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SPECIAL PRESENTATION
THE DEAD MAN AND BEING HAPPY
[El muerto y ser feliz]
Q&A with filmmaker Javier Rebollo, plus post-screening
reception sponsored by SPAIN arts & culture, Embassy
of Spain with support from Pragda, on Oct 4
Fri, Oct 4, 7:00 (also showing Wed, Oct 9, 6:30,
Montgomery College Show)
Spanish filmmaker Javier Rebollo’s oddball road movie centers
on an aging, cancer-stricken hitman, Santos, who goes on
the lam in his Ford Falcon after flaking out on his most recent
assignment. Stealing away from his Buenos Aires hospital
bed, he hits the road and heads north, hoping to make it to
Bolivia. He’s joined by Alejandra, a woman seeking change
in her own life, who impulsively jumps in the car with Santos
at a gas station. This quirky picaresque has both an offhand
charm and a light sense of gravitas. Best Actor for José
Sacristán, 2012 Goya Awards; Official Selection, 2012
San Sebastian, New York Film Festivals; 2013 Rotterdam,
Karlovy Vary Film Festivals.
DIR/SCR Javier Rebollo; SCR Lola Mayo, Salvador
Roselli; PROD Luis Miñarro, José Nolla, Damián París. Spain/Argentina/France, 2013, color, 92
min. In Spanish with English subtitles. NOT RATED
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LAST CALL [Tercera llamada]
Sat, Oct 5, 5:00; Sun, Oct 6, 3:00
Doing theater is an act of faith, and this production of
“Caligula” is teetering on the precipice of destruction. The
director is a neurotic depressive with a constantly changing
vision for the show, the costumer can’t keep her hands off
the stagehand and the leading lady struggles to get into
the bloodthirsty head of the title character (yep, a woman
plays Caligula). In this acerbic satire of the world of theater,
filmmaker Francisco Franco puts his characters through the
wringer before the curtain rises, because after all…the show
must go on. Audience Award, Press Award for Best Mexican
Film and Best Actress Award, 2013 Guadalajara Film Festival.
DIR/SCR Francisco Franco; SCR María Renée Prudencio; PROD Laura Imperiale. Mexico, 2013, color,
92 min. In Spanish with English subtitles. NOT RATED
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Nicaragua
MAGIC WORDS (BREAKING A SPELL)
[Palabras
mágicas (para romper un encantamiento)]
Sat, Sep 21, 11:10 a.m.; Mon, Sep 23, 5:15
A personal and nostalgic story of coming home, filmmaker
Mercedes Moncada Rodríguez explores Nicaragua's past,
present and future through the lens of her childhood and
the Sandinista Revolution. With beautiful juxtapositions of
archival and present-day documentary footage, the film
presents a collage of living memory, feeling and history.
Official Selection, 2012 San Sebastian Film Festival; 2013
Guadalajara, Latin Beat Film Festivals.
DIR/SCR Mercedes Moncada
Rodríguez; PROD Jorge Sánchez Sosa. Nicaragua/Mexico/Guatemala, 2012, color, 86 min.
In Spanish with English subtitles. NOT RATED
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Panama
ROUTE OF THE MOON [Ruta de la luna]
Sat, Sep 21, 11:15 a.m.; Tue, Sep 24, 5:15
A delightfully droll road trip through Costa Rica and Panama
forces Tito, a 32-year-old recently divorced albino, and César,
his macho father, to realize why they never got along in the
first place. César trained boxing champions, while Tito would
rather spend his time bowling, a sport his father refuses to
recognize. Along the way they pick up Yadia, an attractive
young woman, who tries to dissolve the mounting tension
between father and son but only ends up driving a wedge
between them as they both vie for her affections. Writer/
director Juan Sebastían Jacome’s feature debut creates a
realistic portrait of a family in flux and the busted old car that
forces them to face their differences.
