[FA Worldmusic] Fwd: 'David Bowie presents 10 Latin American and Spanish Films from the Last 100 Years'

[evangelinekim at att.net]

This is not the official press release, and if anyone would like to have it, please contact me off-list.
Because Carlos Gutierrez is responsible for curating this big gig for D. Bowie within the city's world cinema circuits and the Highline festival, I think it's noteworthy in reference to recent thread about world music and world cinema!.
All best,
Evangeline




April 30, 2007

The H&M High Line Festival in association with Cinema Tropical presents

DAVID BOWIE PRESENTS
10 LATIN AMERICAN AND SPANISH FILMS FROM THE LAST 100 YEARS

An exciting new film series featuring a lineup of 
Latin American and Spanish classic and avant-garde films

The series opens Friday, May 11th with a special screening of the classic

1919 Mexican film The Grey Automobile (El Autsmovil Gris) 

coupled to a performance by Teatro de Ciertos Habitantes

The film series runs May 11-17, 2007
at the Quad Cinema
34 West 13th Street
New York City



Tickets available at www.highlinefestival.com 


The H&M High Line Festival and Cinema Tropical are proud to announce the launch of the special film series 'David Bowie Presents 10 Latin American and Spanish Films from the Last 100 Years' that will take place May 1117, 2007 in New York City as part of the first annual H&M High Line Festival, produced by David Binder, Josh Wood and Live Nation. David Bowie, a co-founder of the festival, also serves as curator of the inaugural season that will be helmed each year by a different world-class artist. 

This film series was hand-picked by David Bowie and is a celebration of the great cinema tradition of Latin America and Spain and features some of the most extraordinary and remarkable films of all time. 

"It's so exciting to dive headfirst into this world, such talent and great innovation going on," says David Bowie and adds, "I could call this selection, One-Hundred Years of 'Look What I've Found.'" 

"I was thrilled to learn about David Bowie's great enthusiasm for Latin American and Spanish cinema. We're so excited to be working with him on this film series, which hopefully will help bring new audiences to Latin American films," says Carlos A. Gutiirrez, co-director of Cinema Tropical. 

For audiences who discovered the exciting world of Latin American cinema in the most recent awards season, this series offers a rare opportunity to learn where this film tradition emerged. Historically, despite an unstable environment for film production, Latin America and Spain have been one of the richest regions for filmmaking in the world. 

"Latin American cinema didn't start with Amores Perros nor City of God. For over one hundred years, these countries have produced an outstanding body of work that, unfortunately, not that many people are aware of," says Gutierrez. 

The list of films selected for this series come from several countries including Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Cuba, Venezuela and Spain, and includes some well-known and celebrated classics such as Tomas Gutiirrez Alea's fascinating Memories of Underdevelopment and Vmctor Erice's spellbinding The Spirit of the Beehive  selected in a Time Out London poll as one of the 20th century's 100 greatest films. The series also features some lesser-known gems, such as Juan Bustillo Oro's Dos Monjes, an experimental Mexican melodrama of German Expressionism inspiration from the early 1930s that tells the story of a love triangle involving two jealous monks.

Bowie's choices from Latin American and Spanish film also includes the 1931 Brazilian avant-garde masterpiece Limite  Mario Peixoto's only film that he directed when he was just 21 years old and considered in many polls as the best Brazilian film ever  as well as Alberto Gout's cherished over-the-top melodrama Aventurera which J. Hoberman at the Village Voice calls the "genre's supreme example  or its most daringly ridiculous." 

The film series starts Friday, May 11th with the Mexican theatre company Teatro de Ciertos Habitantes' production of The Grey Automobile (El Automsvil Gris). The 1919 Mexican silent film The Grey Automobile was the biggest hit of its day. Fusing fiction and reality, it tells the story of "The Grey Automobile Gang" who terrorized Mexico City during the chaos of the Revolution. The theatrical production combines this classic film with live actors and improvised piano. Inspired by the Japanese benshi tradition of using an actor onstage to create all the voices of the characters onscreen, The Grey Automobile takes the audience on an exhilarating ride criss-crossing languages, cultures and time.

