Exclusive Photos: Chicago Latino Film Festival Presents Full Lineup at Invite-Only Event

The first feature-length stop-motion film from Mexico and the first full-length mixed (2D, 3D, stop-motion) animation from Puerto Rico (I Am Frankelda and TheyDream, respectively); a kaleidoscopic exploration of one of Latin America’s most ruthless dictator, Paraguay’s Alfredo Stroessner, through recently discovered and restored archival material (Under the Flags, the Sun); a documentary filmmaker searches for her “disappeared” father, an Afro-Colombian activist, in Colombia’s Cauca region after he appears to her in a dream (I Dreamed His Name); and a voice-over artist reimagines Disney’s The Lion King (the 1994 version, mind you) in Quechua (Runa Simi).

These are just but five of the 82 stories from Latin America, Spain, Portugal and U.S. Latino communities (including Chicago) that movie lovers of all stripes will discover at the 42nd Chicago Latino Film Festival, April 16-27 at the Landmark Century Centre Cinema (the rest of the program), 2828 N. Clark St. Festival organizers formally unveiled the full program at an Invite-Only Event at CineCity Studios, 2429 W. 14th St.

Enjoy some photos from the evening’s festivities here…

Out of the 51 feature selections,nine are North American Premieres and five are U.S. Premieres; of the 31 shorts, five are World Premieres and five are North American Premieres and six are U.S. Premieres. Eighteen features are by first-time filmmakers or documentary filmmakers who are making their feature fiction debut. Around 50 filmmakers are expected to attend the Festival and participate in the post-screening Q&A sessions.

Chicago is well represented at the Festival with four shorts, two of which are getting their World Premiere: Ashley Ephraim’s Created with Purpose, a powerful documentary produced in collaboration with The Autism Hero Project that illuminates the stories and strengths of individuals with autism in Chicago; and Nathan Suggs’ Lluvia, the story of a woman who, after denied a rightfully earned promotion, takes matters into her own hands.

The other two Chicago shorts are: Cake, from the team behind last year’s Audience Choice Winning short Paper Flower, the story of a single mother determined to give her son the most beautiful cake he deserves; and Abel, about Mexican-American photographer Abel Berumen who one day woke up blind as a result of a rare disease and how he still practices his art in spite of it.

The Festival likewise announced that acclaimed Guatemalan filmmaker Jayro Bustamante (Ixcanul and La Llorona) will be in town to present two films: the previously announced North American premiere of Cordillera de Fuego, and Vickie Curtis’ and Doug Anderson’s Comparsa, about two sisters in the town of Ciudad Peronia, Guatemala who use art to reclaim a public space for women and girls after a tragic fire at a “Safe House” for girls. Bustamante is one of the executive producers of the documentary. He will be joining Comparsa co-director Anderson on the post-screening Q&A session.

As part of the Festival, the Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center, 4048 W. Armitage Ave., (now celebrating its 55th anniversary) will present a bilingual panel titled Cine Boricua: historias desde el archipiélago para la diáspora y el mundo(Boricua Cinema: Stories from the Archipelago for the Diaspora and the World)on Wednesday, April 22 at 7 p.m. Featuring Puerto Rican filmmakers Annabelle Mullen Pacheco (@love), Heixan Robles (Borealis) and Iván Dariel Ortiz (De tal palo), the panel will address the challenges faced by Puerto Rican filmmakers today as well as the current explosion of films coming out of the island. The panel will be moderated by acclaimed Puerto Rican filmmaker Glorimar Marrero Sánchez (La pecera/The Fishbowl).

Additional programming highlights include:

• An entire program dedicated to Latin American music that includes: PARA VIVIR: The Implacable Times of Pablo Milanés, Fabien Pisani’s moving, intimate documentary about his adopted father, Pablo Milanés, one of the founders of Cuba’s New Song Movement; 42nd Street, José María Cabral’s frenetic documentary about the dembow scene in Santo Domingo’s Capotillo neighborhood, a source of inspiration for artists such as Bad Bunny; and Paquito D’Rivera: from Carne y Frijol to Carnegie Hall, a documentary as lively as its subject matter, the 16-time Grammy and Latin Grammy-winning musician and composer Paquito D’Rivera
• The Ivy, the new film from Ecuadorean director Ana Cristina Barragán and winner of the Venice Film Festival’s Orizzonti Award for Best Screenplay, about a 30-year-old woman who searches for fragments of her own past in others. 
• The return to Chicago movie screens of one of Spain’s most daring, sui generis filmmakers: Julio Medem (Lovers of the Arctic Circle, Sex and Lucia). In his new film, 8, Built around eight sequence shots, Medem explores the tribal history of 20th Century Spain through two characters born on the same day, kilometers apart.

OPENING AND CLOSING SELECTIONS

The 42nd Chicago Latino Film Festival previously announced the Opening Night selection of Mariana Rondón’s and Marité Ugás’ dystopic vision of modern day Venezuela It Would Be Night in Caracas (Aún es de noche en Caracas), Thursday, April 16. Both filmmakers will not only attend the event but will be presenting their previous collaboration, Zafari, on Friday, April 17 and Saturday April 18 at 8:15 p.m.

The Festival will close on Monday, April 27 with the Chicago premiere of the Ecuadorean comedy The Dog, My Father and Us (Nosotros, mi papá y el perro) from director Pablo Arturo Suárez who will attend the screening.

Both Opening and Closing Night events will take place at the Landmark Century Centre Cinemas, 2828 N. Clark St., and will start at 5:30 p.m. with a reception at the Cinemas’ Century Bar featuring appetizers, cash bar and DJ. The event proper will start at 7 p.m. with a welcome ceremony and conclude with a post-screening Q&A with the filmmakers. Tickets for both events are $35 general / $25 for ILCC members, students and seniors. Admission includes the film screening and reception. Business casual attire is strongly recommended. 

TICKET INFORMATION

Festival passes (or passports) worth 10 admissions are $140.

Tickets to each regular screening are: $17, general admission; $15 (with valid ID), ILCC members, students and seniors. Monday and Tuesday night specials at the Landmark Century Centre Cinema: all films, $12.

For more information, visit chicagolatinofilmfestival.org

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