It was 4 a.m. when Carlos Contreras showed up at the Moody Theater in Austin, Texas — more than 16 hours before cover-star Peso Pluma took the stage for Rolling Stone’s second annual Future of Music SXSW showcase.
The avid concert-goer arrived early to make sure he was the first in line, and it paid off. By midday, the line for the showcase was several blocks long; in the evening, it reached an estimated four-mile length. Not only did Contreras’ dedication help him snag a great view of the performance, he also managed to meet Peso.
The avid concert-goer arrived early to make sure he was the first in line, and it paid off. By midday, the line for the showcase was several blocks long; in the evening, it reached an estimated four-mile length. Not only did Contreras’ dedication help him snag a great view of the performance, he also managed to meet Peso.
- 3/15/2024
- by Maya Georgi
- Rollingstone.com
Exclusive: Filmmaking brothers Carlos Contreras and Ernesto Contreras have partnered for the immigrant drama Crossing Borders for Latitude Media and Wink Pictures.
Based on a true story, the film follows a 14-year-old immigrant who flees rape and abuse in her native Guatemala. While in Florida, she gives birth to a premature baby and is later wrongfully charged with the murder of the child. A young female lawyer takes on the case and fights for years against stereotypes, systemic racism and a corrupt system to bring vindication to the young woman. Carlos Carlos Contreras wrote the script while Ernesto Contreras will direct.
“What fascinates me about this story is seeing a person slowly discover the depth of her commitment to finding justice, to doing what is right,” said Carlos Contreras of the very timely story of immigrants and social justice. “She becomes a hero without ever setting out to be one,...
Based on a true story, the film follows a 14-year-old immigrant who flees rape and abuse in her native Guatemala. While in Florida, she gives birth to a premature baby and is later wrongfully charged with the murder of the child. A young female lawyer takes on the case and fights for years against stereotypes, systemic racism and a corrupt system to bring vindication to the young woman. Carlos Carlos Contreras wrote the script while Ernesto Contreras will direct.
“What fascinates me about this story is seeing a person slowly discover the depth of her commitment to finding justice, to doing what is right,” said Carlos Contreras of the very timely story of immigrants and social justice. “She becomes a hero without ever setting out to be one,...
- 7/7/2020
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Netflix is teaming with Narcos producer Dynamo on its first Colombian original series, set to debut worldwide on the internet entertainment service in 2019. Oscar-nominated Ciro Guerra (Embrace of the Serpent, Birds of Passage) will executive produce. Production is slated to begin summer 2018. Written by Carlos Contreras (El Chapo, I Dream In Another Language), the as-yet untitled series will follow a young detective and her partner deep into the Amazon, on the border of…...
- 11/22/2017
- Deadline TV
Two Dutch Latino coproductions which premiered in Sundance were produced by Raymond van der Kaaij: I Dream in Another Language/ Sueño en otro idioma and Don’t Swallow My Heart, Alligator Girl, a coproduction of The Netherlands, Brazil and Paraguay. Van der Kaaij also produced the award-winning hybrid drama Bodkin Ras and coproduced the U.K. indie hit Love & Friendship.
In a way I Dream in Another Language (U.S.: Filmrise, Isa: Mundial), an intriguing film about saving an aborigine language and love, actually began at the Amsterdam based Binger Institut, now a privately funded development workshop. Back in 2010 it was publically funded by the Dutch Ministry of Culture and was headed by Marten Rabarts who is now head of international film promotion for the Eye Institut, The Netherlands fabulous new film museum, archive and educational hub built on newly reclaimed land behind the train station in Amsterdam,...
In a way I Dream in Another Language (U.S.: Filmrise, Isa: Mundial), an intriguing film about saving an aborigine language and love, actually began at the Amsterdam based Binger Institut, now a privately funded development workshop. Back in 2010 it was publically funded by the Dutch Ministry of Culture and was headed by Marten Rabarts who is now head of international film promotion for the Eye Institut, The Netherlands fabulous new film museum, archive and educational hub built on newly reclaimed land behind the train station in Amsterdam,...
