Celebrating the best in Latino cinema from around the world, the San Diego Latino Film Festival proudly announces its 16th anniversary edition. San Diego Latino Film Festival is much more than just films. Some of the Special Presentations include: 3rd Annual Cine'Mation, 4th Annual Cine Gay, 3rd Annual Borders on Film, this year's Hecho en Espana: A Celebration of Spanish Cinema, Annual Free Student Outreach Screening, tributes, Top 10 to Watch, parties, and much more!
The Festival will be held from March 12-22, 2009 at UltraStar Mission Valley Cinemas at Hazard Center (7510 Hazard Center Dr. San Diego, CA 92108). Close to 20,000 festival goers will have the opportunity to attend over 150 screenings, meet approximately 100 actors and filmmakers and attend workshops, live music events, parties and other exciting events.
Some of the movie stars that are spotlighted in this year’s films include: Angelica Aragon, Plutarco Haza, Barbara Mori, Pedro Armendanz Jr., Jaime Camil, Ana De La Reguera, Daniel Gimenez Cacho, John Leguizamo, Dagoberto Gama, Julio Bracho, Dolores Heredia, Gabriela Vergara, Javier Camara, Lazaro Ramos, Martha Higadera, Federico Luppi, Carmen Maura, Andy Garcia, Ana Serradilla, Diego Luna, Gael Garcia Bernal, and many more.
This year, San Diego Latino Film Festival 2009 once again proudly presents different categories of films including Animation, Feature Documentaries, Shorts, and Feature Narratives. Some of this year’s feature films include:
Aproposito de Alexa (Mexico, dir. Rene Bueno).
All Inclusive (Chile/Mexico, dir Rodrigo Ortuzar Lynch).
Bajo la Sal (Mexico, dir. Mario Munoz).
Cachao: Uno Mas (USA, dir. Dikayl Rimmasch).
Conozca la Cabez de Juan Perez (Mexico, dir. Emilio Portes).
El Cuerno de la Abundancia (Cuba/ Spain, dir. Juan Carlos Tabia).
Desierto Adentro (Mexico, dir. Rodrigo Pla).
Empty Nest (Argentina, dir Daniel Burman).
Euforia (Mexico, dir. Alfonso Corona).
Fados (Protugal, dir. Carlos Saura).
From Mexico with Love (USA, dir. Jimmy Nickerson).
Fuera de Carta (Spain, dir. Nacho G. Velilla).
Oscar nominated The Garden (USA, dir. Scott Hamilton Kennedy).
GB 2525 (USA, dir. Jojo Henrickson and Kieron Estrada).
Lake Tahoe (Mexico, dir. Fernando Eimbcke).
Lluvia (Argentina, dir. Paula Hernandez).
Lokas (Mexico/Chile, dir. Gonzalo Justiniano).
Mancora (Peru, dir. Ricardo de Montreuil).
Nesio (Mexico, dir. Alan Coton).
O Pai O (Brazil, dir. Monique Gardenberg).
Paraiso Travel (Colombia, dir. Simon Bran).
Que Parezca un Accidente (Spain, dir. Gerardo Herrero).
Rabioso Sol, Rabioso Cielo (Mexico, dir. Julian Hernandez).
El Raton Perez 2 (Spain, dir. Andres G. Schaer).
The Missing Lynx (Spain, dir. Raul Garcia and Manuel Sicilia).
La Ronda (Argentina, dir. Ines Braun).
Rudo y Cursi (Mexico, dir. Carlos Cuaron).
Santos (Chile, dir. Nicolas Lopez).
Silent Night (Mexico, dir. Carlos Reygadas).
SleepDealer (U.S.A., dir. Alex Rivera).
Te Amo Ana Elisa (Colombia, dir. Antonio Dorado and Robinson Diaz).
El Ultimo Truco (Mexico, dir. Sigfrid Monleon).
La Ventana (Argentina/Spain, dir. Carlos Sorin),
Sultanes De Sur (Mexico, dir. Alejandro Lozano).
