Popular Spanish-with-subtitles flicks like “Y Tu Mamá También,” “Amores Perros,” “La Mala Educación” and “The Motorcycle Diaries” have saturated Hollywood these past few years with images of a blue-eyed pretty boy who rides a motorcycle, owns a whiny dog and answers to the name Gael García Bernal. Beneath those aviator goggles, his lilting smile and pensive gaze can strike a girl senseless.
From top to bottom:
It may seem like he’s the only man to come out of Latin America, but the happy truth is that there are many, many more men where he came from. So where they at?
Come March 10, San Diego will be a Latino-lovin’ hunting ground heaven.
The San Diego Latino Film Festival hosted by the Media Arts Center San Diego will showcase over a hundred films (and plenty of leading actors) from countries across the globe, including Mexico, Cuba, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Guatemala, Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina, Spain and the United States. Covering past and present Latino films, the festival runs from March 10 to March 20 and offers an expansive selection of movies, ranging from full-length features to poignant documentaries.
Seeking a powerful film starring an 11-year-old boy facing a life-altering choice between joining rebel guerilla forces or El Salvador’s national army? Check out “Voces Inocentes” (Innocent Voices), based on the true story of screenwriter Oscar Torres’ disrupted childhood during his country’s civil war.
Want more coming-of-age, divided-country drama? Try “Machuca” (directed by Andres Wood), which narrates the lives of three children from differing class backgrounds and their family struggles before and after Chile’s 1973 military coup.
Crave less political drama and more action? Director Beto Gómez offers “Puños Rosas,” the story of a tough, macho mafioso who runs hijacked cars across the border and winds up in the pen. His ticket out? A young boxer. Don’t get it? Watch the film.
Romantic comedy aficionado? In “Perfecto Amor Equivocado” (Love By Mistake) a middle-aged Cuban writer weaves complicated webs when he returns to Havana to the news that his daughter is dating a Spaniard older than himself and his mistress desires for him to leave his wife.
Need to brush up on Diego (or Frida) for your VIS 22 final? “The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo” offers an intimate portrait of the woman behind the man and examines her ambiguous relationship with her contemporaries in the then-avant-garde movements of cubism and surrealism.
Another documentary presented is “Madrid M11: We Were All on the Train.” This series of 24 short films examines the Madrid train bombing from the perspective of workers, immigrants, ordinary citizens and children.
Set against a stunning mix of visual art and historical content, performance documentary “Race Is the Place” explores the explosive topic of race with performances from and interviews with Culture Clash, James Luna, Amiri Baraka, Lalo Guerrero and Piri Thomas, among others.
Better than an actor, guest director Luis Mandoki will be present to curate selected films.
For more information on film dates and times, visit http://www.sdlatinofilm.com.