- 7/31/2017
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
I Dream In Another Language (Sueño en otro idioma) FilmRise Director: Ernesto Contreras Written by: Carlos Contreras Cast: Fernando Álvarez Rebeil, Eligio Meléndez, Manuel Poncelis, Fátima Molina Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 7/20/17 Opens: July 28, 2017 Latin is considered a dead language but compared to Zikril, the idiom of the Church would be almost […]
The post I Dream in Another Language Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post I Dream in Another Language Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 7/27/2017
- by Harvey Karten
- ShockYa
What a surprising city Rotterdam is and the Festival and Cinemart are full of surprises too.
Being in The Netherlands is like a homecoming for me. My first major job in the film industry was with 20th Century Fox International and City Fox Films in Amsterdam in 1975 which is when I first attended the International Film Festival of Rotterdam, three years after its founding by Huub Bals. It was much smaller then. Iffr’s logo is a tiger, loosely based on the M.G.M. lion as an alternative. From the beginning, the festival has profiled itself as a promoter of alternative, innovative and non-commercial films, with an emphasis on the Far East and developing countries. It has become one of the most important events in the film world, an integral part of the winter circuit of Sundance, Rotterdam and Berlin Film Festivals.
“Fox and HIs Friends”
Except for my...
Being in The Netherlands is like a homecoming for me. My first major job in the film industry was with 20th Century Fox International and City Fox Films in Amsterdam in 1975 which is when I first attended the International Film Festival of Rotterdam, three years after its founding by Huub Bals. It was much smaller then. Iffr’s logo is a tiger, loosely based on the M.G.M. lion as an alternative. From the beginning, the festival has profiled itself as a promoter of alternative, innovative and non-commercial films, with an emphasis on the Far East and developing countries. It has become one of the most important events in the film world, an integral part of the winter circuit of Sundance, Rotterdam and Berlin Film Festivals.
“Fox and HIs Friends”
Except for my...
- 3/8/2017
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Films and projects travel from Sundance to Rotterdam and Rotterdam’s love affair with Latin America becomes apparent.
Making their way from Sundance to Rotterdam, “Lemon” was Opening Night in the International Film Festival Rotterdam, Sloan Prize Winner “Marjorie Prime” played in Voices while director Michael Almereyda was on the Jury of the Hivos Tiger Competition. His documentary, “Escapes” also played in the Regained section of the festival.
“Marjorie Prime”: Director Michael Almereyda, Lois Smith and Jon Hamm
“Chile’s “Family Life” by Alicia Scherson and Cristian Jimenez, Singapore’s “Pop Aye”, “Lady Macbeth” and “Sami Blood” all screened here after premiering in Sundance as well.
Pop Aye director Kirsten Tan won the Big Screen Competition and in addition to the cash prize may also count on a guaranteed release in Dutch cinemas and on TV.
“The Wound” by John Trengove has even longer legs, reaching from Sundance World...
Making their way from Sundance to Rotterdam, “Lemon” was Opening Night in the International Film Festival Rotterdam, Sloan Prize Winner “Marjorie Prime” played in Voices while director Michael Almereyda was on the Jury of the Hivos Tiger Competition. His documentary, “Escapes” also played in the Regained section of the festival.
“Marjorie Prime”: Director Michael Almereyda, Lois Smith and Jon Hamm
“Chile’s “Family Life” by Alicia Scherson and Cristian Jimenez, Singapore’s “Pop Aye”, “Lady Macbeth” and “Sami Blood” all screened here after premiering in Sundance as well.
Pop Aye director Kirsten Tan won the Big Screen Competition and in addition to the cash prize may also count on a guaranteed release in Dutch cinemas and on TV.
“The Wound” by John Trengove has even longer legs, reaching from Sundance World...
- 2/8/2017
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
The 2017 Sundance Film Festival is coming to a close with tonight’s awards ceremony. While we’ll have our personal favorites coming early this week, the jury and audience have responded with theirs, topped by Macon Blair‘s I don’t feel at home in this world anymore., which will arrive on Netflix in late February, and the documentary Dina. Check out the full list of winners below see our complete coverage here.