The H&M High Line Festival is presented by Garnier, Grolsch and Jetblue Airways. Time Inc. serves as the festival's Official National Media Sponsor and Time Out NY is the Official New York Media Partner. The film series is sponsored by www.terra.com. Special thanks to Brian Belarovac, Janus Films; Neil Friedman and Sara Grace, Menemsha Films; Josi Manuel Garcma and Graciela Barocio, Filmoteca de la UNAM; Peter Marai, Condor Media; Jonathan Howell, New Yorker Films; Gisela Corcoran, New Line Cinema; Kitty Cleary, The Museum of Modern Art; Cristina Prado, Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografma; Irma Larios and Karina Escamilla, the Mexican Cultural Institute of New York and the Secretarma de Relaciones Exteriores  (Mexico). 

 

About The H&M High Line Festival

The H&M High Line Festival is a new multi-discipline arts festival that will be curated each year by a different artist. The inaugural edition, curated by David Bowie, will run May 9 to 19, 2007. 

The ten-day mash-up of music, film, comedy, visual art and performance will highlight some of David's favorite artists. The best of the best. The festival will take place in venues near the High Line, an elevated rail structure soon to open as a public open space which runs through the Meatpacking District, West Chelsea and Clinton/Hells Kitchen. A portion of ticket sales will go to benefit Friends of the High Line. For more information on this year's line-up and ticket sales, please visit www.highlinefestival.com.

 

About Friends of the High Line

The High Line is a 1.45-mile-long elevated rail structure running through the West Side neighborhoods of the Meatpacking District, West Chelsea and Clinton/Hell's Kitchen.  It was built in the 1930s to remove dangerous trains from Manhattan's streets.  No trains have run on it since 1980. Friends of the High Line (FHL), a community-based 501(c)(3) non-profit group, formed in 1999 when the historic structure was under threat of demolition. FHL's mission is to preserve the structure for reuse as an elevated public open space.  FHL gained the support of the City of New York in 2002. The High Line south of 30th Street was donated to the City by CSX Transportation Inc. in 2005. The team of Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro has designed the first section of the High Line's public landscape. Construction began in spring 2006 and the first section, from Gansevoort Street to 20th Street, is projected to open in Summer 2008. 

 

About H & M 

H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M) was established in Sweden in 1947. The company's business concept is to offer fashion and quality at the best price. H & M is quoted on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. Today there are more than 1,300 H & M stores in 27 countries. H & M has more than 60,000 employees and achieved sales including VAT in 2006 of SEK 80,081 million. H & M has a wide product range that is divided into a number of different concepts for women, men, teenagers, and children. The company's clothing collections are created by its own designers, pattern makers and buyers. For further information visit www.hm.com.

 

About Cinema Tropical

Cinema Tropical (www.cinematropical.com) is 501(c)(3) non-profit media arts organization dedicated to the distribution, programming and promotion of Latin American cinema in the United States. Created by Carlos A. Gutiirrez and Monika Wagenberg in 2001, Cinema Tropical has become the leading purveyor of Latin American films in the U.S. by having established screening programs in twelve venues in North America, building a distribution catalogue of over 40 titles, having programmed and presented numerous film series, and providing marketing and promotional campaigns for various film releases in the U.S. 


David Bowie Presents 10 Latin American and Spanish Films from the Last 100 Years'
Date: May 11 -17, 2007
Time: Various

Place: Quad Cinema 34 West 13th Street (between Fifth and Sixth Aves.) 

