The Hola Mexico Festival (formerly the “Hola Mexico Film Festival”), which has moved to a new home at LA LIVE, will host three separate but complimentary components: The Hola Mexico Film Festival presented by DishLATINO; the Hola Mexico Food Festival, which will feature a live cooking extravaganza with five renowned chefs from Mexico; and at the intersection of film and music, the Hola Mexico Music Festival will showcase music themed documentary films featuring the alternative rock ban Molotov and Cumbia music leading man Celso Piña. Live concerts by Celso Piña, La Misa Negra, Fernanda Ulibarri, Chicano Batman and Raul y Mexia round out the first Hola Mexico Music Festival.
The Hola Mexico Food Festival” On Thursday, May 16, at the renowned La Guelaguetzarestaurant (3014 W Olympic Blvd, La 90006) the festival presents VIVA MEZCAL, A screening of Pedro Jiménez’s “Viva Mescal”, a documentary about the importance of the traditional mezcals in Mexico. Famed biologists, agronomists, researchers, maestros mezcaleros, distributors, bartenders and experts on the subject, give a perspective on the current situation and possible future of this iconic drink.
Following the screening will be a dinner presented by Chef Rodolfo Castellanos from Oaxaca, complimented by a Mezcal tasting.
On Sunday, May 19, at La Plaza de Cultura Y Artes:
(501 N. Main St, Los Angeles, CA, 90012) LA GRAN PARRILLADA (THE GREATEST BBQ)
The all day celebration of Mexican cuisine features the renowned cuisine of Chef Jose Ramon Castillo, as well as wines from ten different vineyards in the Valle De Guadalupe in Mexico, and a wide selection of tequila, beer and Mezcales. To top it off, La Gran Parrillada welcomes celebrated chocolatier Chef Jose Ramon Castillo, who will prepare his world-renowned chocolate. Open to all ages, The BBQ is open for all ages. prices: ($30.00 – $40.00)
Mexico City-raised Samuel Douek, a Sidney-based Event manager, launched the impressive, globe trotting festival in 2006. It extended from Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide, New Zealand to Chicago, Miami, Washington D.C, New York and L.A.
The festival’s mission is to present the complexity of Mexico’s culture to the rest of the world, and you can judge Douek’s success by the fact that it has become the pre-eminent festival of Mexican film in the U.S. This is the fifth year that the multi-city festival appears in Los Angeles.
The opening night film at the historic Los Angeles Theater on Broadway, is the international premiere of Felipe Cazals’ “Ciudana Buelna” (Citizen Buelna). Featuring a star-studded cast that includes Sebastián Zurita, Marimar Vega, Damián Alcazar, Gustavo Sanchez Parra, Jorge Zárate, Bruno Bichir, Tenoch Huerta and Enoc Leaño, the film chronicles the little known story of the Mexican revolution that could have changed the history of the emerging nation. Beloved Mexican actor Joaquin Cosio will receive a Career Achievement Award, at the opening night fiesta of the festival.
“Joaquin Cosio is one of Mexico’s most recognized faces. He is an actor with a character larger than life and a personality that lights up the screen in every scene he appears. Joaquin has managed to quickly become a highly sought out actor by film directors in Mexico,” said Samuel Douek, Founder and Director of the Hola Mexico Festival.
He has been nominated three times for the Mexican Academy Awards (“Arieles”); in 2005 for his portrayal of the lovable and ruthless “Mascarita” in the Mexican #1 box office hit “Matando Cabos”, in 2011 for “El Inferno”, for which he won his first Ariel and also the National Board of Cinema’s award for Best Actor. His most recent Ariel nomination was in 2012 for his work in “Pastorela: Batalla epica entre el bien y el mal”. In 2012 Joaquin supplied the voice for the Spanish version of the foul-mouthed teddy bear “Ted”.
Most recently Joaquin starred in Oliver Stone’s “Savages”, Chris Weitz’s “A Better Life” and Carl Franklin’s “Bless Me, Ultima”. In 2013 Joaquin can be seen in Disney’s “The Lone Ranger” alongside Johnny Depp, Luis Mandoki’s “The Brief and Precocious Life of Sabina Rivas”, screening on May 16 at the festival and in the upcoming thriller “A Night In Old Mexico” alongside screen legend Robert Duvall.
“Suave Patria”, directed by Francisco Javier Padilla and featuring Omar Chaparro, Adrián Uribe, Héctor Suárez, Karla Souza and Héctor Jimenez also makes its International debut.
