Tucson Cine Mexico Film Festival
El Lenguaje de los Machetes/Machete Language, screens Saturday, March 23, 7pm at Harkins Theatres
Delivering An Ultimate Film Combination Platter For 2013
The 8th Annual Tucson Cine Mexico Film Festival, which brings the best films in contemporary Mexican Cinema to town, will have its most eclectic line up ever when it debuts March 20-24. The festival, presented in partnership by the Hanson Film Institute at the University of Arizona, the Ambulante Documentary Film Festival and the Cinema Tropical Film Festival, presents a diverse group of films that may otherwise go unseen in the United States for lack of a distributor. This year the range of films includes a romantic comedy, a horror/comedy, documentaries, shorts and important narrative features from established and up-and-coming filmmakers.
This year the festival is presenting its first award, the Tucson Cine Mexico Jaguar Award to the film that most impacted the festival’s producers long after the film unspooled. The inaugural award is being presented to “El Lenguaje de los Machetes/Machete Language” by Kyzza Terrazas. The film is a modern-day Mexican “Sid and Nancy” with a odd couple who found each other while figuring out the meaning of love, and what one is willing to do for it. Tucson Cine Mexico director Vicky Westover said the film left her and others “thinking long afterward about the nature of love and relationships. It was a powerful film from a new voice in Mexican filmmaking.” Another film of note, “Después de Lucía/After Lucia” was Mexico’s official entry into this year’s Academy Awards. It tells the story of a distraught family struggling to fit into a new town following a tragedy and relentless bullying of their teenage daughter.
Westover said that the festival is truly a “curated” affair with selections being made both for their artistic quality, as well as the notion that there is a desire to screen films that may not be otherwise seen in the U.S. In addition to these screenings, the festival has arranged for post-screening Q & A sessions with directors and actors of most films. Even if you could see the films at home, the festival is a great way to interact with the filmmakers and stars of the films. Westover is also excited about the screening of “Colosio: El Asesinato/Colosio: The Assasination,” a fictional thriller which tells the story of the killing of the heir apparent to former Mexican President Carlos Salinas. The story details potential conspiracy-loaded theories as to who was behind the act and the investigation into it. The film has built a strong buzz in Mexico and was a box office success there when it was released. Colosio was from Sonora, Mexico, lending a local connection to the movie for many Tucsonans who followed the headlines from this side of the border.
Two short films will also be shown this year with connections to the Hanson Film Institute, as well as a panel discussion about the representation of indigenous people in Mexican films that will lead off the festival at the Center for Creative Photography on March 20 at 6pm. All films are free and open to the public, and will take place at either the Harkins Spectrum 18 Theatres on I-19 or at the downtown Fox Tucson Theatre. All films are also subtitled, so there is no need to worry about losing anything in translation. For more information on the festival, its films and special events, visit TucsonCineMexico.org.
Category: Film