The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary was presented by Larry Wilmore to:
Dina / U.S.A. (Directors: Dan Sickles, Antonio Santini) — An eccentric suburban woman and a Walmart door-greeter navigate their evolving relationship in this unconventional love story.
The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented by Peter Dinklage to:
I don’t feel at home in this world anymore. / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Macon Blair) — When a depressed woman is burglarized, she...
The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary was presented by Larry Wilmore to:
Dina / U.S.A. (Directors: Dan Sickles, Antonio Santini) — An eccentric suburban woman and a Walmart door-greeter navigate their evolving relationship in this unconventional love story.
The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented by Peter Dinklage to:
I don’t feel at home in this world anymore. / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Macon Blair) — When a depressed woman is burglarized, she...
- 1/29/2017
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
“I don’t have religion, but if I did it would be probably be the Sundance labs,” said “Patti Cake$”writer/director Geremy Jasper.
“Patti Cake$” is one 20 films premiering this week at the Sundance Film Festival that got their start, at least in part, at the Sundance Institute. (In Jasper’s case, he participated in both the Feature Film Screenwriting and Directing labs.)
The labs are the highest-profile aspect of the Institute. Filmmakers find it invaluable to be in Utah for two to three weeks, removed from their day to day concerns and immersed in their films while getting advice from some of the most talented instructors and filmmakers in the world. In Jasper’s case, the first person he sat down with to discuss the problems in his script’s second act was none other than his hero Quentin Tarantino, who workshopped “Reservoir Dogs” at the Sundance Labs 25 years ago.
“Patti Cake$” is one 20 films premiering this week at the Sundance Film Festival that got their start, at least in part, at the Sundance Institute. (In Jasper’s case, he participated in both the Feature Film Screenwriting and Directing labs.)
The labs are the highest-profile aspect of the Institute. Filmmakers find it invaluable to be in Utah for two to three weeks, removed from their day to day concerns and immersed in their films while getting advice from some of the most talented instructors and filmmakers in the world. In Jasper’s case, the first person he sat down with to discuss the problems in his script’s second act was none other than his hero Quentin Tarantino, who workshopped “Reservoir Dogs” at the Sundance Labs 25 years ago.
- 1/22/2017
- by Chris O'Falt
- Indiewire
I have spent two days at a great new film residency program in Mexico. Tepoztlan is a village an hour out of Mexico City and home to many filmmakers and artists. Pueblo Magico offers a three week workshop for first and second time filmmakers. It was founded by Flavio Florencio whose own first feature, the award winning transgender doc “Made in Bangkok” will screen at the Palm Springs Film Festival this coming January.
Read more about “Made in Bangkok” when covered at Guadalajara Film Festival L.A.
“I launched this residency because I realized there was a need for such a space for budding filmmakers where they can be free of distractions and pressure,” said its founder, Flavio Florencio. Florencio also founded the Human Rights Film Festival and the African Film Festivals, Africalal in Mexico.
Within 48 hours after opening the first call for entries for the three week workshop (October 17 to November 5), 120 projects from a dozen countries were received and reviewed by the selection committee that included Florencio, Guanajauto Festival Programming Director Nina Rodriguez and cinematographer Maria Secco. “The projects were so interesting that we have accepted more than the requisite eight this year,” said Florencio.
Projects of the 10 residents included eight fiction features and two docs, the bulk of them debuts. Five projects were from Mexico:
The two favorites (voting was by mentors who also attended the event) include the debut film project of Florian Seufert (Germany), the fiction feature, “Dragonflies Don’t Die”. Florian gathered his family to celebrate his parents 30th anniversary and his own 28th birthday on the same day. The footage already shot shows an atmospheric and mysterious world set within the ordinary confines of the large family celebration.
