Passover I'm ready to write again.

Bolivia by Adrian Caetano
Argentina, 1hr. 15 min.
2001

The plight of the immigrant is universal. In this movie set up in "a parrilla" in Buenos Aires we encounter Freddy, a Bolivian who had left his family behind to try his luck in Argentina.

He finds a job in a restaurant cooking "parrillada", an assortment of meats, including the famous Argentinian "chorizo sandwich."

The movie takes place in 2001, the year of a major financial crisis in Argentina. There are many unemployed; some people feel threatened about immigrants taking their jobs. Does it sound familiar?

For many years Bolivians, Paraguayans and Peruvians had come to Argentina to escape poverty in their homelands. Their struggle to make ends meet and send money home it is not an easy one.

Because of financial constraints, Adrian Caetano had to film this movie in three day intervals over a three year period.

EL SECRETO DE SUS OJOS WON THE OSCAR FOR BEST FOREIGN FILM!

2010-03-08T06:51:00.001-08:00

BRAVO ARGENTINA!!!!

EL SECRETO DE SUS OJOS won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film!!!

I didn't see it yet but it was seen by 2,5 million Argentinians, a record in the country.

The Holy Girl/La Nina Santa -Lucrecia Martel

2010-02-09T05:56:00.000-08:00

Hello,

Today I want to write about the second movie by Argentinian filmmaker Lucrecia Martel.

The Holy Girl/La nina santa.
Lucrecia Martel, 2004
Argentina, 104 minutes

Lucrecia Martel writes and directs her movies. It's cinema d'auteur. The films are set on the North of Argentina where she's from. She was born in Salta and if you pay attention and know enough Spanish you can hear a slightly different accent that the Argentinian accent from Buenos Aires (porteno) usually heard in Argentinian movies.

This film is set in a crumbling Hotel Termas where a medical convention is being hosted.
As a child, Lucrecia used to stay with her parents in this hotel on winter vacations.

The film captures the lives of Amalia and Josefina, two teenagers who are best friends.

Amalia is the hotel owner's daughter. Her mother is played by Mercedes Moran, an actress that we encountered before on 'La Cienaga." She is a divorced woman who is very closed to her brother (Alejandro Urdapilleta.) They have an interesting relationship. Together they run the hotel as a pair of children-grown up adults.

The two girls attend Catholic groups and Catechism lessons. This is based on Lucrecia's life too. She used to attend these type of groups.

After an encounter with Doctor Jano (Carlos Belloso) Amalia will get in touch with her own sexuality and would like to deliver him from inappropriate behaviour.

TOMAS ELOY MARTINEZ DIED

2010-02-01T19:03:00.000-08:00

The great Argentinian writer Tomas Eloy Martinez died yesterday in Buenos Aires.

When my editor wrote me an e-mail telling me that Tomas Eloy Martinez had died I got goose bumps. He was one of my favorite novelists. He was also a well-known journalist writing for many newspapers. I tried to interview him last year for the Daily News/Hora Hispana after he published "Purgatorio" but I didn't succeed. I didn't know then, that he was not living in New Jersey anymore or teaching at Rutgers University. He was living again in Argentina and he was battling cancer.

His novels are translated into many languages, so i suggest that if you never have read " La Novela de Peron"/ "The Peron Novel" about Domingo Peron or "Santa Evita" about Evita Peron please go ahead and pick up a copy. You will not regret it. You will be immersed in the world of Peronism and Argentina's history by the hand of a great novelist and you won't be able to stop reading.

He met Peron and interviewed him so he used his tapes to create a portrait of a very controversial man who still has a big presence in Argentina.

"Santa Evita" is Evita's life before and after she died. Yes, you will not believe what happened to her body after she died. Sometimes life doesn't seem verosimil. The flames that Evita ignited didn't die with her and when she died her body was robbed and finished in different hands. If you want to know more about the real Evita, not the one in the Broadway show but the human being you have to read it.

