Cine Las Americas Film Festival Opening and Closing Night Films, “Septiembres” and “Cochochi”
Opening and Closing Night Films for Cine Las Americas Film Festival
Opening Night
Wednesday, April 16, 8:00 pm
Septiembres
Carles Bosch
Spain, Documentary, 2007
120 min, 35mm, Color
Spanish with English subtitles
For the incarcerated participants of the 2005 Festival of Song, singing love songs is not merely entertainment. It is also a poignant reminder of the people they left behind. What begins as a visit to a friend in a Madrid-area penitentiary soon becomes the inspiration for this documentary, when director Bosch stumbles across a karaoke competition. The competitors are from as far afield as Argentina, Mexico, Bolivia and Lithuania, and each has chosen a love song, singing for family, friends and lovers as though his heart is far outside the prison walls. The winner moves on to a larger, system-wide contest, where many others are waiting to compete, including Gordoquia, a former rock star.
Following these remarkable stories over the course of a year, Septiembres journeys both within and outside the prison, traveling from Buenos Aires to Lithuania, and Bolivia to Barcelona in order to track down the people for whom the prisoners sing. “What is love? Can a documentary be made about love?” asks Bosch. This beguiling film proves that the answer is an unequivocal yes.
Paramount Theater
Individual tickets: $10
Closing Night
Thursday, April 24, 7:00 pm
Cochochi
Laura Amelia Guzmán, Israel Cárdenas
Mexico, Drama, 2007
87 min, 35mm, Color
Rarámuri (Tarahumara) with English subtitles
From Exec. Producers Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal.
Evaristo and Tony, indigenous brothers from northwest Mexico, have just graduated from elementary school. They are contemplating their next move, when their grandfather offers them an assignment: to deliver medicine to a remote community. They accept, steal his horse for transport, and set off on their journey. However, the brothers soon lose their way and their horse, and wander desperately into the forest to look for it. Tony and Evaristo embark on separate adventures, as desperation begins to set in; whatever happens, they cannot return without their grandfather’s horse.
Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar
Individual tickets: $10
WATCH THE TRAILER FOR “COCHOCHI” BELOW:
CLICK HERE for a complete list of festival films.