DIR/SCR Juan Sebastian Jacome; SCR
Rocco Melillo; SCR/PROD Irina Caballero; PROD Luis Pacheco. Panama/Ecuador, 2012, color, 75
min. In Spanish with English subtitles. NOT RATED
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Daily Listings: 301.495.6700
#AFILatinFilm
Tickets & Full Schedule at
AFI
.com/
Silver
LATIN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL
Paraguay
7 BOXES [7 Cajas]
Sat, Sep 21, 1:00; Thu, Sep 26, 9:00
At the bustling Municipal Market in Asunción, 17-year-old Victor
wields his wheelbarrow, schlepping goods from one side of
the massive market to the other. Thinking a camera phone is his
ticket out of the slums and into movie stardom, he jumps at the
opportunity to transport a mysterious cargo of seven boxes for a
cool hundred bucks. But what should have been a simple job turns
deadly as the cops, a gang of thieves and a spiteful competitor
are soon hot on his trail. In this crowd-pleasing, action-packed
thriller, filmmakers Juan Carlos Maneglia and Tana Schembori
craft something like a Paraguayan SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE.
Official Selection, 2012 Toronto, San Sebastian Film Festivals.
Audience Award, World Competition, 2013 Miami Film Festival.
DIR/SCR Juan Carlos Maneglia; DIR Tana Schembori; PROD Maneglia Schémbori Realizadores. Paraguay,
2012, color, 100 min. In Spanish and Guarani with English subtitles. NOT RATED
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Peru
CHICAMA
Sat, Sep 21, 3:20; Sun, Sep 22, 3:00
Fresh-faced elementary school teacher César is forced to put his
big-city dreams on hold when he’s assigned to a small school
in a remote Andes village. His students trek from near and far
to attend his class and, while it takes César some time to adjust
to life in the bucolic village, he begins to warm to the charms of
his students, the townsfolk and a captivating new coworker. A
genuine and heartwarming journey of self-discovery, filmmaker
Omar Forero’s third feature won five prizes, including Best
Peruvian Film, at the 2012 Lima Film Festival. Official Selection,
2013 BAFICI Film Festival. D
IR/SCR Omar Forero; PROD Carolina Denegri. Peru,
2013, color, 75 min. In Spanish with English subtitles. NOT RATED
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THE CLEANER [El limpiador]
Sat, Oct 5, 3:00; Tue, Oct 8, 7:15
Eusebio (Víctor Prada, OCTUBRE) is a quiet man, a forensic
cleaner living his routine and solitary life even as a devastating
and mysterious epidemic sweeps Lima, keeping him busier
than ever at work. As the city crumbles around him, Eusebio
discovers a scared 8-year-old and reluctantly agrees to take him
in, hoping he may yet find the boy’s family. The debut feature
of writer/director Adrián Saba is a haunting, thought-provoking
vision of a dystopian future, “an oddball ‘fantasy’ film, brimming
with memorable images.” –Mark Adams, Screen Daily. New
Voices/New Visions Award, 2013 Palm Springs Film Festival;
Special Mention, New Director’s Award, San Sebastian Film
Festival; Official Selection, 2013 Seattle, San Francisco Film
Festivals.
DIR/SCR Adrián Saba; PROD Carolina Denegri. Peru, 2012, color, 95 min. In Spanish
with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Portugal
THE END OF THE WORLD [Um fim do mundo]
Sat, Sep 21, 5:00; Wed, Sep 25, 9:40
Pedro Pinho’s largely improvised, day-in-the-life chronicle of
a group of teenagers skipping school and looking for kicks
crackles with cinéma vérité immediacy and the reckless energy
of youth. Leaving their blighted Lisbon housing project for the
beach, a motley group of boys and girls alternately flirts and
fights in the surf and sand. That night, they meet at a club, where
the girls get in but the boys don't, testing the group’s solidarity
and leading to problems. Greatly distinguished by Pinho and
Vasco Viana’s gorgeous black-and-white cinematography, the
look of the film is both contemporary and timeless. Official
Selection, 2013 Berlin Film Festival.