Another book I enjoyed is "El Vuelo de la Reina" /"The Flight of the Queen".

Repertorio Espanol, NYC

2010-01-25T08:11:00.000-08:00

As you know New York City offers many opportunities to experience Latino culture.

One kept secret is Repertorio Espanol, the leading Spanish theatre in the city which presents plays by Jorge Amado (Dona Flor and sus dos maridos), Mario Vargas Llosa (Pantaleon y las Visitadoras), classics like the works of Federico Garcia Lorca or Cervantes or plays by emerging Latino playwrights.

During January the theater is offering a$ 10 discount to some plays. The plays are performed in Spanish with English translation.

The Off Broadway Theatre is located at 138 East, 27 Street near Lexington Avenue in Manhattan.

For more information go to: www.repertorio.org or call: 212-225-9920.

The Aura/ El Aura, Argentina

2010-01-25T07:52:00.000-08:00

Hello,

Let's talk about the film:

The Aura/El Aura
Argentina, 2006

As I already wrote about Nine Queens, I want to share with you another film by Argentinian director Fabian Bielinsky.

Ricardo Darin, the same actor who appeared in Nine Queens, is Espinoza, a taxidermist who suffers random bouts of epilepsy.
Before the attacks he gets an aura. He also has a photographic memory and he dreams about using it in a major robbery.
He will have the opportunity during a trip to the south, to Patagonia.

A fast thriller, Argentinian style.

Unfortunately the last movie made by Bielinsky who died in his forties.

Gabriel Orozco at MOMA

2010-01-17T10:00:00.000-08:00

THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART ORGANIZES THE FIRST MAJOR MUSEUM RETROSPECTIVE OF CONTEMPORARY ARTIST GABRIEL OROZCO

Hello,

Although I write mostly about Latin American films in this blog, I decided to incorporate worthwhile exhibitions and shows by Latin American artists as well.

Don't miss Gabriel Orozco's exhibition at MOMA!

Let's face it...not everyday a Latin American artist -in this case a Mexican- gets a major retrospective of his wok in one of the best American museums.

I am following his career since I first encountered his work: "My hands are my Heart", 1991: two photos of himself holding a piece of clay shaped as a heart with the imprints of his fingers. I bought the postcard and still is on a shelf in my bedroom.

You can visit this exhibition with your children. I think kids will enjoy the grey whale turned sculpture hanging up in the second floor. Pay attention to the graphite drawings. They are astounding. "Mobile Matrix" is on view for the first time outside Mexico.

The exhibition runs from December 13, 2009 until March 1, 2010 in the second floor and the sixth floor.

According to the Museum of Modern Art:
It is the first major museum retrospective of the artist Gabriel Orozco (Mexican, b. 1962), who since the early 1990s has forged a career marked by continuing innovation and has become one of the leading artists of his generation. This midcareer retrospective examines two decades of Orozco’s career in an exhibition of some 80 works, revealing how the artist roams freely and fluently among drawing, photography, sculpture, installation, and painting to create a heterogeneous body of objects that resists categorization. Works in the exhibition come from international public and private collections, including the collection of The Museum of Modern Art. Gabriel Orozco is organized by Ann Temkin, The Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture, The Museum of Modern Art, with Paulina Pobocha, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Painting and Sculpture, The Museum of Modern Art. It will be on view in The International Council of The Museum of Modern Art Gallery, sixth floor.

For more information go to: www.moma.org

From Argentina- La Cienaga/The Swamp

2010-01-07T17:29:00.000-08:00

Hello,

La Cienaga/The Swamp won the first place as the Best Latin American movie of the decade on a survey organized by Cinema Tropical. Please check my previous post "Survey" for more details about the poll.

Director Lucrecia Martel portraits the lives of two women and their families during a hot summer in the North of Argentina. Martel was born in Salta and I like the fact that she sets her movies in this province, instead of Buenos Aires.

