February 2011

Thank you for your continued interest in Las Américas Film Network! After all of the support you've given us in the past, we thought you might be interested in hearing about some of our latest projects. First of all, we are thrilled to announce the launch of our new website! Now, by visiting http://www.lasamericasfilms.org/, you can explore, connect, and promote your interest in Latin American film more dynamically than ever before. The new site allows you to browse our catalog, keep up with industry events and news, find academic curricula connected to our films, and more. One new feature we are especially excited about is our Resource Page, made possible in part by the support of Tulane University’s Roger Thayer Stone Center for Latin American Studies. This project, though still in its infancy, is a research database of film festivals, production companies, and other organizations geared towards the Latin American film market. We have developed this database to serve as a research tool for filmmakers, programmers, and cultural organizations. Our goal is to have this portion of our site evolve with the industry itself, so we welcome the submissions of other organizations we may not have encountered yet. If you would like to have your organization included in the Resource Section, please contact us! In other news, our hit film Favela Rising was featured as part of LinkTV’s DOC-DEBUT film series! Check out LinkTV’s Favela Rising programming page for the full Favela Rising air schedule and to learn more about the DOC-DEBUT series!

NEW RELEASES

	BANANAS!*: On behalf of twelve Nicaraguan banana workers, attorney Juan “Accidentes” Dominguez is tackling Dole Food in a ground-breaking legal battle for their use of a banned pesticide that was known by the company to cause sterility. Can he beat the giant, or will the corporation get away with it? Celebrated internationally at environmental film festivals in Greece, Brazil, and Canada, this “haunting legal thriller and gripping court room drama” dares to tell the story Dole Food does not want you to hear.
	Rehje: After forty years living in Mexico City, Antonia, a 50 year-old dressmaker, longs to go back to her home town, a Mazahua village in the state of Mexico. Like most immigrants, Antonia is unable to meet her basic needs in the city, yet her village, threatened by water scarcity and low employment rates, offers an equally precarious life. Featured in film festivals throughout the Americas, Rehje was awarded Best Documentary Feature at the 2009 Human Rights International Film Festival and was nominated for a Mexican Academy Award in 2010.
	Quién soy yo? (Who Am I?)/Missing Children: Together on one DVD, LAFN presents the 1985 documentary by Estela Bravo, MISSING CHILDREN and her 2010 follow-up feature, WHO AM I? In WHO AM I?, the children of Argentina's disappeared are now young adults struggling with the discovery that the people who raised them were not actually their parents, but supporters of the military junta that killed their biological families. MISSING CHILDREN tells the story just as the search for their true identities begins. WHO AM I? brings us up-to-date with some of the children who have been found.

UPCOMING RELEASES

Tamboro:

If there is one film that should be used as an introduction for anyone wanting to visit Brazil it is this. Situated somewhere between an elaborate tourism advert and Godfrey Reggio’s Koyaanisqatsi this is a lush slow-burning voyage across Brazil’s earth and culture. Making full use of steady-cam when running along with kids on the beach or hovering over favelas and the jungle it paints a beautiful portrait of both the vastness of the country and the richness of its culture. Read the rest of the review from Sounds and Culture magazine

Arquitetos do Poder:

Power of Architects is a documentary that shows the vicious circle between the media and political marketing that dictates the agenda for the elections. The film explores the strategies behind the jingles, slogans, colors, most frequently used icons, chosen ways of speaking and dressing of the candidates. Shot over a seven year period, and including elections from 1994 through 2010, Architects engaging interviews with top politicos, journalist and more to delve deeply into what makes a successful campaign in Brazil.  

YouTube Trailer