Opening night for the 14th annual Cine las Americas Film Festival was Thursday, April 21st, at the Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar, featuring two films. At 7pm, Eugenio del Bosque, Executive Director of Cine las Americas, welcomed viewers to the festival and the first night of films and parties.
Del Bosque introduced the feature film from Guatemala, Marimbas del Infierno (Marimbas from Hell), by director Julio Hernandez Cordon, has been screened at four film festivals prior to coming to Austin and won Best Picture at the 2011 Miami International Film Festival-Ibero American Competition and the Morelia International Film Festival.
The comedy/drama was funny in some scenes, in particular the character Blacko with long hair who is supposedly a doctor, but avid rocker at heart and has a history of trying out different spiritual beliefs. It was sad to see the unemployment and homelessness faced by Don Alonso, but he was determined not to give up his life as a musician with the marimba that has been his lifelong friend. Marimba and heavy metal fusion is not heard of before, but hey, they give it a shot to make it work. With no where else to go, the creative juices flow.
Although I did like the opening film, I am definitely more drawn to the first film screened in the Narrative Feature Competition, Retratos en un mar de mentiras (Portraits in a Sea of Lies) by director Carlos Gaviria. A native of Colombia, Gaviria is a graduate of the film department of New York University. He has worked as a cinematographer in films and television series.
The cinematography in Colombia is beautiful, capturing the beauty of the country and the story shows both the joys and extreme opposite, the violence that changes lives forever. The acting is very good, in particular, the young actress who performs as the protagonist, Marina.
I think this film would make a good one to have theatrical release in the U. S. and would be well received. I wish the best for it in the competition during the festival. For more information on the film, please visit www.retratosenunmardementiras.com
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