Focus: Mexico

GUILLERMO ARRIAGA: WRITER AND DIRECTOR

Guillermo ArriagaCinema Pacific is proud to welcome the legendary screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga to Portland and Eugene. Arriaga is returning to Oregon, where he filmed The Burning Plain in Portland and Coos Bay in 2008. The film featured Academy Award-winner Jennifer Lawrence in her first starring role, alongside Charlize Theron and Kim Basinger. At the Bijou Cinemas and Northwest Film Center, Arriaga will present The Burning Plain and the film he wrote and Tommy Lee Jones directed, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005). While in Oregon, Arriaga will also give the Bartolomé de las Casas Lecture in Latin American Studies at the UO and a public talk at the Oak Hill School.

Guillermo Arriaga is a Mexican screenwriter, author, director, and producer.

Before becoming a screenwriter, the Mexico City-native had already made a name for himself as a novelist and college screenwriting professor, but it was his trilogy of film collaborations with director Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu that earned him a world of new audiences. Amores Perros (2000), a gritty tale of parents, children, and intertwined lives on the rough streets of Mexico City gained international recognition and is still considered one of the most praised films of Mexican cinema. Arriaga’s fresh, invigorating style of piecing together emotionally gripping stories as intricate, interlocking human puzzles still persists. He continued to write award winning, critically acclaimed screenplays such as 21 Grams (2003), Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005), and the Oscar-nominated Babel (2006). His literary roots, boldy complex structures, and examinations of things people fear the most helped raise the bar of what a Hollywood film with A-list actors could accomplish, as well as what producers believed an audience could handle.

The Burning Plain:
April 16, 7:30 p.m., Whitsell Auditorium, Portland Art Museum
April 18, 9:00 p.m., Bijou

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada:
April 17, 7:00 p.m., Bijou

“The U.S. – Mexico Border Through the Eyes of a Writer”:
April 18, 4:00 p.m., JSMA, Free

 “On Writing and Directing”:
April 19, 7:00 p.m., Oak Hill School, Free


NEW MEXICAN DOCUMENTARY

Al Otro Lado stillFocus: Mexico will also highlight the exciting renaissance in contemporary Mexican documentary filmmaking. Two extraordinary director-cinematographers will be featured: Natalia Almada, the Mexican and American filmmaker who won the 2009 Documentary Directing Award at Sundance, and Pedro Gonzalez-Rubio, whose film Alamar,  has been an international sensation since winning a Tiger Award at the 2010 Rotterdam Film Festival. Almada will participate in a Skype conversation following the screening of her feature debut, Al Otro Lado (2005). Rubio’s Alamar, a beautiful portrait of a father introducing his son to the life of a fisherman, will be followed by the screening of his latest film, Inori (winner of Best Documentary at the Morelia Film Festival). Inori depicts the natural wonders of a dying town, and its aging inhabitants, in Japan’s southeastern Nara Prefecture. Also screening is Canicula, filmed by Rubio and directed by Jose Alvarez, portraying the miraculous “voladores” flying dance and other rituals of the Totonac people of Veracruz.

Canicula:
April 20 at 11a.m., Bijou

Al Otro Lado and Skype dialogue with Natalia Almada:
April 20 at 4 p.m., Bijou

Alamar:
April 21 at 1 p.m., Bijou

Inori:
April 21 at 4p.m., Bijou


AMARILLO

Amarillo stillFinally, Focus: Mexico also includes a special presentation of the film recording of Teatro Linea de Sombra’s multi-media theater performance, Amarillo. The piece expands our collective conversation about immigration and border issues with a poetic Mexican perspective. A post-screening discussion with Mexico City-based director Jorge Vargas (via Skype) and UO Latin American Studies professor Lynn Stephen will be moderated by Ruth Wikler-Luker. Co-presented with Boom Arts and OntheBoards.tv.

Amarillo:
April 17 at 4 p.m., JSMA, Free

 

FRINGE FESTIVAL FIESTA

Come to the Schnitzer Museum Cafe and prepare to have your mind and senses blown by interactive digital pinatas and video remixes of classic Mexican cinema, the return of the prize-winning Inflato-Globe, salsa music mixed by DJ Mario Mora, and delectable food from Daniel’s Mexican Restaurant. This party is going to be awesome and you don’t want to miss it. Admission includes two free drinks.

Fringe Festival Fiesta:
April 19, 9:30 p.m. – 12:30 a.m., JSMA, $8 public/$5 students

 

Cosponsored with the Latin American Studies Program, Oak Hill School, Consulate of Mexico, Oregon Film, the Oregon Humanities Center, UO International Affairs, MeCha, and the Northwest Film Center.