As I have family in Tucuman, the province next to Salta I have visited the region several times and I suggest that if you ever have a chance to travel to Argentina you do too. In Spanish Salta is called "Salta la linda" because it's a very pretty place.

The landscape is very different from urban Buenos Aires, the food is amazing...how to forget the empanadas saltenas and the humitas...
People have a different accent (if you know Spanish pay attention!) Even the sense of time is not alike... Because of the summer heat, stores close around noon and reopen many hours after. City dwellers go home to take a "siesta", a nap.

In this movie Graciela Borges -a very well known Argentinian actress- plays Mecha, an alcoholic and mother of four teenagers who is afraid to finish her days lying in bed for years as her mother once did, but doesn't do too much to avoid that fate. Her husband doesn't help her too much to improve the situation. The movie follows her family and her cousin's (the great Mercedes Moran) during a hot summer that seem endless and that revolves around a pool...

La Cienaga/The Swamp
Argentina, 2001
1 hour.40 min

Welcome 2010! From Argentina: Nine Queens

2010-01-07T16:58:00.000-08:00

Hello friends,

I can't believe we are in 2010 already!

I hope 2010 brings salud, dinero, amor y tiempo para disfrutarlos!

Health, money, love and time to enjoy it all.

On December 31st 2009 I watched with my husband and children an Argentinian movie that I want to recommend: "Nine Queens" and I 'm happy to report that my tween daughter liked it!!!

Nine Queens/Nueve Reinas, 2000

Fabian Bielinsky

Arghentina, 115 min.

I have to say that the movie has some bad language, but that's how it's in Argentina's streets these days...

In any case perhaps some of you remember the movie because it was shown in New York cinemas, an amazing acomplishment for an Argentinian movie. I remember going to watch the movie near Lincoln Center and feeling so good about it...

Unfortunately , Fabian Bielinsky, the film's director died of a heart attack in 2006 at only 47 years old.

The movie is a puzzle and a thriller and has an interesting ending...Oh! I can't say anymore...Sorry. You have to watch it!

And remember apart from Netflix if you live in New York City (sorry Gerardo!) you can get it at the NYPL (you can book it online and send it to the library closer to your address.)

Regards,

Graciela

Dictatorship- part 2- From Argentina "Lamb of God"

2009-12-28T08:57:00.000-08:00

The dictatoship that ruled Argentina during 1976 and 1983 left 30,000 desaparecidos.

Lamb of God/ Cordero de Dios
Lucia Cedron, Argentina/France, 2008; 90 m

Guillermina(Leonora Balcarce) is a 30-year old who must negotiate the release of Arturo, her kidnapped grandfather (the well known Jorge Marrale.) They are in the middle of the worst economic crisis in Argentina, that shook the country in 2001-2002, leaving a very shaken middle class. Teresa (the great Mercedes Moran), Guillermina's mother is reluctant to help her father and Guillermina wants to know why. The movie moves between 1978 and 2002 and portraits the difficulties of the new generations to understand Argentina's terrible past.

Dicatorship - part 1- From Uruguay "Kill Them All"

2009-12-16T08:58:00.000-08:00

Hello,

During the seventies and eighties many Latin American countries suffered Coup d' État that overthrew democracies and installed dictatorships that brought unbelievable horror and pain. I was a child at the time. I grew up in Argentina during “The Dirty War” as the last dictatorship was known (1976-1983). It was a time of despair when 30,000 people disappeared, los desaparecidos.

More than 30 years after the events, the pain is still alive and filmmakers are dealing with those stories.

From Uruguay/Chile/Argentina/Germany:
Kill Them All/Matar a todos
Esteban Schroeder, 2007, 97 m

Roxana Blanco plays a prosecutor and Human Rights lawyer in post-Junta Montevideo who must investigate the role her family played during those dark times. Based on real life events the movie portraits the covered-up kidnapping of a well-known Chilean biochemical engineer, and the fragility of the new Latin American democracies.
Roxana Blanco won Best Actress at the Havana Film Festival.