DIR Pedro Pinho; PROD Leonor Noivo, Filipa
Reis. Portugal, 2013, b&w, 62 min. In Portuguese with English subtitles. NOT RATED
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Spain
A GUN IN EACH HAND [Una pistol en cada mano]
Sat, Sep 21, 9:30; Wed, Sep 25, 7:30
The misadventures of eight fortysomething men on the verge
of a nervous breakdown collide in this witty battle of the sexes
from Catalan filmmaker Cesc Gay. Javier Cámara (TALK TO
HER, I’M SO EXCITED!) tries to woo back the ex-wife he
divorced for another woman; Candela Peña (ALL ABOUT MY
MOTHER) gleefully preys on the inappropriate advances of
coworker Eduardo Noriega (THE DEVIL’S BACKBONE); and
Ricardo Darín (THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES) is slow to catch on
that his wife is having an affair. With a fresh and funny script by
Gay, each actor relishes the chance to subvert expectations and
challenge gender roles. Best Supporting Actress (Peña), 2013
Goya Awards; Jury Prize for Best Performance, 2013 Miami
Film Festival. Official Selection, 2012 Rome, 2013 Seattle Film
Festivals.
DIR/SCR Cesc Gay; SCR Tomàs Aragay; PROD Marta Esteban. Spain, 2012, color, 95
min. In Spanish with English subtitles. NOT RATED
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HOLD-UP! [¡Atraco!]
Fri, Sep 27, 9:15; Tue, Oct 1, 7:00
A snappy 1950s-set heist caper, this film is based on the
bizarre true story of the staged robbery of Eva Peron’s jewels in
Madrid, set up by the exiled Perón to prevent them from being
appropriated by Franco’s greedy wife. Professional criminal
and staunch Perón loyalist Merello (Guillermo Francella, THE
SECRET IN THEIR EYES) is enlisted to pull off the heist along
with Miguel (Nicolás Cabré), a bumbling young actor with
a nervous habit of going off script. Lush period detail and a
rousing big-band score set the scene for this rollicking crowd-
pleaser. Official Selection, 2012 San Sebastian Film Festival,
2013 Seattle Film Festival.
DIR/SCR Eduard Cortés; SCR Piti Español, Marcelo
Figueras; SCR/PROD Pedro Costa; PROD Gerardo Herrero, Luis A. Scalella. Spain/Argentina, 2012,
color, 111 min. In Spanish with English subtitles. NOT RATED
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THE BODY [El cuerpo]
Fri, Oct 4, 9:30; Sat, Oct 5, 3:10
A body mysteriously vanishes from the morgue; the prime suspect
is Alex Ulloa (Hugo Silva, I’M SO EXCITED!), husband of the
deceased (Belén Rueda, THE ORPHANGE). As baffled by his
wife's disappearance as the lead investigator (José Coronado,
NO REST FOR THE WICKED), Alex is subjected to hours of
grueling interrogation. But when he receives a note from his dead
wife, he is caught in a psychological game of cat and mouse—
yet with whom, he does not know. With this edge-of-your-seat
thriller from the producers of THE ORPHANAGE, filmmaker Oriol
Paulo keeps viewers guessing right up until the shocking finale.
DIR/SCR Oriol Paulo; SCR Lara Sendim; PROD Mercedes Gamero, Mikel Lejarza, Joaquín Padró, Mar
Targarona. Spain, 2012, color, 108 min. In Spanish with English subtitles. NOT RATED
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SPECIAL PRESENTATION
SUGAR KISSES [Besos de Azúcar]
Q&A with filmmaker Carlos Cuaron, plus post-screening
reception sponsored by the Mexican Cultural Institute,
on Sep 21
Sat, Sep 21, 7:00 (also showing Sun, Sep 22, 5:00)
Mischievous tween Nacho can’t seem to do anything
right. His stepfather hates him, his mom never takes his
side and, to make matters worse, he’s in love with Mayra,
the daughter of the most feared woman in the Tepito
neighborhood of Mexico City. His only respite is hitting the
arcade with his best friend and partner in crime, Cacayo.
But as the harsh realities of inner-city life set in, can Nacho
overcome all obstacles to keep his innocence and first
romance alive? Featuring breakout performances by young
leads César Kancino and Daniela Arce, filmmaker Carlos
Cuarón (RUDO Y CURSI, Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN) leavens
this “Romeo and Juliet”-esque tale with good-hearted humor.
Official Selection, 2013 Guadalajara Film Festival.
DIR/SCR/
PROD Carlos Cuarón; SCR Luis Usabiaga; PROD Alex Garcia. Mexico, 2013, color, 86 min. In
Spanish with English subtitles. NOT RATED
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CLOSING NIGHT
WHO IS DAYANI CRISTAL?
