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Cine Sin Fronteras The Guadalupe Cultural Arts CineFestival has brought the best in Latino independent films for more than 25 years. This year's edition, "Many Roads, Un Destino: Chicano/ Latino/Indigenous Perspectives on Immigration," is no exception. Among this year's highlights are the documentary, Farmingville, by Carlos Sandoval and Catherine Tambini, and Robert M. Young's seminal 1977 feature film Alambrista! Together, they not only form cinematic bookends on the plight of undocumented immigrants, but also reflect the best of Chicano filmmaking. Farmingville, which won a special jury prize at this year's Sundance Film Festival, documents how the suburban Long Island community of Farmingville (population 15,000) reacted when an influx of 1,500 undocumented mostly Mexican workers moved in with promises of day work. The once sleepy township becomes a battlefront as local residents react to the workers' presence. The filmmakers focus their cameras on the volatile issues that resulted after two Mexican laborers were brutally beaten by two white men. Tambini and Sandoval put a human face on the immigration issues - pro and con - from a local resident who asks, "Why are there hundreds of illegal men in our streets?" to a Mexican worker who laments, "I lost my son's most precious years." This is engaged filmmaking at its finest and makes for informed and gripping viewing. The trek to el norte to find work is also the focus in Alambrista! When Roberto, a young Michoacan farmer, finds that he can't make ends meet to feed his family, he leaves them to find work en el otro lado - despite the protestations of his mother (his father had made the same decision earlier - to never return). Young, who later made The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez, not only directed this film but is also its writer and cinematographer. (Alambrista! won the Camera d'Or Award at Cannes the year it was released.) As Roberto makes his way to the border, we feel both the dread and fear of the unknown fate that he faces. As portrayed by Texas actor Domingo Ambriz, Roberto's odyssey comes alive. When the camera stoops with laborers in the field, it becomes a character too. On the road, Roberto meets Joe (the late Trinidad Silva), a Mexican farm worker, who shows him the ropes. He teaches him how to order food in a restaurant and to integrate himself into the new world in which he has ventured. Later, Roberto meets a young white single mom working in a restaurant on the outskirts of Stockton in California. The romance between these two lonely, disenfranchised strangers speaks volumes on the human condition. The film's surprising ending and the lessons that Roberto learns are both ironic and bittersweet. It is better left for viewers to discover. Both Alambrista! and Farmingville form a time capsule and primer on the issues faced by Latino immigrants both then and now. With changes coming in our nation's immigration policy, they add valuable insights into the national debate. Above all, they are indeed superb filmmaking.
Cinefestival 2004 Schedule Most screenings will be at the Guadalupe Theater $6 daytime screenings Thursday 3|4 4PM We Speak America, Premio Mesquite Award: Runner-up Short Documentary, dir. David Sweet-Cordero 6pm Balance A Salto de Mata: Historias de Migrantes Indigenas, Premio Mesquite Award: Native American First Place, dir. Javier Sámano Chong 8:15pm Smithsonian Native American Museum Short Submissions Friday 3|5 Many Roads, Un Destino 11am-3pm 4pm Fruit of Labor, Premio Mesquite Emerging Documentary, dir. Pepe Urquijo 6pm The Sixth Section, Premio Mesquite: Short Documentary, dir. Alex Rivera The Show, Premio Mesquite: Best Experi-mental, dir. Cruz Angeles Lupe and JuanDi From the Block, Premio Mesquite: Best Fiction, dir. Cristina Ibarra 8pm Q&A with Carlos Sandoval & Catherine Tambini Daniel Deportado, dir. Lalo Lopez & Esteban Zul Bush for Peace, dir. Sarah Christman & Jen Simmons Voting in America Project: Texas Majority Minority, a work-in-progress by Anne Lewis, Heather Courtney, & Laura Varela 11pm Saturday 3|6 Filmmaker workshops in partnership with the Independent Television Service (ITVS), Latino Public Broadcast Project and Native American Public Television. Through case study, filmmakers can find out the important process for bring work to public television from these vital organizations dedicated to bringing new voices to the public television conversation. A series of shorter workshops on intellectual property and distribution offers a rounded view of the options regional filmmakers have within reach. 11am-noon & 1pm-5pm 11am San Anto Masterpieces 13 Ounces of Moonshine: A Mexican Love Story, Premio Mesquite: Emerging Fiction, dir. Reynaldo Nieto Skateboarding Barrio Olympics, dir. Efrain Gutierrez A Vanishing Breed "Pajarero," dir. Antonio Cisneros Sex and the Teenager RESET Latino Veterans, dir. Amanda Rae Cuevas When It Comes Down to It, dir. Zandra Rios 12:45pm From The World Around Us: Window Out Panoptikun, dir. Alberto Roblest Plastic Cover, dir. Cristina Ibarra Shattered Dreams, dir. Richard Gonzales, Ismael Leiva and Richard Chalk Juchitán Queer Paradise, dir. Patricio Henriquez Out of the Closet, Premio Mesquite: Youth Award, dir. Juan Aguilar Kiss My Wheels, dir. Miguel Grunstein & Dale Kruzic Nate, dir. Daralee Fallin 3:15pm Immigration: Responses To The Challenge Antorcha: Making a Difference, dir. Joe Arredondo Siempre, dir. Ruben Obregon Casas Sobre Pasando La Linea (Crossing the Line), dir. Bill Jungels Canoa, dir. Thomas Javier Castillo Family Timeline, dir. Arcadio Muñiz 6pm Reception, hosted by KVDA Telemundo 60 La Ofrenda, dir. Alejandro Fernandez SweatShop Mom, Premio Mesquite Honorable Mention: Youth La Tierra del Dolor, dir. Marcial Rios 7:30pm Awards Ceremony 8:30pm Alambrista!: The Director's Cut, dir. Robert Young, Edited to a new musical score by Dr. Loco Performance by Dr. Loco • |
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