I interviewed Roxana when I wrote about this movie for an article in the NY Daily News about LATINBEAT 2008. Latinbeat is the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s annual Latin American Film Festival that takes place every year at the Walter Reade Theater.

You can see my article at:
www.nydailynews.com/.../2008-09-04_latinbeat_fest_honors_jacobo_morales_chi.html -

SURVEY I PARTICIPATED IN

2009-12-02T12:38:00.000-08:00

CINEMA TROPICAL ANNOUNCES THE TEN BEST LATIN AMERICAN FILMS OF THE DECADE
HEADED BY LUCRECIA MARTEL’S ‘LA CIÉNAGA’ FROM ARGENTINA

New York, December 2, 2009 – Cinema Tropical, the premier purveyor of Latin American cinema in the U.S., has compiled a list of the Top Ten Latin American Films of the Decade (2000-2009) based on a survey of distinguished critics, scholars and film professionals based in the New York City area.

The respected Argentine director Lucrecia Martel, accomplished an amazing feat by making the top ten with the three films she has directed to date. Her first film La Ciénaga got the first place spot and she also occupies the eighth and ninth spots with La mujer sin cabeza (The Headless Woman) and La niña santa (The Holy Girl) respectively.

Under the initiative and coordination of filmmaker and blogger Mario Díaz (http://diazfilm.blogspot.com/%29 this first-ever survey of its kind was culled from 33 prominent local voices in film whose work has been devoted to the promotion and dissemination of Latin American cinema in New York and the United States. In all, 121 films representing 14 Latin American countries were nominated for the distinction of being Best of the Decade, demonstrating the great quality and diversity of films from the region.

“The project of creating this list had a two-fold intention, on one hand to serve as a promotional campaign to honor all the great film work that the region has produced in the past few years, and secondly to pay some kind of tribute to the professionals that have helped promote Latin American cinema in this city” says Carlos A. Gutiérrez, co-founding director of Cinema Tropical.

The so-called “Three Amigos,” Mexican directors Alfonso Cuarón (Y Tu Mamá También), Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth) and Alejandro González Iñárritu (Amores Perros) all made the top ten. Their three breakout films earned a combined $56 million dollars at the U.S. box office alone, elevating each of them to A-list status. Indeed the “Three Amigos” went on to direct such high-profile international films as Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Cuarón), Hellboy II (Del Toro), and Babel (González Iñárritu). In 2006, they joined forces to form a production company called Cha Cha Cha Films.

Argentina is the country with the most films on the overall list with 37 mentions, whilst Mexico has four films in the first ten places. However, Brazil has a significant presence throughout the survey with 30 films out of 122 films mentioned. This includes two in the top ten: Fernando Meirelles’ City of God at number four and the documentary feature Bus 174 by directors José Padilha and Felipe Lacerda at number five. Looking at the top twenty-five, Karim Ainouz’s Madame Satâ came in at number 14, while the feature documentaries Santiago by Joâo Salles and Jogo de cena by Eduardo Coutinho came in at 20 and 22 respectively.

Despite the fact that many of the films in the list never had a US theatrical release and that Latin American cinema is not yet widely seen in the U.S., the list demonstrates that there is a wealth of films being produced in the region year after year, and that cinephiles outside the country (or at least in New York) are taking notice. For example, Brazilian director Coutinho, who remains largely unknown to audiences in America, has four films on the overall list: Jogo de cena (Playing, #22), Edificio Master (Master, a Building in Copacabana, #27), Peões (Metalworkers, #44), and O fim e o principio (The End and the Beginning #75).

Other notable performers include Argentine filmmaker Pablo Trapero who has four films included in the list, fellow Argentine Carlos Sorín with three, and Mexican arthouse favorite Carlos Reygadas who has three films as well, including the top ten entry Silent Light (#3) and Japón (#14).

“Best Of” lists usually favor recent releases, but the participants of this survey stuck to quality and personal taste as the principal criteria for their selections. The result is a balanced list made up of picks from the entire decade. In fact, six of the films in the top ten were released in 2004 or before.