Sat, Oct 5, 7:00 (also showing Sun, Oct 6, 1:00)
August 3, 2010. An unidentified body is found in the
Arizona desert near the Mexican border, a tattoo on the
man’s chest, “Dayani Cristal,” the only clue to his identity.
As forensic scientists in the U.S. do their best to solve the
mystery, Gael García Bernal (Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIEN, THE
MOTORCYCLE DIARIES) retraces the man’s tough journey
from Honduras, on trains and on foot through Mexico
toward the border. This potent docu-drama gracefully
breathes life into the story of the undocumented and
underrepresented. Cinematography Award, World Cinema
Documentary, 2013 Sundance Film Festival.
DIR Marc Silver; SCR
Mark Monroe; PROD Thomas Benski, Gael García Bernal, Luca Ochoa. Mexico/UK, 2013,
color, 85 min. In English. NOT RATED
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US
HARVEST OF EMPIRE: THE UNTOLD
STORY OF LATINOS IN AMERICA
Sun, Sep 22, 3:10
Based on the groundbreaking book by Juan González, this
historical documentary takes an unflinching look at the role
that U.S. interests have played in triggering an unprecedented
wave of migration that is transforming the nation’s cultural and
economic landscape. The film features present-day immigrant
stories and rarely seen archival material, as well as interviews
with such respected figures as Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
Rigoberta Menchú, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, ACLU Executive
Director Anthony Romero, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Junot Díaz,
Mexican historian Dr. Lorenzo Meyer, groundbreaking television
journalist Geraldo Rivera, Grammy award-winning singer Luis
Enrique and poet Martín Espada.
DIR Peter Getzels; DIR/PROD Eduardo Lopez;
PROD Wendy Thompson-Marquez. US, 2012, color, 90 min. In English. NOT RATED
Uruguay
SOLO
Sun, Sep 22, 1:00; Thu, Sep 26, 7:00
Nelson is a middle-aged air force musician leading a lackluster
life. His wife just left him and he can’t seem to rise above self-
described mediocrity. Just when it appears there is no hope,
Nelson is awakened by the opportunity to perform in a local
music contest. He breaks out his old tape recorder, forms a
band and sets his sights on winning. But when Nelson comes
up for promotion—a move that would send him to Antarctica
the same day as the contest finale—he’ll have to choose
between his life-long dream and the adventure of the unknown.
Best First Film, 2013 Miami Film Festival.
DIR/SCR/PROD Guillermo
Rocamora; SCR/PROD Javier Palliero. Uruguay/Argentina/Holland/France, 2013, color, 90 min.
In Spanish with English subtitles. NOT RATED
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Mexico
SPECIAL PRESENTATION
BLESS ME, ULTIMA
Fri, Sep 27, 7:00 (also showing Sat, Sep 28, 1:00)
Adapted from Rudolfo Anaya’s landmark Chicano novel, this
sensitive coming-of-age story follows Antonio, a young boy
in 1940s New Mexico, and Ultima, the village elder who
becomes his curandera, mentor and protector. Despite rumors
that Ultima is a witch who practices black magic, Antonio
seeks out her teaching and she quickly opens his eyes to the
wonders of the spiritual world. Director Carl Franklin (DEVIL
IN A BLUE DRESS) honors the book’s spirit with handsome
cinematography, lush period detail and moving performances,
in a film which the late Roger Ebert gave one of his final
four-star reviews. “A deeply satisfying feat of storytelling.”—
Kenneth Turan, The Los Angeles Times.
DIR/SCR Carl Franklin, from the
novel by Rudolfo Anaya; PROD Jesse Beaton, Sarah DiLeo, Mark Johnson. US, 2013, color, 106
min. In English and Spanish with English subtitles. RATED PG-13
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A GUN IN EACH HAND
THE BODY
Courtesy of 6 Sales
Courtesy of Kino Lorber
ROUTE OF THE MOON
Courtesy of Abaca Films
7 BOXES
Courtesy of Caleidoscopio Cine
Courtesy of The Match Factory
Courtesy of Outsider Pictures
Courtesy of Outsider Pictures
Courtesy of Monkey Hill Films