The “runner up” is the second fiction feature of Mauricio Lopez Fernandez (Chile), “La Jauria” in which a pack of dogs kill a herd of cows in a remote Andean hamlet, forcing village elders to make a sacrifice for the future of their youth. The film is still in early development. Mauricio's short film "La Santa" (2012) premiered at Berlinale Shorts and was a finalist for the Teddy Award. His first feature film, "The Guest" ("La Visita") won Best Picture and Best Actress at the Rencontres du cinema Sud-American de Marseilles et Region 2015 and was nominated Best Latin American Film at San Sebastian Film Festival 2015..
The winner receives post-production services, prestige, honor and glory!
Other debuts included:
Faride Schroeder (Mexico)
“Por el Amor a mi Madre” (fiction)
A young teen realizes her mother is an imperfect and vulnerable human being. Faride has served as second assistant director on “The Noble Family” and “Soy Negro” now in post.
Luis Horacio Pineda (Mexico)
“La Cosecha de los Naranjos” (fiction)
A group of teens affected by a fire 15 years ago in the nursery school Guarderia ABC seek revenge upon those responsible for it.
Luis now lives in Los Angeles where he is seeking to establish roots.
Alexander Albrecht (Switzerland)
“Brooklyn Treehouse” (fiction)
This is the story of four young creatives who come to New York; and through their experience of sharing an apartment with a eccentric French artist, they are pushed to make decisions about their own lives.
Produced by Edher Campos from Machete Producciones ("La Jaula de Oro", "Año Bisiesto")
Veronika Mliczewska (Poland)
“Where the Grass is Greener” (fiction)
A Jamaican dreams of living in Ethiopia while an Ethiopian family sends their son to London to seek a better life.
Antonella Sudasassi (Costa Rica)
“El Despertar de la Hormigas” (fiction)
A young mother who questions what she wants for the first time starts taking birth control pills without telling her husband. Pitting her will against social expectations and the fear of being discovered slowlysubmerge her into a state of psychosis with hallucinatory episodes that portray her feeling of guilt, her relationship with her body and sexuality.
Those with second film projects:
Mak Chun Kit (Singapore)
“Huruma” (docu)
Documentarian Mak Chun Kit returns to Tanzania eight years after he volunteered in an orphanage to find out how his friends there have fared.
Pablo Perez Lombardini (Mexico)
“Los Suenos de Geronimo” (fiction)
A seven-year-old boy runs away to seek answers about his father’s death and comes upon a haunted village in the desert.
Maria Fernanda Galindo (Mexico)
“Defensores” (docu)
Two women fight to defend the rights of a group of women who seek the escape the misogyny of their communities.
The program will be offered three times a year for three weeks at a time. The next one is scheduled for March 2016. “We’d like to focus on American indie filmmakers then, as few applied this time,” said Florencio.
In our time, the idea of slowing down is ever more attractive, more important and more difficult. This is a program which offers time for that. “ Pueblo Magico offers its residents a less frenetic pace and a less impersonal approach to developing their projects, with time to enjoy the beauty of their surroundings, visit the pueblo and hang out with mentors,” he added. The serious business of relaxation was led by yogi Namhari teaching meditation and yoga.
It is not by chance that the filmmakers find their needs fulfilled. Their needs are determined first and then the right mentors are found just for them. “If necessary, we’ll find not just film professionals but scientists, shamans or whatever sources they need,” said Florencio.
Mentors this session included Mexican producers Laura Imperiale,Christian Valdelievre and Nicolas Celis; screenwriter Carlos Contreras; Danish directing and acting coach Birgitte Staermose, festival pros/ consultants Mara Fortes, Christine Davila and Blanca Granados and yours truly, Sydney Levine, giving the closing presentation about the international film circuit, what it is exactly and how to enter its charmed circle of networking and screening opportunities.
A Master Class was given by Fernando Trueba, producer of the 2000 classic doc “Calle 54”, writer of the beautiful “Belle Epoque”, writer and director of the fabulous animated music feature “ Chico and Rita”. Residents also made a trip to D.F. for a private screenwriting session with Guillermo Arriaga.
The master class of Nicolas Celis who has formed a coproduction entity with trend setter Jim Stark (producer of Jim Jarmusch’s first films and films of Icelandic filmmaker Fredrik Fredrikson) will be the subject of an upcoming blog.
