by Antonio Mejías-Rentas
Victor Wolf and America Ferrera star in How the García Girls Spent Their Summer. (photo by Maya Releasing)
OSCAR HOPEFULS: Films from Spain and Latin America are being chosen this month to compete for one of five Academy Award nominations in the foreign language category.
Already two Latin American nations have official entries.
Brazil announced last week that it is submitting “Última Parada 174,” the latest work from veteran filmmaker Bruno Barreto. It fictionalizes the true story of the kidnapping of a bus and a subsequent standoff that gripped the nation in 2000; it was already told in the documentary “Onibus 174” by Jose Padilla that aired on pay TV in the U.S.
Also last week, Venezuela announced the first film by Alejandro Bellame as its Oscar hopeful. “El Tinte de la Fama” takes a look at the Marilyn Monroe myth through a Latin American perspective; one of the characters is a transsexual man who believes in the Hollywood diva’s reincarnation. The film was shot in 2001 but only premiered in Venezuela this year.
Spain’s Academia de Cine has announced that it will make its selection on Sept. 26 from three finalists: “Los Girasoles Ciegos” by José Luis Cuerda, “Sangre de Mayo” by José Luis García (nominated in 1999 for “El Abuelo”) and “Siete Mesas de Billar Francés,” by García Querejeta.
Selections from major Latin American producers—including Mexico, Colombia and Cuba—are expected before the end of the month. Nominations will be announced Jan. 22 in Los Angeles.
Alejandro Bellame y Elaiza Gil, director y protagonista del Tinte de la Fama | Roxana Lezama: (photo by Roxana Lezama)
‘GIRLS’ ON STAGE: The stage adaptation of a popular novel by Julia Alvarez is having its world premiere production at the Round House Theatre in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Bethesda, Md. “Garcia Girls,” by prominent D.C. playwright Karen Zacarías, is being staged through Oct. 12. It’s based on the 1992 Alvarez novel “How the García Girls Spent Their Summer,” about four Dominican sisters who remake their lives in New York.
The novel has already had a film adaptation but the 2005 film by Georgina Riedel, which starred Elizabeth Peña and America Ferrera did not do well in theaters.
An almost-all-Latino cast at the Round House includes Gabriela Fernández-Coffey, Maggie Bofi ll, Sheila Taia and Veronica del Cerro as the four sisters.
ONE LINERS: Colombian feature “Paraíso Travel” by Simon Brand and Mexican documentary “Fraude: Mexico 2006” by Luis Mandoki won the two Audience Awards at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival, which closed Sept. 19… and Day After Tomorrow, the latest album by Joan Baez, is the first from the folk singer to appear on the Billboard POP album chart in 29 years… Hispanic Link.
