Organized by the Connecticut Film Festival, the second annual ¡Viva Cinema! Latino Film Festival will feature more than 75 narrative, documentary, short, animation and student films and will take place Friday, June 27, and Saturday, June 28, at the Mattatuck Museum on the Green in downtown Waterbury.
¡Viva Cinema!, a spin-off of the popular Connecticut Film Festival, has selected two award-winning and thought-provoking feature length films to headline this year’s two-day festival. Saturday morning will feature a program geared for children (12 and up) including animations and narrative shorts written and directed by Hispanic filmmakers and animators.
On Friday, June 27, ¡Viva Cinema¡ will present “Pelo Malo” (Bad Hair), 2013, 93 minutes, written and directed by renowned Venezuelan filmmaker Mariana Rondón and produced by Marité Ugás. This film is the winner of 11 prestigious international awards and three other nominations including: The Golden Seashell at the San Sebastián International Film Festival and Best Film at The Havana Film Festival. “Pelo Malo” follows the journey of a young Venezuelan boy looking for love and acceptance. “Junior”, who is looking to please his mother, wants to straighten his hair and dress like a fashionable pop star for a class photo, which leads to his mother’s rejection and question of the young boy’s sexual ambiguity.
Friday’s film premiere will be followed by a catered after party at the Mattatuck Museum compliments of Michael Bick’s: Some Things Fishy Catering and will include Zevia soda, and Thomas Hooker beer.
On Saturday, June 28 beginning at 10:30 a.m. ¡Viva Cinema! will begin with a program of animated and narrative shorts for children ages 12 and up and their adult caregivers and friends. Saturday evening will feature the northeast premiere of “Viva Cuba Libre: Rap is War,” directed by Mexican west coast filmmaker, Jesse Acevedo. This film is about an extraordinary rap duo: Los Aldeanos, who is sweeping the Cuban underground with their urgent lyrics about the dire economic and political state of their beloved country.
Los Aldeanos began as one of many underground Rap Cubano groups based in Havana, Cuba and is now heralded as the voice of the lost generation. They are banned from performing in all official concert halls or venues and their music is distributed solely by hand, in total secrecy for fear of government persecution. They perform in make-shift venues and promote the concerts only hours before they actually go on stage, still managing to gather crowds in the thousands. Director Jesse Acevedo, along with an anonymous film crew, risked their freedom and lives while using guerrilla methods and hidden cameras as they take the viewer inside a new revolution brewing within Cuba. Ever fearful of reprisal, the identities of the crew are kept secret. Those who do speak out are at great risk of imprisonment.
It is recommended that tickets and day passes be purchased in advance. Seating is limited. Single tickets are $7 for adults and children (12 and up). Day passes for Friday and Saturday are $30. For more information, full schedules and to purchase individual movie tickets and day passes, visit www.vivacinemafilmfestival.com
Visit www.MattatuckMuseum.org or call 203-753-0381 for more information on all of the museum’s adult and children’s programs, events and exhibits.
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