thePULSEFor those who Love Movies
Worcester hosts two film festivals this month
April 2005 – Are you looking for a good movie in Spanish or English? You won’t have to look much further – there are two great film festivals happening this month in Worcester. The 10th Annual Latino Film Festival and the Mass Bay Film Festival are showcasing can’t-miss movies that you won’t find in theaters.
Running from April 5 through April 10, the Latino Film Festival is taking over Clark University’s Razzo Hall and its Cinema 320. This year, the theme is “10 x 10,” or “Ten Films for Ten Years.” Marvin D’Lugo, Professor of Spanish at Clark, says that the films being shown do have some themes, such as water and journeys, in common.
In past years, only four films united by a common theme were screened. Previous themes were presented through last year’s “Strange Journeys/ Viajes Extranos,” 2003’s “Parejas/ Couples,” and 1998’s “Women in Film.”
“Women in Film” featured two films directed by female Latino directors, one of whom was Lourdes Portillo, an influential Chicana filmmaker. Her film Señorita Extraviada (Missing Young Woman) opens the festival at 7 p.m. on April 5. The film is a 2002 Sundance Award winner, a documentary about the hundreds of women from Juárez, Mexico who have been kidnapped, raped, and killed since 1993 by unknown assailants.
The festival mixes serious documentaries with lighter comedies like Por si No Te Vuelo a Ver (If I Never See You Again), the story of four elderly men who escape from their nursing home and flee to Tijuana to follow their dream of playing in a band. Another light picture, a romantic comedy in English, is By the Sea, which follows the main character as she explores her Cuban roots. D’Lugo explains that the featured films were chosen by the selection committee because they would be relevant to Worcester’s Latino population. Organizers of the festival, including Centro Las Americas and four of the city’s colleges, seek to avoid cultural stereotypes that stigmatize Latinos and to provide inspirational opportunities for young adults to hear filmmakers and actors speak. The guest this year is Joel Nuñez, an actor in the film El fin, el Mar (Finally, the Sea), being shown on Saturday, April 9 at 1 p.m. with a Q&A session to follow.
Screenings are on Tuesday and Thursday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 1 and 7 p.m., and Sunday at 1, 4 and 7 p.m. For more information, visit the film festival’s website www.centrolasamericas.org/filmfestival.htm.
Running from April 15 to May 1, the Mass Bay Film Festival is bringing 50 films to several locations in the Worcester area, including Showcase North, West Boylston Cinemas, Cinema 320 and The Elm Draughthouse in Millbury. Rob Newton, Creative Director for the film festival, explains, “We bring films that would not otherwise have played in Worcester, and we consider the interests of Worcester folk, rather than playing movies that we want people to think are cool.”
The Mass Bay Film Project is a nonprofit organization that has three documentary films in production: The Bobs Remain the Same, Remaking History, and Goddard’s People, which is about the race to design a jet-powered aircraft. The film is scheduled to be released on the 80th anniversary of Goddard’s historic flight.
In addition to the upcoming festival and the films it is producing, the Project also puts on monthly screenings. Newton and his wife Cynthia came up with the Mass Bay concept in November 2002 and officially launched in October 2003.
Some of the films scheduled are Millions, Bride and Prejudice, The Assasination of Richard Nixon, A Tale of Two Pizzas, Paper Clips, Watermarks, Moolaade, Voices of Iraq and Same Sex America. These films range in style from documentary to romantic comedy and include something for everyone. Bride and Prejudice mixes Jane Austin with Bollywood for a twist on the novel of almost the same name. Paper Clips is a documentary about a rural Tennessee town where middle school students decided to collect six million paperclips to better understand the Holocaust and the sheer number of victims.
Also included in this festival is a preview event for A Whale of a Tale, a movie that Mass Bay currently has in production about the 1960s Pleasure Island theme park. Audience members at this event will have the opportunity to see promotional films and home movies and to share their own memories that might be used in the documentary.
To find out more about the festival or to get involved, check out www.massbayfilmfestival.org.