Cost: $12 / ($35 opening night performance)

To purchase tickets in advance visit: www.highlinefestival.com or call (212) 255-8800  
  
For media inquiries, please contact:

Laura Martmnez 
CINEMA TROPICAL 
(917) 576-2646
lauramartinez at verizon.net 

Alana Salzberg 
DAN KLORES COMMUNICATIONS 
(212) 981-5181
Alana_salzberg at dcknews.com 

Hi res film stills available at: http://www.cinematropical.com/press/HighLineFestival 

 

David Bowie's 10 Favorite Latin American and Spanish Films from the Last 100 Years



SCREENING SCHEDULE



Friday, May 11, 2007

Opening night performance
7:30pm           El Automovil Gris (The Grey Automobile, Enrique Rosas Priego, Mexico, 1919. Show running time: 120 min. approx.)* 
Mexican director Claudio Valdis Kuri takes a silent film classic - one filled with gangsters, police chases and sumptuous costumes - and gives it a thoroughly modern soundtrack through the talents of his actors and pianist. Following the Japanese benshi tradition of silent film narration, the actors artfully render the voices and emotions of each of the film's characters, offer witty repartee and, at times, sing and dance on stage, as well. A two-hour theatrical production that blurs the boundaries of what is Mexican or Japanese, what is film versus theater, and what it means to understand language and the filtering effects of time. 
Tickets to opening night performance: $35. Purchase tickets in advance at www.highlinefestival.com   

10:00pm         Aventurera (Alberto Gout, Mexico, 1949, b&w, 111 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)* 
Cast: Ninsn Sevilla, Tito Junco, Andrea Palma, Rubin Rojo, Miguel Inclan. 
One of the most popular exican films ever made and a cult sensation during its recent U.S. theatrical revival, Aventurera is the most famous example of the curious hybrid of film noir and musical films known as cabareteras that were wildly popular in Mexico in the 40's and 50's. Starring the immortal Ninon Sevilla, who Variety called "a cross between Rita Hayworth and Carmen Miranda," it follows the melodramatic rise and fall of a popular nightclub star with a dark past.

 

Saturday, May 12

3:00pm           Dos Monjes (Juan Bustillo Oro, Mexico, 1934, b&w, 85 min. In Spanish with NO subtitles)
Cast: Magda Haller, Vmctor Urruchua, Carlos Villatoto, Emma Roldan, Manuel Noriega. 
"Narrating a love triangle involving two monks, Fray Servando and Fray Javier, the film weaves together a story from the conflicting points of views of the two rivals. As Fray Javier gradually goes mad, those parts of the film told from his perspective take on the trappings of German Expressionism, including exaggerated make-up, skewed angles, deep shadows and a crooked, distorted sense of space. Masterfully photographed by Agustmn Jiminez, the film was a belated effort to incorporate the styles of a European vanguard into Mexican commercial film."  Jesse Lerner, Mexperimental Cinema.
Screening introduced by Carlos A. Gutierrez, co-director, Cinema Tropical

5:00pm           Robinson Crusoe (Luis Buquel, Mexico, 1954, color, 90 min. In English)*
Cast: Dan O'Herlihy, Jaime Fernandez, Felipe de Alba, Chel Lspez. 
One of his less frequently screened films, Buquel's Robinson Crusoe is a fascinating adaptation of Daniel Defoe's classic that offers a very personal reinterpretation of the Crusoe metaphor questioning man's relationship with God and morality. Dan'Oherlihy was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Actor for his performance in the title role. 

7:00pm           Memorias del Subdesarrollo (Memories of Underdevelopment, Tomas Gutiirrez Alea, Cuba, 1968, b&w, 110 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
Cast:  Sergio Corrieri, Daisy Granados, Eslinda Nzqez, Omar Valdis. 
As the first film from post-revolutionary Cuba to be released in the U.S., this had a widespread impact unequalled in the history of Latin American cinema. Set in the early 1960s, the film centers on a Europeanized Cuban intellectual, too idealistic to leave for Miami, but too decadent to fit into the new society. A critique of revolutionary society, and a remarkable demonstration that artistic subtlety, political commitment and entertainment are not incompatible. 

