Cinema Tropical in partnership with 92YTribeca is proud to launch a new annual festival celebrating the year’s best Latin American film productions. The Cinema Tropical Festival features the winners of the Cinema Tropical AWARDS, which were announced at a ceremony at The New York Times’ headquarters on December 1. Winners were selected in five different categories: Best Feature Film; Best Director, Feature Film; Best Documentary; Best Director, Documentary Film and Best Director, First Film. These winning films represent the vitality and the artistic excellence of contemporary Latin American cinema. Screenings in the Cinema Tropical Festival include Octubre, Leap Year (Año Bisiesto), Nostalgia For The Light, and The Tiniest Place (El Lugar Más Pequeño).
Sat, Jan 21 & Sun, Jan 22
Film | THE CINEMA TROPICAL FESTIVAL FEATURING WINNERS OF THE CINEMA TROPICAL AWARDS
Sat, Jan 21, 6:30pm, tickets from $12
OCTUBRE – WINNER: BEST FEATURE FILM
Clemente, a moneylender of few words, is a new hope for Sofía, his single neighbor devoted to the October worship of Our Lord of the Miracles. They’re brought together over a new-born baby, the fruit of Clemente’s relationship with a prostitute who’s nowhere to be found. While Clemente is looking for the child’s mother, Sofía cares for the baby and looks after the moneylender’s house. With the arrival of these beings in his life, Clemente has the opportunity to reconsider his emotional relations with people. Octubre, the first feature film from Peruvian brothers Daniel and Diego Vega, is a deadpan dark comedy incorporating influences ranging from Jim Jarmush and Aki Kaurismaki to Robert Bresson, and winner of the Jury Prize at Cannes Film Festival-Un Certain Regard.
Director: Daniela and Diego Vega. 83 min. 2010. 35mm.
Peru. In Spanish with English subtitles.
Sat, Jan 21, 8:30pm, tickets from $12
LEAP YEAR (AÑO BISIESTO) – WINNER: BEST DIRECTOR, FEATURE FILM
Michael Rowe’s debut feature film, winner of the Camera d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, tells the story of Laura, a young journalist living an isolated life in a cramped Mexico City flat who is not lucky in love. The banality of her daily life stands in stark contrast to her nightly pursuit of sex and love. These short-lived affairs barely take the edge off her isolation, but then she meets the brooding, would-be actor Arturo. Their chemistry ignites feelings in Laura that leave her deeply troubled. The two embark on an increasingly dangerous sadomasochistic relationship in which pleasure, pain and love merge. Their physical relationship seems headed for a very dark place as her secret past resurfaces, pushing Arturo to the limit in this intense, powerful and at times deeply unsettling movie.
Director: Michael Rowe. 94 min. 2010. 35mm.
Mexico. In Spanish with English subtitles.
Sun, Jan 22, 1pm, tickets from $12
NOSTALGIA FOR THE LIGHT – WINNER: BEST DOCUMENTARY
Patricio Guzmán’s latest film is a meditation on memory, history and eternity. Chile’s remote Atacama Desert, 10,000 feet above sea level, provides stunningly clear views of the heavens. But it also holds secrets from the past—preserved corpses, from pre-Columbian mummies to recent explorers, miners and disappeared political prisoners. In this otherworldly place, earthly and celestial quests meld: archaeologists dig for ancient civilizations, women search for their dead and astronomers scan the skies for new galaxies.
Director: Patricio Guzmán. 90 min. 2010. 35mm.
France/Germany/Chile. In Spanish with English subtitles.
Sun, Jan 22, 3pm, tickets from $12
THE TINIEST PLACE (EL LUGAR MÁS PEQUEÑO) – WINNER: BEST FIRST FILM AND BEST DIRECTOR, DOCUMENTARY FILM
Hailed as “one of the most impressive debuts by a Mexican filmmaker” by Robert Koehler (Variety), Huezo’s remarkable film tells the story of Cinquera, a tiny place nestled in the mountains amidst the humid jungle that was ravaged by the bloody civil war that swept El Salvador between 1980 and 1992. The powerful and hypnotic documentary depicts a community that has learned to live with its sorrow, an annihilated town that re-emerges through the strength and deep love of its inhabitants for the land and people. With a lyrical eye, Huezo interweaves the simplicity of the town’s present life with tragic testimonies of the past. The Tiniest Place is ultimately a story of resilience, hope and the ability of the human being to reinvent himself after surviving a tragedy.