“The decade that is about to conclude marked a turning point in Latin American cinema. Never before did Latin American films enjoy such critical and box office success internationally and in the U.S.” says Mario Díaz and adds, “this list is not only a powerful reminder of the great quality and abundance of films that emerged from Latin America in the last 10 years but also a celebration of Latin American cinema’s coming-of-age, for it is now considered at par with the world’s best.”

Cinema Tropical is a New York-based 501(c)(3) non-profit media arts organization dedicated to the promotion, programming and distribution of Latin American cinema in the U.S. Funded in 2001 by Carlos A. Gutiérrez and Mónika Wagenberg, Cinema Tropical has become the leading purveyor of Latin American cinema in the U.S. by having established a screening circuit in twelve venues in North America, having built a film library of over 35 titles and having worked on numerous marketing and promotional campaigns for several film releases and series. http://www.cinematropical.com/.

The Top 10 Latin American Films of the Decade are:

FILM DIRECTOR COUNTRY YEAR
1) La Ciénaga Lucrecia Martel Argentina 2001

2) Amores Perros Alejandro González Mexico 2000
Iñárritu

3) Luz silenciosa (Silent Light) Carlos Reygadas Mexico 2007

4) Cidade de Deus (City of God) Fernando Meirelles Brazil 2002

5) Ônibus 174 (Bus 174) José Padilha, Brazil 2002
Felipe Lacerda

6) Y Tu Mamá También Alfonso Cuarón Mexico 2001

7) Whisky Juan Pablo Rebella, Uruguay 2004
Pablo Stoll

8) La mujer sin cabeza Lucrecia Martel Argentina 2008
(The Headless Woman)

9) La niña santa (The Holy Girl) Lucrecia Martel Argentina 2004

10) El laberinto del fauno Guillermo del Toro Mexico 2006
(Pan’s Labyrinth)

SURVEY PARTICIPANTS (in alphabetical order):
Inés Aslán, film programmer; Graciela Berger Wegsman, playwright/journalist, New York Daily News, Hora Hispana; Rodrigo Brandão, Director of Publicity, Kino International; Fabiano Canosa, film programmer; Jerry W. Carlson, film professor, The City College & Graduate Center CUNY; Rebeca Conget, VP Acquisitions and Distribution, Film Movement; Gerard Dapena, scholar of Hispanic cinemas and visual culture; Christian Del Moral, film blogger, CineLatinoNY; Mario Díaz, filmmaker/film blogger; Howard Feinstein, film critic, Screen / programmer, Panorama and Sarajevo Film Festival; Cristina Garza, International Sales and Distribution, FiGa Films; Marcela Goglio, programmer, Latinbeat (Film Society of Lincoln Center); Pablo Goldbarg, filmmaker / Writer, Remezcla, Cinema Tropical; Javier Guerrero, director, 100% Venezuela (NYU Venezuelan Film Festival); Carlos A. Gutiérrez, co-founding director, Cinema Tropical; Jytte Jensen, curator, MoMA Department of Film; Peter Lucas, professor, Department of Photography and Imaging and Open Arts at the Tisch School of Arts at New York University; Yehudit Mam, filmmaker / blogger, The Grande Enchilada; Mary Jane Marcasiano, Cinema Tropical; Alberto Medina, Author / Associate professor, Columbia University; Micki Mihich, film critic and columnist, On & Off, Sci-Fi News, Starlog, Wizard; Lucila Moctezuma, coordinator, Tribeca Latin America Media Arts Fund (Tribeca Film Institute); Nuria Net, editor-in-chief, Co-Founder, Remezcla.com; Louis Perego Moreno, executive producer, Skyline Features; Carmen Oquendo, researcher and film curator, NYU; Jack Rico, editor-in-chief, ShowBizCafe.com; Jerónimo Rodríguez, film critic/host, Toma 1 (NY1 Noticias); Paul Julian Smith, film scholar, author of The Cinema of Pedro Almodóvar and Amores Perros; Roselly Torres, Distribution & Marketing Director, Third World Newsreel; Diana Vargas, programmer, Havana Film Festival (NY) and Corto Circuito; Mónika Wagenberg, co-founding director, Cinema Tropical; Naief Yehya, film critic, La Jornada, Milenio / author of The Transformed Body and War and Propaganda.