And soon, a call will be made to first and second time American indie filmmakers to come this March to Tepoztlan.
Read more about “Made in Bangkok” when covered at Guadalajara Film Festival L.A.
“I launched this residency because I realized there was a need for such a space for budding filmmakers where they can be free of distractions and pressure,” said its founder, Flavio Florencio. Florencio also founded the Human Rights Film Festival and the African Film Festivals, Africalal in Mexico.
Within 48 hours after opening the first call for entries for the three week workshop (October 17 to November 5), 120 projects from a dozen countries were received and reviewed by the selection committee that included Florencio, Guanajauto Festival Programming Director Nina Rodriguez and cinematographer Maria Secco. “The projects were so interesting that we have accepted more than the requisite eight this year,” said Florencio.
Projects of the 10 residents included eight fiction features and two docs, the bulk of them debuts. Five projects were from Mexico:
The two favorites (voting was by mentors who also attended the event) include the debut film project of Florian Seufert (Germany), the fiction feature, “Dragonflies Don’t Die”. Florian gathered his family to celebrate his parents 30th anniversary and his own 28th birthday on the same day. The footage already shot shows an atmospheric and mysterious world set within the ordinary confines of the large family celebration.
The “runner up” is the second fiction feature of Mauricio Lopez Fernandez (Chile), “La Jauria” in which a pack of dogs kill a herd of cows in a remote Andean hamlet, forcing village elders to make a sacrifice for the future of their youth. The film is still in early development. Mauricio's short film "La Santa" (2012) premiered at Berlinale Shorts and was a finalist for the Teddy Award. His first feature film, "The Guest" ("La Visita") won Best Picture and Best Actress at the Rencontres du cinema Sud-American de Marseilles et Region 2015 and was nominated Best Latin American Film at San Sebastian Film Festival 2015..
The winner receives post-production services, prestige, honor and glory!
Other debuts included:
Faride Schroeder (Mexico)
“Por el Amor a mi Madre” (fiction)
A young teen realizes her mother is an imperfect and vulnerable human being. Faride has served as second assistant director on “The Noble Family” and “Soy Negro” now in post.
Luis Horacio Pineda (Mexico)
“La Cosecha de los Naranjos” (fiction)
A group of teens affected by a fire 15 years ago in the nursery school Guarderia ABC seek revenge upon those responsible for it.
Luis now lives in Los Angeles where he is seeking to establish roots.
Alexander Albrecht (Switzerland)
“Brooklyn Treehouse” (fiction)
This is the story of four young creatives who come to New York; and through their experience of sharing an apartment with a eccentric French artist, they are pushed to make decisions about their own lives.
Produced by Edher Campos from Machete Producciones ("La Jaula de Oro", "Año Bisiesto")
Veronika Mliczewska (Poland)
“Where the Grass is Greener” (fiction)
A Jamaican dreams of living in Ethiopia while an Ethiopian family sends their son to London to seek a better life.
Antonella Sudasassi (Costa Rica)
“El Despertar de la Hormigas” (fiction)
A young mother who questions what she wants for the first time starts taking birth control pills without telling her husband. Pitting her will against social expectations and the fear of being discovered slowlysubmerge her into a state of psychosis with hallucinatory episodes that portray her feeling of guilt, her relationship with her body and sexuality.
Those with second film projects:
Mak Chun Kit (Singapore)
“Huruma” (docu)
Documentarian Mak Chun Kit returns to Tanzania eight years after he volunteered in an orphanage to find out how his friends there have fared.
Pablo Perez Lombardini (Mexico)
“Los Suenos de Geronimo” (fiction)
A seven-year-old boy runs away to seek answers about his father’s death and comes upon a haunted village in the desert.
Maria Fernanda Galindo (Mexico)
“Defensores” (docu)
Two women fight to defend the rights of a group of women who seek the escape the misogyny of their communities.
The program will be offered three times a year for three weeks at a time. The next one is scheduled for March 2016. “We’d like to focus on American indie filmmakers then, as few applied this time,” said Florencio.