Amor, Dolor, y Viceversa (Spain/Mexico, dir. Alfonso Pineda Ulloa).
Voy a Explotar (Mexico, dir. Gerardo Naranjo) and
Walt & el Grupo (USA, Brazil, Chile and Argentina, dir. Theodore Thomas).
Countries being represented in this 16th annual event include: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, Peru Spain, USA and Venezuela.
Sponsors for San Diego Latino Film Festival ‘09 include San Diego Union-Tribune, Macy’s, Bank of America, Enlace, Amtrak, Northwestern Financial, City Of San Diego Commission for Arts & Culture, SanDiego.com, MTS, National Endowment for the Arts, County of San Diego, Nickelodeon, Univision KBNT 17, Telemundo 33, MyTV 13, La Invasora 99.7, Pulsar 107.3 FM, La Poderosa 860 AM, Jack FM 100.7, Azteca America San Diego, El Latino Newspaper, El Mexicano, AT&T, Latino Public Broadcasting, San Diego State University, California State University San Marcos, Brazil Today, Gente Bien Magazine, Radio Latina 104.5 FM, La Mejor 99.3 FM, Brazilian Pacific Times, Z90.3 FM, Magic 92.5 FM, EXA 91.7 FM, Universidad de las Californias, TijuaNEO, The Keating Hotel, and Yolanda Walther-Meade.
Tickets are $9.50, for general audience, and $7.50 for Students, Seniors, Military & MEDIA ARTS CENTER SAN DIEGO Members (ID Required). 2009 Film or Festival Passes are also available. Film Pass is $90, which includes entrance to 11 films, no waiting in lines and VIP seating and the Festival Pass, which is $180 and includes OVER 100 programs, no waiting in lines, VIP seating, 4 workshops, 1 year FREE MEDIA ARTS CENTER SAN DIEGO Amigo membership, and entrance into all three Festival Galas.
For additional information about the film festival, group rates, festival schedule, festival passes or the MEDIA ARTS CENTER SAN DIEGO please call (619) 230-1938 or visit the SDLFF website at www.sdlatinofilm.com.
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MEDIA ARTS CENTER SAN DIEGO - HISTORY
In 1994, Cine Estudiantil: The Chicano & Native American Student Film Festival was created by founder Ethan van Thillo. With screenings in cities across the US-Mexico border, the event allowed university and high school students from the Greater San Diego /Tijuana Region to participate in film screenings, discussions and community action projects, using the Latino film genre as the impetus.
In 1999, the annual program became known by its current name, San Diego Latino Film Festival and the 501(c)(3) non-profit MEDIA ARTS CENTER SAN DIEGO was established. The organization adopted its mission to promote access to film and video as tools for community self-expression and social change and support the professional development of media artists.
New programs began to flourish at the fledgling non-profit with a vision to endorse the inclusion of underrepresented communities in the media arts field and the portrayal of accurate images of these communities by mainstream media and promotes community access to and use of media technology. Programs such as Teen Producers Project, Cinema en tu Idioma and Mediamaker Workshops continue to thrive nearly a decade later.
Currently, the organization is strengthening its relationship with local filmmakers by forming the mentoring group Frontera Filmmakers. Also, the success of the program Digital Story Station, which continued to reinvented the grassroots digital revolution of storytelling by working with local community members to build a collection on 3-5 minute ‘true stories,’ has grown beyond San Diego and now includes 21 active sites based in libraries across the State of California.
The organization is an active member of National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture and enjoys the support of the following organizations:
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Science
National Endowment for the Arts
US Institute of Museum & Library Sciences: Library Services and Technology Act
California State Librarian
California Council for Humanities
Bravo Foundation
Stuart Foundation
Las Patronas
County of San Diego
City of San Diego Commission for Arts & Culture
State Farm Insurance
and the generous donations of our Members and individuals in the Greater San Diego Region