Expresión en Corto
April 25, 2008 San Miguel de Allende
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The Expresión en Corto International Film Festival—Mexico’s largest and the most prestigious in Latin America—arrives in San Miguel and Guanajuato, July 18–27. |
For the past 11 years, it has offered a platform for upcoming talent, uniting them with renowned experts in the global film industry. This year the festival expects 80,000 attendees to view 1,300 films from 70 participating countries.
How can you help?
Expresión en Corto needs support in four areas:
Networking
Expresión en Corto nurtures relationships among directors, producers, actors, actresses, cinematographers, screenwriters, composers and production houses in the film industry, as well as foundations, trusts or corporations. If you know anyone in these fields or institutions, introduce them to festival staff so that they may create an environment for free exchanges between guests, allowing them to benefit from both the festival and the opportunity to meet with other participants.
Adopt a filmmaker
Hosting a filmmaker in your house means being able to share a bit of the San Miguel experience. As a host and delegate of Expresión en Corto, you can offer these talented artists a room to which they have access whenever necessary, without the need of tending to them constantly. Make them feel at home and be their guide, orienting your guests, helping them answer questions that may arise during their stay in our beautiful city.
Your generosity not only helps the festival economically, but also helps preserve the homegrown spirit of the festival, encouraging these artists to return to San Miguel.
Adopt an event
Help support events of particular interest by personally sponsoring the materials for children’s workshops, stilt walkers, the program catalog, Silver Crosses, art exhibits, cocktail parties, a screenwriting prize, simultaneous translation equipment and flights for visiting international guests. Your donation will be noted in the program catalog.
Membership packages
Become a Member Supporter by purchasing one of three Membership Packages. Your support allows the next generation of filmmakers to grow within the industry and provides the public and children of the community with an opportunity to learn more about the art of film.
For more information on how to become a networker, host, sponsor or member supporter, contact Georgina Ortega at 152-7264 or 152-8899. Email:
adopt@expresionencorto.com.
Cinemateca, April 28 through May 4, 2008
José Luis Pick’n’tip
The Picks
The Night of the Shooting Stars
This movie is an historical look at Italians who stood up against fascism. It is a beautifully acted film with heart-wrenching scenes which leave you on the edge of your seat. It is a dramatic yet poetic depiction of the horrors of the war seen through the eyes of a young girl. She remembers and narrates those terrible events many years later as an adult to her own child. Poetry permeates the whole movie (like most of the Taviani’s other films). The long, endless slaughter scene in the wheat fields is one of the true masterpieces of international cinema. Nicola Piovani’s soundtrack is poignant and goes straight to the heart.
The Tip: Important: In order to provide the best viewing experience, show times for some movies may be adjusted to accommodate their length. Be sure to check the schedule carefully. I also want to remind you of our new ticket price: 50 pesos and discount cards buy 12 shows for 450 pesos. Starting Monday, after 11am, buy your tickets in advance for any movie or show of the week. If you have a discount card, collect your pass to secure a seat; don’t take the risk of being locked out. Would you like to receive this info by email? Write to Jose Luis at
alephamour@hotmail.com. Thank you.
The Movies
The Shadow Circus: The CIA in Tibet
Monday, April 28 at 7pm
Documentary, English, 50 minutes.
Directors: Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam
Narrated by: Andrew Sachs.
The Tibetan people are well known for being devoutly religious and peace loving. What is less known is that thousands of Tibetans took up arms against the invading forces of Communist China and waged a bitter and bloody guerrilla war. From the mid-fifties until 1969 they were aided in their efforts by an unlikely ally, the CIA. This project, code-named ST CIRCUS, was one of the CIA’s longest-running covert operations. The withdrawal of the CIA’s support in 1969 was as abrupt as its initial involvement was unexpected: the Tibetans had simply fitted into America’s larger policy of destabilizing or overthrowing Communist regimes, and when that no longer applied, they were abandoned. With unique archive footage and exclusive interviews with former resistance fighters and surviving CIA operatives, The Shadow Circus: The CIA in Tibet reveals for the first time this hitherto unknown chapter in Tibet’s recent history—a tale that is both heroic and tragic, full of sad ironies and unexpected twists that overturn all pr
econceptions about both Tibet and the CIA.
The Night of the Shooting Stars (La Notte di San Lorenzo) (1982)
Tuesday, April 29 at 7pm
Friday, May 2 at 5pm
Italian drama, Italian with English subtitles, 107 minutes.
Directors: Paolo Taviani, Vittorio Taviani.
Cast: Omero Antonutti, Margarita Lozano, Claudio Bigagli, Miriam Guidelli.
Concetta (Maria Lozano) narrates a heartfelt story that begins during the closing days of World War II, as retreating Nazi troops take revenge on the old men, women and children who remain in the towns and villages of Italy. The people of Concetta’s town, San Minato, must decide whether to stay and possibly be butchered by the Nazis, or leave the area to seek the safety Allied troops can provide. A wonderfully resonant film.
Salón México (1949)
Presented by Leonardo Rossen, with a prior danzón dance exhibition.
Tuesday, April 29 at 5pm
Classical Mexican, Español, 95 minutes.
Director: Emilio Fernández. Cast: Marga López, Miguel Inclán, Rodolfo Acosta, Mimí Derba, Roberto Cañedo.
Mercedes (Marga Lopez) dances for money with the clients of Salón Mexico, a famous cabaret in Mexico City. Her younger sister Beatriz (Derbez) studies in an expensive private school, paid by Mercedes. Obviously, young Beatriz doesn’t know about her sister’s job. Troubles begin when Mercedes wins a danzón contest with Paco (Acosta), her pimp. Paco refuses to share the prize with Mercedes, so she steals the money while he’s sleeping.
Klimt (2001)
Tuesday, April 29 at noon
Wednesday, April 30 at 7pm
Art documentary, English, 50 minutes.
This penetrating documentary explores the life and legacy of Gustav Klimt, one of the twentieth century’s most innovative and provocative artistic forces. With his bold painting style, Klimt led the Vienna Secession, a group of avant-garde artists who challenged the conservative Viennese art establishment. This film offers a portrait of the mild-mannered artist whose sensual paintings sparked scandal and changed the course of art history.
The Idiot (1951)
Wednesday, April 30 at 4pm
Kurosawa classic drama, Japanese with English subtitles, 166 minutes.
Director: Akira Kurosawa. Cast: Toshirô Mifune, Setsuko Hara, Masayuki Mori, Takashi Shimura.
An early paean to Kurosawa’s favorite writer, Fyodor Dostoevesky, this film is an expressionist tour-de-force, resetting in postwar Japan the Russian tale of the “holy fool,” a prince whose simple goodness sparks envy in a friend who rivals him for a woman’s love.
Hukkle (2002)
Friday, May 2 at 7pm
Tuesday, May 6 at 5pm
Eastern Europe experimental, Hungarian with English subtitles, 75 minutes.
Director: Gyorgy Palfi. Cast: Ferenc Bandi, Jozsefne Racz, Ferenc Nagy, Jozsef Forkas, Ferencne Virag.
This award-winning experimental film from Hungarian director György Pálfi follows the chain reaction of one man’s hukkle (Hungarian slang for hiccup), which works its way through a small town and introduces a cast of quirky locals. Shot without dialogue, the film captures a series of everyday scenes that are seemingly unrelated and unimportant…but it’s up to the audience to interpret their significance.
Kids Movies: Cartoons
Saturday, May 3 at noon