Óscar and Arturo, two unemployed actors play a street routine (one plays a thief and the other a policeman). “Hired” to play a dangerous joke on a senior executive, they are double-crossed
in a plot that attempts to indict them for kidnapping.
LA Premieres’ include Carlos Bolado’s epic historic film “Tlatelolco, Verano del 68” (Tlatelolco Summer of 68) and Luis Mandoki’s Mexican-American border drama “La vida breve y precoz de Sabina Rivas” (The Precocious and Brief Life of Sabina Rivas).
Bolado’s “Tlatelolco, Verano del 68” is a love story set against the drama of Mexico 68, the controversial student movement of 1968 and the Olympic Games, México City
HOLA will also showcase two former Best Foreign Language Film Oscar submissions: Mexico’s “Después de Lucía” (After Lucia) directed by Michel Franco, and Uruguay’s “La Demora” (The Delay) by Rodrigo Plá. Carlos Reygadas’s “Post Tenebras Lux” (Light After Darkness) earned Carlos Reygadas the 2012 Award for Best Director at Cannes.
The festival’s Closing Night, a “Delicious Evening under the Stars,” will feature an outdoor screening of the documentary “Celso Piña. El rebelde del acordeón” (Celso Piña, The Accordion Rebel, plus a musical performance by Celso Piña, and desserts by Chef José Ramón Castillo, the owner of “Que Bo! Chocolatería Mexicana Evolutiva” and one of the world’s leading chocolatier. The event will take place at Hola Mexico’s collaborating institution, LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes.
Another festival highlight is Duncan Bridgeman’s remarkable documentary “Hecho In Mexico,” this musical portrait of Mexico past present and future, which had it World Premiere at the First Baja International Film Festival in November, 2012, mixes hybridized virtual duets by many of Mexico’s most iconic musicians, often performing outside of their regular comfort zone as well as little known indigenous and community musicians.
Location performances by as diverse a group of musicians as can be assembled, performing digitally layered duets of films, is interspersed with fascinating political, philosophical and cultural interviews about Mexico. What might have been an extended Music Video in other hands, works on many levels. Rock, punk hip hop. folk, alternative, jazz and traditional indigenous music is represented, with artists stepping out of their comfort zone to perform resonate duets.
The line-up also includes narrative and documentary features about Mexico’s relationship with its neighbors, particularly the subject of immigration and the plight of Central Americans in Mexico headed for the U.S. border. The festival celebrates Mexico’s rich music and film legacies, and showcases recent worldwide acclaimed films by some of Mexico’s top directors.The festival will feature 2 international premieres, 3 US premieres and 9 LA premieres among its 13 narrative and 6 documentary feature films.
CIUDADANO BUELNA (CITIZEN BUELNA)
Dir. Felipe Cazals (International Premiere)
México 2013, 112 MIN
CAST: Sebastián Zurita, Marimar Vega, Demián Alcazar, Gustavo Sanchez Parra, Jorge Zárate, Bruno Bichir, Tenoch Huerta, Enoc Leaño.
A must see film for every citizen. Citizen Buelna, a charismatic character from the Mexican revolution remains youthful and courageous despite realizing the unfortunate fate of the revolution. Rebellious and mythological, Buelna is an icon of a generation of Mexicans whose ideals were untainted by the incomplete agreements by the war’s victors. Today more than ever, Buelna represents the core of the patriotic youth, who defend the foundations that make their country great. Nearly a century later, Citizen Buelna returns to teach honesty and understanding the common good of a new nation. With this extraordinary film production, portrays the bond Mexicans have to fight for a better Mexico.
http://www.ciudadanobuelnalapelicula.com
Special Guests:Felipe Cazals, Sebastián Zurita, Marimar Vega, Damián Alcazar, Gustavo Sanchez Parra
LA VIDA BREVE Y PRECOZ DE SABINA RIVAS (THE PRECOCIOUS AND BRIEF LIFE OF SABINA RIVAS)
Dir. Luis Mandoki (Los Angeles Premiere)
México 2012, 115 MIN
CAST: Greisy Mena, Joaquin Cosío, Fernando Moreno,
Based on the novel La Mara by Rafael Ramírez Heredia, a pair of young lovers is reunited in the desolate conditions on the Mexican, Guatemalan border. Sixteen, year, old Sabina and eighteen, year, old Jovany, both Hondurans, happen to meet again after years without seeing each other. She dreams of becoming a great singer in the United States, while he tries to become a member of the la Mara Salvatrucha gang, committing atrocious initiations in the meantime. Faced with problems like white slavery, migratory agents, drug trafficking, the army, and a handful of other desperate conditions, Sabina continues to seek for hope and the ability to dream.
Special Guests, Joaquin Cosio, Luis Mandoki, Greisy Mena
TLATELOLCO, VERANO DEL 68 (TLATELOLCO SUMMER OF 68)
Dir. Carlos Bolado (Los Angeles Premiere)
México 2013, 105 MIN
CAST: Cassandra Ciangherotti, Christian Vazquez, Juan Manuel Bernal, Roberto Sosa
Set in a city of great heroes as well as villains, Tlatelolco is a love story between two students of different social backgrounds. As the first developing country to host the Olympic Games in 1968, México City was under a magnifying glass. Under pressure, the Mexican government strove to advance the city and present it as stable, but a student movement confronted the government with riots and demonstrations. With characters from all walks of life, Tlatelolco is full of emotion and surprises. This epic love story is set against the backdrop of a time that remains controversial to date.
Special Guests, Carlos Bolado, Cassandra Ciangherotti, Roberto Sosa
SUAVE PATRIA (International Premiere)
Dir. Francisco Javier Padilla (PANDA)
México 2012,
CAST: Omar Chaparro, Adrián Uribe, Héctor Suárez, Karla Souza, Héctor Jimenez
Suave Patria is a fantastic, traditionally Mexican comedy. Oscar and Arthur are two struggling actors working as street performers. In their routine, one man is a thief and the other a policeman, and their performance lands them a gig playing a prank on a dangerous top executive. The prank, however, is really a trap, and the two become targets for Commander Narvaez, and bring down the real culprits.
Special Guests: Hector Suarez, Omar Chaparro, Panda
LOS AMOROSOS, HISTORIAS DE LA HERMOSA VIDA (THE LOVERS, STORIES OF A BEAUTIFUL LIFE) (Los Angeles Premiere)
Dir. Rafael Montero
México 2013, 9() min
CAST: Daniel Martinez y Marimar Vega
“Those who are crazy, are crazy, without God and without evil”.
A story of a road trip around the state of Chipas, The Lovers, stories of a beautiful life is a look into the world of Mateo and Ruth. The poems of Jaime Sabines, one of Mexico’s best poets, are the strings that hold the story together, representing the thoughts and emotions of the characters.
Special Guests:Marimar Vega, Daniel Martinez, Rafael Montero
EL FANTASTICO MUNDO DE JUAN OROL (THE FANTASTIC WORLD OF JUAN OROL) (Los Angeles Premiere)
Dir. Sebastián Del Amo
México 2013,
CAST: Roberto Sosa,
Move over Ed Wood! Mexico’s half, forgotten B, movie master, “involuntary surrealist” Juan Orol, is paid pitch-perfect tribute in this irresistible love letter to a self, made man of showbiz, whose career spanned nearly sixty films. In glorious black, and, white, the film examines his Galician childhood, tainted by the movies, as well as his forced exile to Cuba and arrival in Mexico. The intrepid “Juanito“ pursues an array of careers, including baseball player, boxer, bullfighter and gangster, to no avail. His failure seems to work to his benefit, however, when he makes it in the movie business. As Orol, Roberto Sosa has a droll underdog charm, anchoring a fast, moving comedy where every frame is an infectious homage to a golden age of cinema.
Special Guests: Sebastian Del Amo, Roberto Sosa
LA CEBRA (THE ZEBRA) (Los Angeles Premiere)
Dir. Fernando Leon
México 2012, 94 min
CAST: Harold Torres, Jorge Adrian, Jesus Ochoa
After finding a zebra at an abandoned circus, Leandro and Odón become aspiring “obregonistas, “ travelling north on what they believe to be a “gringo” horse. Over the course of the trip, the men escape from being enslaved by a group of women, meet the general Quesada, who wants to found a new republic, and get lost in the desert, among many other adventures.
ESPACIO INTERIOR (RICHNESS OF INTERNAL SPACE)
Dir. Kai Parlange
México 2012, 89 min
CAST: Kuno Becker, Ana Serradilla, Gerardo Taracena
Based on the 1990 kidnapping of an architect in the provincial Mexican city of Puebla, Kai Parlange’s beautifully composed and engrossing debut feature chronicles the extraordinary will of a man cast into captivity. Palange, who himself is a promising young talent, tells the story of Lazaro (Kuno Becker), who is abducted, held for ransom and confined to just a small white room with a toilet and one window. Initially collapsing under the shock, Lazaro soon finds the inner resources — hence the title’s double entendre —to become a match for his captors. With the stamina of a marathon runner and the creative insight of an artist, Lazaro maintains an interior freedom despite his physical confinement. Becker’s nuanced, powerful performance is key to the mesmerizing storytelling, as the film builds to a surprising finale of Hitchcockian dimensions.
Special Guests:Kai Parlange, Kuno Becker
FECHA DE CADUCIDAD (EXPIRATION DATE)
DIR. Kenya Márquez
Mexico 2011, 100 min
CAST: Damián Alcázar, Ana Ofelia Murguîa, Marisol Centeno, Eduardo España
Obsessive and paranoid, Ramona is convinced that the pathetic Genaro, a handyman who collects newspaper articles from the crime section, is responsible for the death of her son. Meanwhile, Marian is a good, for, nothing woman living in his same building. who seems to be running away from something.
http://fechadecaducidadpelicula.wordpress.com
Special Guests: Kenya Marquez , Damian Alcazar
POST TENEBRAS LUX (LIGHT AFTER DARKNESS)
DIR. Carlos Reygadas
México 2012, 115 min
CAST: Adolfo Jimenez Castro, Nathalia Acevedo
This is the story of an upscale, urban family, whose dynamic is shaken after a move to the Mexican countryside. It’s a stunningly shot, impressionistic, psychological portrait of a family and its place within the often unforgiving world. Reygadas utilizes a series of ominous imagery: a haunting evening at dusk as Reygadas’s real, life daughter wanders a muddy field filled with farm animals, amidst the threat of thunder and lightning; a glowing, red demon gliding through the rooms of a home; a husband and wife visiting a swingers’ bathhouse with rooms named after famous philosophers. By turns entrancing and mystifying, POST TENEBRAS LUX explores the primal conflicts of the human condition.
DESPUES DE LUCIA (AFTER LUCIA)
DIR. Michel Franco
México 2012, 103 min
After the death of his wife, Roberto loses interest in the pursuits of his fifteen, year, old daughter, Alejandra. In a state of depression, he moves them to Mexico City. At her new school, Alejandra is faced with emotional abuse and humiliation, always hiding these from her father to keep problems away from their home. As violence becomes more and more prevalent in their neighborhood, this father and daughter continue to move further away from each other.
HALLEY (Los Angeles Premiere)
DIR. Sebastian Hoffman
México 2013, 83 min
Alberto is decomposing and can no longer hide it, so he decides to withdraw from the world. Before yielding to his living death, Alberto forms an unusual friendship with Silvia, the manager of the gym where he works as a guard.
http://halleyfilm.com
Special Guests: Sebastian Hoffman
LA DEMORA (THE DELAY) (Los Angeles Premiere)
DIR. RODRIGO PLÁ
México / Uruguay 2012, 84 min
Agustín forgets things; he is aging and he knows it. His daughter María is never alone, she watches over everyone, sleeps very little and works too much; she ́s increasingly overwhelmed. The relationship between two beings who love one another and at the same time get on each other ́s nerves suddenly breaks up.
EL ALCALDE, (THE MAYOR) (U.S. Premiere)
DIR. Emiliano Altuna, Carlos F. Rossini, Diego E. Osorno
México 2012, 80 min
Mauricio Fernandez is the mayor of the wealthiest municipality in Latin America located in Northern Mexico. He is short, tempered and takes justice into his own hands in an attempt to ‘clean’ his municipality of the drug cartels. A millionaire with a fortune valued at $800 million.
EL ALBERGUE (THE SHELTER) (Los Angeles Premiere)
DIR. Alejandra Islas
Mexico 2012, 83 min
Father Alejandro Solalinde built a shelter in Ixtepec, Oaxaca for Central Americans traveling north on freight trains. His humanitarian assistance has become a risky struggle that affects the interests of human traffickers. At the shelter, the fragile, intense life stories of migrants are intertwined with Solalinde’s daily battle for justice.
Special Guests:Alejandra Islas, Padre Alejandro Solalinde
EL PACIENTE INTERNO (THE CONVICT PATIENT) (Los Angeles Premiere)
DIR. Alejandro Solar Luna
Mexico 2012, 9() min
On February 5th 1970, Carlos Castañeda defied the most repressive regime in contemporary Mexican history by trying to avenge the October 2nd 1968 Tlaltelolco massacre. Forty years later, this failed avenger and survivor of the excessive punishment of the system, wanders the streets of Mexico City as a beggar.