9:15pm           Los Amantes del Cmrculo Polar (Lovers from the Arctic Circle, Julio Medem, Spain/France, 1998, color, 152 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
Cast: Najwa Nimri, Fele Martmnez, Nacho Novo, Maru Valvidieso, Sara Valiente. 
Julio Medem, one of Spain's most famous contemporary filmmakers (perhaps best known for his film Sex and Lucia) offers us this passionate love story told by each one of the sides. The story begins in 1980, Ana and Otto's lives will become part of the same circle that will close 17 years later in Finland, right in the limits of the Artic Circle. 




Sunday, May 13 
3:00 pm          Machuca (Andris Wood, Chile/Spain/UK/France, 2004, color, 115 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
Cast: Ariel Mateluna, Matmas Quer, Manuela Martelli, Ernesto Malbran. 
Set in Chile, 1973, Machuca is an astonishingly intimate and painful coming-of-age story about a pair of 12-year-old boys from opposite extremes of society who form an unlikely friendship during the last days of President Allende and General Augusto Pinochet 's military coup. 

5:15pm           El Espmritu de la Colmena (The Spirit of the Beehive, Vmctor Erice, Spain, 1973, color, 99 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
Cast: Fernando Fernan Gsmez, Teresa Gimpera, Ana Torrent, Isabel Tellera. 
Vmctor Erice's spellbinding El espmritu de la colmena, widely regarded as the greatest Spanish film of the 1970s is set in a small Castilian village in 1940, in the wake of the country's devastating civil war. A six-year-old Ana attends a traveling movie show of Frankenstein and becomes possessed by the memory of it. Produced as Franco's long regime was nearing its end, The Spirit of the Beehive is a bewitching portrait of a child's haunted inner life and one of the most visually arresting movies ever made.        


7:30pm           El Prisionero 13 (Fernando de Fuentes, Mexico, 1933, b&w, 76 min. In Spanish with English subtitles) 

Cast: Alfredo del Diestro, Adela Sequeyro, Luis G. Barreiro.
The first film in Fernando de Fuentes' celebrated trilogy on the Mexican revolution (along with El Compadre Mendoza and Vamonos con Pancho Villa) is a poignant critique on corruption in which a Colonel is bribed to free young man from his execution by a firing squad. There are thirteen prisoners on death row, fate will decide the 13th prisoner. 


9:15pm           Limite (Mario Peixoto, Brazil, 1931, b&w, 115 min. Silent)
Cast: Taciana Rei, Olga Breno, Raul Schnoor, Brutus Pedreira, Carmen Santos, Mario Peixoto.

Considered a legendary cult movie and voted as one of the best Brazilian films of all time, Limite is an avant-garde film that explores the visual possibilities of cinema. The film was made by Mario Peixoto when he was 21 years old and was the only film he ever directed.        

 

Monday, May 14

7:00pm           Robinson Crusoe. See Saturday, May 12, 5:00pm.*

9:00pm           Oriana (Fina Torres, Venezuela/Francia, 1985, color, 88 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)* 
Cast: Doris Wells, Daniela Silverio, Rafael Briceqo, Mirtha Borges.
A taut, gothic, Latin American romance, winner of the Camera d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Marie returns to a rundown Venezuelan house in the jungle where she spent summers as a child. Her return ignites memories of a summer when her adolescent sexual curiosity led to a surprising encounter. "An exotic Jane Eyre set in a jungle-choked hacienda" (Seattle Weekly). With Doris Wells and Daniela Silverio.



Tuesday, May 15

7:00pm           El Espmritu de la Colmena. See Sunday, May 13, 5:15pm.

9:00pm           Los Amantes del Cmrculo Polar. See Saturday, May 12, 9:15pm. 

 

Wednesday, May 16

7:00pm           Oriana. See Monday, May 14, 9:00pm.*

9:00pm           Aventurera. See Friday, May 11, 10:00pm.*

 

Thursday, May 17

7:00pm           Memorias del Subdesarrollo. See Saturday, May 12, 7:00pm.



9:15pm           Machuca. See Sunday, May 13, 3:00pm.


All films screened with English subtitles, except as noted, and screened on 35mm, except as indicated with an (*).