In our time, the idea of slowing down is ever more attractive, more important and more difficult. This is a program which offers time for that. “ Pueblo Magico offers its residents a less frenetic pace and a less impersonal approach to developing their projects, with time to enjoy the beauty of their surroundings, visit the pueblo and hang out with mentors,” he added. The serious business of relaxation was led by yogi Namhari teaching meditation and yoga.
It is not by chance that the filmmakers find their needs fulfilled. Their needs are determined first and then the right mentors are found just for them. “If necessary, we’ll find not just film professionals but scientists, shamans or whatever sources they need,” said Florencio.
Mentors this session included Mexican producers Laura Imperiale,Christian Valdelievre and Nicolas Celis; screenwriter Carlos Contreras; Danish directing and acting coach Birgitte Staermose, festival pros/ consultants Mara Fortes, Christine Davila and Blanca Granados and yours truly, Sydney Levine, giving the closing presentation about the international film circuit, what it is exactly and how to enter its charmed circle of networking and screening opportunities.
A Master Class was given by Fernando Trueba, producer of the 2000 classic doc “Calle 54”, writer of the beautiful “Belle Epoque”, writer and director of the fabulous animated music feature “ Chico and Rita”. Residents also made a trip to D.F. for a private screenwriting session with Guillermo Arriaga.
The master class of Nicolas Celis who has formed a coproduction entity with trend setter Jim Stark (producer of Jim Jarmusch’s first films and films of Icelandic filmmaker Fredrik Fredrikson) will be the subject of an upcoming blog.
And soon, a call will be made to first and second time American indie filmmakers to come this March to Tepoztlan.
- 11/6/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Sundance Institute and Mahindra announced the winners of the inaugural Sundance Institute-Mahindra Global Filmmaking Award last night. Bogdan Mustata,Wolf from Romania; Ernesto Contreras, I Dream In Another Language from Mexico; Seng Tat Liew, In What City Does It Live? from Malaysia; and Talya Lavie, Zero Motivation from Israel are the winning directors and projects.
One of the four award recipients will be an Indian director from 2012.
The four winning filmmakers will receive a cash award each of $10,000, attendance at the Sundance Film Festival for targeted industry and creative meetings, year-round mentoring from Institute staff and creative advisors, participation in a Feature Film Program Lab, and ongoing creative and strategic support. The awards were presented at a private ceremony at the ongoing Sundance Film Festival in Utah.
This award comes as part of a three-year agreement between Sundance Institute and Mahindra. It also includes the establishment of a Screenwriters Lab...
One of the four award recipients will be an Indian director from 2012.
The four winning filmmakers will receive a cash award each of $10,000, attendance at the Sundance Film Festival for targeted industry and creative meetings, year-round mentoring from Institute staff and creative advisors, participation in a Feature Film Program Lab, and ongoing creative and strategic support. The awards were presented at a private ceremony at the ongoing Sundance Film Festival in Utah.
This award comes as part of a three-year agreement between Sundance Institute and Mahindra. It also includes the establishment of a Screenwriters Lab...
- 1/26/2011
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
- One week before the masses descend upon Sundance’s 25th, a dozen projects will get combed over by some people not wearing white coats -- the Screenwriters Lab matches future voices of cinema with contemporary folk who’ve paved the way before them. This year’s lab projects includes Todd Rohal's newest project after the Diy success of The Guatemalan Handshake, Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman's Allen Ginsberg project titled Howl, and Mishna Wolff takes her forthcoming book release (I’m Down) and makes a screenplay out of it. Here’s a Cc of the press release of the projects and the lucky creators behind them. The projects selected for the 2009 January Screenwriters Lab are: Beasts Of The Southern Wild /Benh Zeitlin (co-writer/director) and Lucy Alibar (co-writer), U.S.A. Fuga Mortis /Kirill Mikhanovsky (writer/director), U.S.A./Russia Howl /Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman (co-writers/co-directors), U.
- 12/15/2008
- IONCINEMA.com
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