Country: Cuba 2009
Plots keywords: Drama | Cuban Revolution | 19 Century
Language: Español – English subtitles
Director and Writer: Fernado Pérez Vadés
Production Co: Co-producción Cuba-España; Televisión Española (TVE) / Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industrias Cinematográficos (ICAIC) / Lusa Films S.L. / Wanda Films
Runtime: 120 min.
Cast: Daniel Romero Bildaín, Rolando Brito, Broselianda Hernández, Enrique Lázaro Piedra, Manuel Porto, Julio César Ramírez, Damián Rodríguez, Francisco López Ruiz, Eugenio Torroella
Awards: 2010 Premios Ariel: Mejor película iberoamericana (ex aequo)
José Martí: El Ojo del Canario
José Martí, entre los 9 y los 17: los únicos años en que conoció de cerca a su patria y en los que aprendió a amarla y entenderla, para hacer la magna obra que le tomó el resto de su vida. No es una biografía: es un itinerario espiritual inspirado en la infancia y adolescencia del héroe nacional cubano José Martí.
”José Martí fue un hombre de una sensibilidad muy especial que marcó la historia de Cuba, pero también fue un ser humano común, corriente, como cualquiera de nosotros. Creo que eso es lo que hace grande a los grandes hombres. Mi película se sumerge en la complejidad cotidiana que formó el carácter de Martí durante su infancia y adolescencia. La mirada será más personal que histórica, más subjetiva que biográfica. Cada cubano tiene su Martí. En este filme, yo trataré de expresar el mío.” -Fernando Pérez, Director
José Martí: The Eye of The Canary
Little is known of the childhood and youth of the great 19th-century Cuban liberator, José Martí. This robust biopic imagines his early years. The son of a magistrate, the precocious Martí — “Pepe” to family and friends — takes an early interest in justice. Gradually he enters the nascent independence movement and, not yet 18, is arrested for sedition. Respectful, yet not worshipful, this is a portrait of the revolutionary as a young man, and a stirring historical drama besides.
José Martí: The Eye of the Canary was awarded the Ariel for Best Latin American Film at the Mexican Academy Awards in 2011.
Fernando Pérez has published articles on cinema and taught courses on film appreciation and cinema history at various Cuban universities. His filmography contains over a dozen titles including Havana Suite (2003), Life is to Whistle (1998) and Madagascar (1995). He was chosen as the most outstanding Cuban film director of the 1990s by the Cuban Film Press Association.
Country: Spain 1999
Plots keywords: Drama | Epic Biography | History | 18th – 19th Centuries | Art
Language: Español – English subtitles
Director and Writer: Carlos Saura
Production Co: Coproducción España-Italia; Lolafilms / Italian International Film
Runtime: 104 min.
Cast: Francisco Rabal, José Coronado, Maribel Verdú, Eulalia Ramón, Dafne Fernández, Mario de Candia, Azucena De La Fuente, Franco di Francescantonio, Borja Elgea, Emilio Gutiérrez Caba, Josep Maria Pou, Saturnino García, Carlos Hipólito, Manuel de Blas, Pedro Azorín, Joaquín Climent, Cristina Espinosa.
Awards:
1999: 5 Premios Goya: incluyendo Mejor actor (Francisco Rabal). 10 nominaciones
1999: Festival de Montreal: Mejor contribución artística
2000: Premios del Cine Europeo: Mejor fotografía
2001: Satellite Awards: Nominada a Mejor película extranjera
Goya en Burdeos
A los 82 años, exiliado en Burdeos con Leocadia Zorrilla de Weiss, la última de sus amantes, el pintor Francisco de Goya reconstruye para su hija Rosario los acontecimientos que marcaron su vida. Una vida en la que se suceden convulsiones políticas, pasiones emponzoñadas y el éxtasis de la fama.
Goya in Bordeaux
Francisco Goya (1746-1828), deaf and ill, lives the last years of his life in voluntary exile in Bordeaux, a Liberal protesting the oppressive rule of Ferdinand VII. He’s living with his much younger wife Leocadia and their daughter Rosario. He continues to paint at night, and in flashbacks stirred by conversations with his daughter, by awful headaches, and by the befuddlement of age, he relives key times in his life, particularly his relationship with the Duchess of Alba, his discovery of how he wanted to paint (insight provided by Velázquez’s work), and his lifelong celebration of the imagination. Throughout, his reveries become tableaux of his paintings.
TEATRX is bringing back La Vida Es Cortos / Life Is Shorts Festival for the second year! The festival will once again bring Latinx stories to the stage and screen in new and exciting ways. This year’s lineup includes a 14-minute musical, 21 Chump Street: The Musical, by Hamilton star Lin Manuel Miranda, and a short film by native Houstonian Vannessa Vasquez of Hulu’s East Los High. Along with 21 Chump Street: The Musical, TEATRX will produce two plays chosen after a nationwide call for short plays. On behalf of TEATRX, Laura Moreno will direct, The Party Favor, by Julián Mesri. The second play, A Volunteer by Marian Licha will be directed and acted by members of Teatro Indigo. This year’s festival will also feature the Spanish language play, El Espejo by Emilio Carballido directed by RS Producciones, and a dance theatre piece written and choreographed by Adam Castaneda of Pilot Dance Project.
Because of the high volume of fantastic film submissions, TEATRX will show 13 short films ranging from two to fifteen minutes. Films will be split between four performances Thursday – Saturday. Each night the audience will vote on their favorite film. The top films will be featured at the final performance on Sunday, November 24.
La Vida Es Cortos/Life Is Shorts Festival is funded in part by grants from the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance.