Editor

Cine Las Americas Media Arts Center presents the 8th Cine Las Americas International Film Festival, bringing the best of Latin American and Indigenous cinema to Austin from April 20 - 24.

The festival features a rich selection of dramatic and documentary films made by and/or about Latin and Indigenous groups from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chile, El Salvador, the United States, México, Nicaragua and Peru. In its competitive section, Cine Las Americas will grant jury awards for Best Film in the categories of First Narrative Feature, Documentary Feature, Dramatic Short, Documentary Short, Made in Texas, and Youth Film. An audience award for Narrative and Documentary features will also be granted.

The program also includes a selection of award-winning films produced, directed and performed by the most prominent cinematographic talent in Latin America; special screenings that include a retrospective of Mexican filmmaker Nicolás Echevarria (CABEZA DE VACA; MARIA SABINA, MUJER ESPIRITU); a selection of new award-winning short films from Spain; and an informative section that presents documentaries out of competition.

Other program highlights are “Hecho en Tejas,” a selection of films made by Latinos living and working in Texas; and Youth Day, an entire day of screenings for and by young people, including Emergencia, the youth film competition produced by students at Johnston High School, presenting films from across the U.S. made by filmmakers 19 years old or younger; and followed by a series of Hip-Hop and Capoeira films from Brazil, Cuba and Texas.

The film festival’s opening night festivities take place on Wednesday, April 20, at the Bob Bullock Texas History Museum (1800 N. Congress Ave.). A reception will be held at the museum from 6:30 to 8:00pm, followed by a film screening (TBA) and an after-party at Doña Emilia’s Restaurant (101 San Jacinto Blvd.). The festival continues screening films through Sunday, April 24, at Regal’s Metropolitan 14 (901 Little Texas Lane, on the SW corner of S-I35 and Stassney), the Millennium Youth Entertainment Complex (1156 Hargrave St.), and the Hideout Theater (617 Congress Ave. in Downtown Austin).

Prior to the festival on Monday, April 18, and Tuesday, April 19, Cine Las Americas will co-sponsor a series of panels in association with the Austin chapter of National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP) and the Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies and the Radio Television and Film Department at the University of Texas. Panel topics include “Financing projects through Latino Public Broadcasting”, “Social Documentary”, “Community Filmmaking” and “International Co-production.” The panels will be held at the Communications Building of the University of Texas in Austin, followed by free nightly screenings at the CMA auditorium.

The Cine Las Americas International Film Festival is working to reach out to the developing Latin film market in Austin, TX, a city recognized for its outstanding vitality in film and the arts, and recently rated the number one place for Hispanics to live in the U.S. With Austin located between the East and West coasts, the traditional epicenters of the mainstream U.S. Latino entertainment markets, Cine Las Americas aims to help make Austin a film festival destination, where Latin American filmmakers can find a critical audience and a network to benefit their careers, all while enjoying the many charms of Austin and a first class film event.

With recent support granted to the festival by the National Endowment of the Arts and the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, in addition to the ongoing support from the State of Texas and the City of Austin, Cine Las Americas has expanded its festival program and is preparing a traveling film series to tour the state of Texas in the fall of 2005. A new partnership with American Airlines, now the official airline of the festival, enables Cine Las Americas to invite filmmakers, distributors and journalists to Austin to share their experiences with local artists and audiences. Other noteworthy new sponsors of Cine Las Americas include Rumbo Newspapers, Univisión, Border Media Partners, and the Bob Bullock Texas History Museum.