L.A. Latino International Film Festival 2001
By David Geffner
DGA/SAG/WGA Luncheon for LALIFF Filmmakers
(photo by Robert Hale) - click image for larger view
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If you judge the health of Latin cinema by the crush of international media that lined the Egyptian Theater's red carpet for the opening night of Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF), the prognosis appears robust.
LALIFF co-founder, actor/director Edward James Olmos, kicked off the Festival in Spanish to great applause. He explained that it was "a privilege and an honor to be presenting this city with such a powerful array of films from Latin directors from around the globe."
In any language, distribution was the main topic of discussion at a DGA/SAG/WGA-sponsored lunch for filmmakers at Cafe des Artistes, halfway through the Festival's run. El Salvador filmmaker (and Chair of University of Nevada Las Vegas' film department), Francisco Menendez, talked about bringing his 45-minute narrative, Medio Tiempo (Part Time), to the Festival as a prelude to Sundance. "The largest concentration of Salvadoreans, outside of the capital city of San Salvador, is in Los Angeles," Menendez exclaimed. "This Festival not only generates prestige for our film to springboard to bigger festivals, where we have a better chance of finding distribution, but it provides exposure to the community we want to target once the movie is released."
Despite his limited abilities in English, Puerto Rican filmmaker Andrei Nemcik talked about his father's recent imprisonment by the U.S. government for civil disobedience actions related to his LALIFF entry Viequesè Un Largometraje. A 92-minute documentary, shot on Mini-DV, Viequesè exposes years of destructive military testing on a U.S.-leased island off the coast of Puerto Rico. Filmmaker William Nemcik was detained in Puerto Rico under U.S. federal statues. "Many people know a little bit about Viequesè," Andrei Nemcik related, "but when they saw the extent of the atrocities going on there in our documentary, they were really shocked. Puerto Rico is a difficult place to make films. I had to buy the Mini-DV camera and the editing system. I have to work as a freelance lighting technician and rigger to survive, because so few feature films are made in Puerto Rico. We have actors like Benicio del Toro, who are working with the Department of Education to create a culture of cinema within the schools. We need to teach our people how to see the movies so we can start producing much more."
Since the luncheon was co-sponsored by all three guilds, WGA, SAG and DGA, reps all gave short presentations. SAG National Board member Amy Aquino talked about being offered Latino roles (Aquino is not of Latin heritage) and "turning them down so more of the Guild's many Latin brothers and sisters have an opportunity to work." The WGA's Michael Mahern rose to speak about "a new recognition of Latin-American cinema" because of the recent Mexican film, Amores Perros.
Michael Apted, representing the DGA, concluded the lineup of speakers. The English-born Apted recalled taking comfort in John F. Kennedy's words when he, Apted, came to America as an outsider with an accent, as well. "Kennedy said that the secret of America was a nation of people with the memory of old traditions, daring to explore new frontiers. That's what we do as filmmakers, bringing out the roots and memories of our cultures into this confusing and troubling new world."
Edward James Olmos (right) at LALIFF opening night.
(Photo: David Geffner)
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Apted described the LALIFF's strong international presence as "making us all stronger and wiser for sharing work outside the American mainstream." One question that lingered was: what of those American-born Latin voices working outside the Hollywood system? San Jose-born director Alex Munoz, who joined the DGA in 1997 after directing a NordicTrak commercial, enjoyed a strong reception for his East L.A.-based drama, Living the Life. Munoz's film, which screened in the Egyptian Theater on closing day, tells the story of two young Latin women struggling to retain their identities in the underground dance and gang culture. The director took advantage of the Guild's new low-budget contracts to shoot Living the Life. Munoz represents a new breed of Latin indies whose visions explore the very fabric of American society, because of, or perhaps despite, their heritages.
"Festivals like this are essential to the livelihood of Latino filmmakers and Latino cinema, because the Hollywood studios and the executives who work there, have a limited scope of the perception of the Latin market," Munoz explained at luncheon's end. "By having festivals like LALIFF, and the New York Latino Film Festival, filmmakers can showcase their work. Not just us American Latino independents, but the work of Latino filmmakers worldwide. These festivals are imperative to our survival. Without them we could just disappear off the cinematic landscape."
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