Director: Tatiana Huezo. 104 min. 2010. 35mm.
Mexico. In Spanish with English subtitles.
Fri, Jan 27, 9pm, tickets from $12 adv, $15 day of show
Music | GUATEKE CUBANO FEATURING DAVID OQUENDO Y HABANA TRES / DELEXILIO / ALEX FERNANDEZ HOSTED BY ROBERTO POVEDA
92YTribeca presents Guatake Cubano, a night of music in celebration of the birthday of Cuba’s national hero Jose Marti. Hosted by guitarist and trovador Roberto Poveda, Guateke Cubano will feature an eclectic line up of Cuban and Cuban-American artists that are mixing traditional sounds and rhythms with a mix of jazz, blues, rock and funk. Performers include:
David Oquendo y Habana Tres
Born in Havana, Cuba, David Oquendo is a self taught musician who absorbed the essence of the Afro Cuban rhythmical vernacular from his native city. At an early age, Oquendo began playing guitar and singing in several Cuban bands, and became considered one of the best guitar accompanists in Cuba. As an accompanist, he has worked with numerous artists including Paquito D’Rivera, Marc Anthony, Johnny Ventura and Ray Barreto. With Habana Tres, so titled as a tribute to the postal code of his old neighborhood in Havana, Oquendo brings the dynamic and infectiously danceable Cuban music of the 1950s up-to-date with a focus on vocals, guitar and percussion.
Delexilio
“Delexilio imbues Cuban rhythms and Latin percussion with a bluesy, bilingual mix of rock and funk.” –Billboard Magazine
Founded in NYC, Delexilio brings the funk “a lo Cubano,” channeling the rhythm of the Cuban son through guitar riffs, mixing rock, hip hop, and funk beats with Cuban cadence, and immersing us in passionate lyrics in English and Spanish.
Alex Fernandez-Fox
Alex Fernandez-Fox is an independent Cuban-American artist, musician, composer, singer and songwriter. His music resists easy categorization, drawing freely from traditional Cuban music, American folk and jazz, and other influences that find a place in his English and Spanish language compositions. Alex plays guitars, acoustic and electric bass and piano and performs primarily on the tres.
Sun, Feb 12, 2-4:30 pm, tickets from $65
Daytime | EAT, DRINK & THINK LIKE …DIEGO RIVERA
In 1932, Mexican muralist Diego Rivera was the subject of MoMA’s second single-artist exhibition, which set new attendance records during its five-week run. Current MoMA curator Leah Dickerman tells the astounding story of the artist’s focus on New York subjects through monumental images of the urban working class and the social stratification of the city during the Great Depression, a period during which he also produced the famous Rockefeller Center mural. Hear how Rivera moved between Russia, Mexico and the United States, embodying the intersection of art and radical politics in the 1930s. Take a fresh look at the food of Mexico with a culinary historian and enjoy a taste of traditional Mexican cuisine—in food and drink—as Diego Rivera would have. Dickerman is curator of painting and sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art and organized the exhibition “Diego Rivera: Murals for the Museum of Modern Art,” on view through May 14.
About 92YTribeca:
92YTribeca is 92nd Street Y’s downtown arts and culture venue in New York City. Opened in October 2008, 92YTribeca presents music, comedy, film, theater, talks, classes, family events, and Jewish community and holiday programs in a versatile, street-level, modern space at 200 Hudson Street. In addition to the mainstage and screening room, the venue houses an art gallery, lounge, bar, café, seminar and meeting rooms, and free Wi-Fi around the space. With programs developed by a professional curatorial team in partnership with staff, local artists and arts organizations, new-media companies, fellow presenters, and community and cause-based organizations, 92YTribeca aims to engage a diverse community of young people from around the New York area with smart, relevant programming that encourages participation and conversation. For more information, visit www.92YTribeca.org.
92nd Street Y is a world-class nonprofit community and cultural center that connects people to the worlds of education, the arts, health and wellness, and Jewish life.