Mexico Movie Premiere
Drawing Closer
Fri, Sep 25, 3pm
Teatro Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
60 pesos

Drawing Closer is born

Children’s book author Trevor Romain has been dubbed the “Dr. of Mischief” because of his time spent visiting kids in hospitals over the past 20 years. His latest “patient,” 12-year-old Max, is facing surgery in a week to remove three brain tumors. The movie Drawing Closer, based on a true story, follows their mischievous adventures while they search for meaning in life and death.

Grammy-nominated Carl Thiel has worked as music producer and composer for dozens of feature films, documentaries and series, including Sin City, Before the Music Dies, Spy Kids 2 & 3, Once Upon a Time in Mexico and Miss Congeniality.

Having always loved the visual arts, Thiel also has directed music videos such as “Perdoname” and “Maria” by Del Castillo, Wade Bowen’s “Homeward Bound” and the 2006 short film “Killing Snakes.”

One day in early May of 2007, after hearing his longtime friend Trevor Romain speak at a public function about his experiences with hospitalized kids, Thiel felt compelled to devote his time and effort to creating a short film that would capture the essence of Romain’s altruistic work.

Joining forces with artist and production designer Stephen Schwolert, Thiel and Romain began a passionate journey, testing the limits of their own artistic abilities; a journey filled with love, friendship and determination to fulfill a common and worthy goal.

Drawing Closer is the product of that journey. It’s a story that celebrates life, hope and the strength of the human spirit. The 30-minute film is in English with Spanish subtitles, with Carl Thiel as director and starring Trevor Romain, Campbell Westmoreland and Tito Larriva.



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Film
Slapstick Masters
Fri, Sep 25, 5pm
Teatro Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
60 pesos

Live music fuses with silent film

The idea of combining motion pictures with recorded sound is nearly as old as film itself, but technical challenges delayed synchronized dialogue until the late twenties when the Vitaphone system made it practical.

The visual quality of original silent movies was often extremely high. However, many people erroneously consider these films primitive and barely watchable by modern standards. This misconception is due to technical errors (such as films being played back at wrong speed) and to the deteriorated condition of many silent films that exist only in second- or even third-generation copies, which were often copied from already damaged and neglected film stock.

Because silent films had no synchronized sound for dialogue, on-screen inter-titles were used to narrate story points, present key dialogue and even comment on the action for the cinema audience. Silent film actors exaggerated body language and facial expression so the audience could better understand what a performer was feeling and portraying on screen.

Showings of silent films almost always featured live music. From the beginning, it was recognized as an essential contribution to the atmosphere to give the audience vital emotional cues (musicians sometimes played on film sets during shooting for similar reasons).

In this showing, we will present four classic comedies originating from the early twentieth century that will leave you laughing, with the actors Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Monty Banks, and Laurel & Hardy. David Shepard produced the 87-minute DVD in English.

Accordion player Salomón Canelo performs live music. Canelo is a skilled musician who is mainly characterized by virtuosity and velocity. He has created an extensive repertoire of personal and interpreted compositions. Also a pianist and organist, Canelo has taken part in several national and international competitions as well as being the director of the Music School of the Musicians Union in Celaya. He is currently the president of the Benjamín Vidargas Castillo Music School.

His artistic and technical expertise lies in creating new ways of interpreting international music with certain touches of French and European styles, as well as finding new playing techniques for his instrument. Go to http://salomoncanelo.cycast.co.uk  or http://www.geocities.com/salomoncanelo/  for more information on this artist.

We invite you to attend to this fantastic show where good music and film will fuse in an interesting and fun evening where you’ll also enjoy complimentary popcorn to enhance the ambiance.