Special Guest: Alejandro Solar Luna
GIMME THE POWER (Los Angeles Premiere)
DIR. Olallo Rubio
México 2012, 101 min
Olallo Rubio was one of the biggest radio personalities in Mexico in the 1990s, with rock music and Mexican politics as topics of debate on his show. Gimme The Power gives his insight into the history of Mexico and his understanding of Mexico’s biggest issues. He studies the career of MOLOTOV, one of Mexico’s most successful rock bands, a band whose music has come to be the soundtrack to Mexico’s key political changes.
Special Guests: Olallo Rubio, Molotov
HECHO EN MEXICO (MADE IN MEXICO)
DIR. DUNCAN BRIDGEMAN (MEXICO 2012, 9() min)
CAST: ALEJANDRO FERNANDEZ, CAFE TACVBA, DIEGO LUNA
From Diego Luna and Alejandro Fernandez, to Carla Morrison and Chavela Vargas, Duncan Bridgeman weaves a cinematic tapestry composed of original songs and insights from the most iconic artists and performers of contemporary Mexico. With striking visuals, the movie captures the rich diversity of Mexican geography, art, music, and culture. It is a rare look at the country’s real identity, and an unparalleled celebration of what it truly means to be Hecho En Mexico.
BEAUTIFUL FACES
Dir. Russell Martin
Mexico 2012, 115 min
From the producer of TWO SPIRITS comes a poignant look at an extraordinary Mexico City hospital, the disfigured young patients to whom it offers new lives, and the team of surgeons, physicians, and medical professionals who believe it is the best place in the world to practice their unique, life, transforming craft. BEAUTIFUL FACES is a film that will break your heart and let your spirit soar. You’ll believe in the promise of medicine once more, ()and you’ll never take your face for granted again.
Schedule WED MAY 15
7:30pm – CITIZEN BUELNA
THURS MAY 16
7:00pm – THE PRECOCIOUS AND BRIEF LIFE OF SABINA RIVAS
8:00pm – VIVA MEZCAL
9:00pm – THE CONVICT PATIENT
FRI MAY 17
7:00pm – EXPIRATION DATE
9:00pm – THE LOVERS, STORIES OF A BEAUTIFUL LIFE
SAT MAY 18
12:00pm – THE CONVICT PATIENT (Rescreening)
2:00pm – BEAUTIFUL FACES
5:00pm – MADE IN MEXICO
7:30pm – AFTER LUCIA
9:30pm – THE ZEBRA
11:59pm – HALLEY
SUN MAY 19
\12:00pm – AFTER LUCIA (Rescreening)
2:00pm – THE DELAY
12:00pm-5:00pm – THE GREATEST BBQ
5:00pm – LIGHT AFTER DARKNESS
7:30pm – THE FANTASTIC WORLD OF JUAN OROL
9:30pm – GIMME THE POWER
MON MAY 20
7:30pm – THE SHELTER
9:00pm GALA – SUAVE PATRIA
TUES MAY 21
7:30pm – RICHNESS OF INTERNAL SPACE
9:00pm GALA – TLATELOLCO, SUMMER OF 68
WED MAY 22
7:00pm – CELSO PIÑA, THE ACCORDION REBEL
Ticket prices:
• General admission tickets for regular film screening are $10.
• Opening Night Fiesta Tickets are $25 (Before May 3), $30 (May 4 – 14) and $35 (at the door on May 15). Admission includes film screening and party with food and drinks (Must be 21 and over to drink alcoholic beverages).
• Closing Night Screening and Concert are $30. Admission includes film screening and Celso Piña concert. Light appetizers and cash bar (Must be 21 and over to drink alcoholic beverages).
• La Gran Parrillada tickets are $40. Admission includes Food, spirits and wine tasting.
• Viva Mezcal tickets are $45. Ticket includes dinner with Chef Rodolfo Castellanos and Mezcal tasting.
• DishLATINO Film Festival Pass is $160.00. The pass includes all festival films including opening and closing events.
• Festival Pass is $190.00. It includes all film and Food events, excluding Viva Mezcal.
• VIP Festival Pass $220.00. It includes all festival events and priority seating at regular film screenings.
See www.holamexicofest.com for a complete schedule and ticket information. Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/holamexicoff and on Twitter: @HolaMexicoFF.
