Interview:
Ernie Quiroz,
co-head programmer,
Cine Las Americas International Film Festival
The Cine Las Americas International Film Festival is turning up the heat for its 25th anniversary edition. Dedicated to bringing films to Austin made by and/or about Latinos or Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the festival will open June 7 with Texas native Eva Longoria’s narrative directorial debut Flamin' Hot. Bursting with Mexican-American pride, Longoria’s feel-good corporate bio focuses on Richard Montañez, who claims to have invented Flamin’ Hot Cheetos while working as a janitor and machine operator at Frito-Lay. The festival closes June 11 with Love & Mathematics (Amor y matemáticas), a Mexican music industry dramedy about a life-changing encounter between a former boy band heartthrob and one of his former fans. The 25th Cine Las Americas International Film Festival will also include a selection of dramas, comedies, thrillers, and horror films from such countries as Argentina, Canada, Costa Rica, Nicaragua that address issues ranging from immigration to political oppression to poverty to transgender rights. Documentaries focus on environmentalism, LGBTQ+ activism, and the tradition of indigenous storytelling. Austin is represented by three of the five films in the made-in-Texas "Hecho en Tejas" short competition program: Daniel Fabelo’s El Gato Feo (The Ugly Cat), Samuel Díaz Fernández’s La Cosecha (The Harvest), and Anne Lewis and Laura Varela’s raúl r salinas and the poetry of liberation: Un Trip (raúl r salinas y la poesía de liberación: Un Viaje). Panorama Shorts Showcase focuses on films made in the United States and Mexico while the Femme Frontera Filmmaker Showcase spotlights shorts made by women and non-binary filmmakers from U.S.-Mexico border states. There also will be blocks devoted to narrative, documentary, and student short films as well as music videos. The festival will also include filmmaker Q&As and a closing night gathering. Screenings will be held at the Austin Film Society’s AFS Cinema at 6259 Middle Fiskville Road, the Galaxy Theatres Austin at 6700 Middle Fiskville Road, and Austin PBS at 6101 Highland Campus Dr, Building 3000. Aired: June 6, 2023. Web sites: http://www.cinelasamericas.org/ https://www.facebook.com/cinelasamericasaustin |
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