To view the complete list of films as well as the individual selections please visit:
http://www.cinematropical.com/

For more information please contact Andrew Vargas Stehney at (212) 254-5474 or press@cinematropical.com.

BALLET HISPANICO

2009-12-02T12:24:00.000-08:00

Hello,

I am a big fan of Latino culture and I want to let you know that Ballet Hispanico opened their season at the Joyce Theater !

Don't miss one of the best dance companies in USA!

December 1-13, 2009

Here is a link to my article in the NY Daily News:

http://www.nydailynews.com/latino/2009/12/02/2009-12-02_troupe_movements_at_ballet_hisp.html

The Joyce Theater
175 Eighth Avenue
New York, NY 10011
212-691-9740
Tickets
JoyceCharge: 212-242-0800

INDIGENOUS CINEMA (PERU, MEXICO)

2009-12-01T06:30:00.000-08:00

Hello,

When I was 19 years old I went to live for a few weeks with the Mapuches in Patagonia, in the South of Argentina.

The word Mapuche comes from: Mapu: tierra and Che: gente: "La gente de la tierra" or "The People of the earth."

They live in small houses made of mud, barro, looking at the impressive Andes.

Two teachers decided to give up their urban life and moved to the "reserva" to create a small school.

I taught the children what the word periodista (journalist) meant. They taught me many things... Among them that I was a "huinka", translation for Americans...."A gringa."

Do you see? Cultures share many things in common...there is always a word for the outsider...

Mapuches are extremely generous. Once I went to visit and a family offered me their only egg...

How did I arrive there?
It's a long story...but let's say I had a great teacher in College: Guilllermo Magrassi, who taught a course in Social Anthropology.
With a friend who wanted to become a rural teacher we decided to go stay with the Mapuches...and we did it!
Believe me it was not easy for a Jewish girl from Buenos Aires to go visit there. It's not a common thing to do...and...Don't ask me about the reaction in my family, please!

I love languages and I find that every language has a distinctive sound and flavor.

I wanted you to introduce you to movies made by Latin Americans about Indians and their rich cultures, in their native tongues.

From Peru:
The Milk of Sorrow/ La Teta Asustada
Claudia Llosa, Peru/Spain , 2009

Fausta's mother had a very hard life that influenced Fausta's vision of the world. She has a gift for singing and she needs to decide if to use it to pay for her mother's burial. The first scene of Fausta's mother singing in Quechua is not to be missed!

Winner of the Golden Bear for Best Film at the 2009 Berlin Film Festival.

From Mexico:
Cochochi

Laura Guzmán, Israel Cárdenas, Mexico, 2007.

Two young Raramuri brothers just graduated from school in their village, near Sierra Tarahumara in Northwest Mexico. Only one of them will be able to attend Middle school...

Their grandfather sends them to deliver medicine to a remote house in the mountains... and the movie follows them in their adventurous journey.

Winner of the Discovery Award at 2007 Toronto International Film Festival.

I hope you enjoy them!
Graciela

From Argentina: Daniel Burman

2009-11-25T15:12:00.000-08:00

Hello,

I want to answer some questions I got from friends:

1) The movies are in Spanish with English subtitles.

2)Latin Films stand for Latin American Films.

3) Almodovar is from Spain and yes, I care about Spanish movies too, but, I want to write about movies that generally don't get so much attention...By the way I'm a big fan of his movies.

