CENTRAL PHOENIX (By Mel Mel้ndez, Arizona
Republic) March 29, 2005 - Those looking for a taste of South America or the
Caribbean or aiming to brush up on their espa๑ol needn't go far
because today is the kickoff of Phoenix College's Latin-American Film
Festival Week.
Four films will be showcased through Friday at the school's Bullpitt Auditorium. Ecuador's How Can I Forget You, directed by Bernardo Ca๑izares, launches the 7 p.m. series. Puerto Rico's The Kiss You Gave Me, by Sonia Fritz; Colombia's The First Night, by Luis Alberto Restrepo; and Mexico's In the Country Where Nothing Happens, by Marํa del Carmen De Lara, round out the offerings. All are dramas, except for De Lara's film, a black comedy.
Now in its sixth year, the festival initially aimed to bolster Spanish students' fluency skills. Hence, all films are in Spanish with English subtitles.
But the festival has gained a stronghold within the city's Latino community and with foreign-film buffs, said organizer Trino Sandoval, interim associate dean of custom training and education.
"You get one Amores Perros or one Motorcycle Diaries a year," he said. "So we decided to showcase commercial Latin films this year because people are starving for them."
Latinos make up 34 percent of the city's 1.3 million residents, according to the 2000 census. About 30 percent of Phoenix College's 13,000 students are Latino, mostly of Mexican ancestry. An additional 1,000 students, mostly of other ethnicities, take Spanish classes at the college.
"We live in a diverse society, but I don't think people always realize how diverse Latinos are," said Guadalupe Candanedo, a computer graphic design student. "But we're not all the same, and these films celebrate that. I can't wait to see them."
About 250 to 500 people typically attend each showing. But organizers hope the numbers will surge this year because each film's director will introduce his or her movie and hold a question-and-answer segment at the end.
How Can I Forget You is the story of a woman attempting to show the truth about her father, a leading politician. The Kiss You Gave Me is a tale of a child kidnapped by his father and taken to the United States. The First Night recounts the story of two peasants forced to move to the big city by guerrilla conflict. In the Country Where Nothing Happens features a slimy businessman kidnapped for ransom only to discover no one wants to pay for his release.
Four films will be showcased through Friday at the school's Bullpitt Auditorium. Ecuador's How Can I Forget You, directed by Bernardo Ca๑izares, launches the 7 p.m. series. Puerto Rico's The Kiss You Gave Me, by Sonia Fritz; Colombia's The First Night, by Luis Alberto Restrepo; and Mexico's In the Country Where Nothing Happens, by Marํa del Carmen De Lara, round out the offerings. All are dramas, except for De Lara's film, a black comedy.
Now in its sixth year, the festival initially aimed to bolster Spanish students' fluency skills. Hence, all films are in Spanish with English subtitles.
But the festival has gained a stronghold within the city's Latino community and with foreign-film buffs, said organizer Trino Sandoval, interim associate dean of custom training and education.
"You get one Amores Perros or one Motorcycle Diaries a year," he said. "So we decided to showcase commercial Latin films this year because people are starving for them."
Latinos make up 34 percent of the city's 1.3 million residents, according to the 2000 census. About 30 percent of Phoenix College's 13,000 students are Latino, mostly of Mexican ancestry. An additional 1,000 students, mostly of other ethnicities, take Spanish classes at the college.
"We live in a diverse society, but I don't think people always realize how diverse Latinos are," said Guadalupe Candanedo, a computer graphic design student. "But we're not all the same, and these films celebrate that. I can't wait to see them."
About 250 to 500 people typically attend each showing. But organizers hope the numbers will surge this year because each film's director will introduce his or her movie and hold a question-and-answer segment at the end.
How Can I Forget You is the story of a woman attempting to show the truth about her father, a leading politician. The Kiss You Gave Me is a tale of a child kidnapped by his father and taken to the United States. The First Night recounts the story of two peasants forced to move to the big city by guerrilla conflict. In the Country Where Nothing Happens features a slimy businessman kidnapped for ransom only to discover no one wants to pay for his release.