Talking about movies...I want to introduce:

From Argentina:

Daniel Burman

Daniel Burman is an Argentinian filmaker who portraits the lives of regular people. His main characters are middle class Jews who live in Buenos Aires and have to deal with life in their city, assimilation, family, love, etc. He is interested in the relation between father and son. I really enjoy very much his movies. They are very moving and fun to watch. They show the many faces of Buenos Aires...

Waiting for the Messiah/Esperando al Mesias
2000, 93 minutes.
Argentina is in the middle of economic turmoil. Ariel is a young Jewish man (Daniel Hendler) who has just lost his mother. Santamaria, is a man who lost his job in a bank and spends time collecting stolen wallets from the garbage and returning them for a reward...

Lost Embrace/El abrazo partido
2004, 100 minutes.
Ariel, a young Argentine Jew (Daniel Hendler) is dealing with his mother and an absent father who left to fight for Israel when he was a baby. His mother (Adriana Aizenberg) has a lingerie store in a "galeria", a modest shopping mall in Buenos Aires. When his father returns to Argentina, Ariel discovers why his father left the family.

Family Law/Derecho de familia
2006, 102 minutes.
In the last movie of the trilogy, we encounter Perelman, a young Argentine Jew (the same Daniel Hendler) who chose to teach Law instead of joining his father's successful Law Firm. The film explores Perelman' s marriage, the birth of his son and the relationship between him and his charismatic father.

I hope you enjoy these movies.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Graciela

Three movies to begin

2009-11-24T12:28:00.000-08:00

Hello,

I'm beginning today to give you some ideas of very different movies you can enjoy.

Let's say the obvious. This is my blog, so I write about movies that I especially like for a variety of reasons.
As you will see, many movies were done as coproductions.

Enjoy!

From Uruguay:
The Pope's Toilet/El Bano del Papa
Cesar Charlone and Enrique Fernandez
Uruguay/Brazil/France, 2007; 90 minutes.

Melo is an Uruguayan town close to the border with Brazil. The inhabitants of this town are quite poor but they have the dignity to keep up with life and its struggles. In this comedy Beto is an optimist who makes a living smuggling goods among the two towns on his bicycle.
Pope John Paul II plans to visit the town in 1988 and the residents begin to plan how to take advantage of the historic event to sell their products. But Beto has by far...the most original idea. Do you want to know more? Watch the movie.

From Puerto Rico:
What happened to Santiago/Lo que le paso a Santiago
Jacobo Morales, Puerto Rico, 1989; 105 minutos

Santiago Rodriguez is a widower who feels depressed after he is forced to retire. He meets a younger woman who helps him get rid of his melancholy...but who doesn't want to talk about her own past.

It is a very important movie in Puerto Rican Cinema history because of its broad success at home and abroad. It was nominated for an Oscar as Best Foreign Language Film.

From Argentina:
Encarnacion
Anahi Berneri, Argentina, 2007; 2003

Many Argentinians will recognize actress Silvia Perez, a former model and Beauty Queen, as the protagonist of Encarnacion. In this movie Perez portrays (mirroring reality) the difficulties that a former star faces when her looks fade and her body changes. Any woman can relate to her vulnerability.

Winner of the Innovation Award at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival.

Please give me feedback, suggestions, comments.

Saludos,
Graciela

WELCOME!

2009-11-23T17:13:00.000-08:00

Dear friends,

I would like to share with you my passion for Latin American Cinema as a reflection of its many different cultures and the rich Spanish language.

For all of you who are interested in Latin American Cinema but don't know where to begin, I'm here to help you.

As a quiz...Can you name five Latin American movies you have seen in the last five years? Can you mention any actors? Any directors?

Don't worry you're not alone...it's not easy for a Latin American movie to get distribution in the United States. But if you read until here, I am sure you are thisty for more.

I would like to introduce you to some very interesting movies that you can get from Netflix, Amazon, the Public Library, etc. In some cases they are presented on Latin American Festivals.

I hope you enjoy the experience!

I would love to hear your comments,

Graciela Berger Wegsman