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writing for godot

2017 San Diego Latino Film Festival Midweek

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Written by Mukul Khurana   
Friday, 24 March 2017 19:42

Cronicas Españolas is another collection of shorts—this time, from Spain…  As usual, Spanish shorts tend to be on the imaginative and creative side.  This year’s selection includes a diversity of topics.  112 (Dir. Wenceslao Scyzoryk) is the story of an emergency dispatcher on Christmas Eve.  It Girl (Dir. Puig Playa) Sofia becomes a social media star in order to pay for her husband’s medical bills. El Mundo Entero (Dir. Julian Quintanilla) it isn’t a coincidence that the director, writer, and actor have the same name.  Julian the director was in attendance at the 2017 SDLFF.  In this delightful and very positive short, Julian the actor visits his dead mother in the village cemetery every year on her Birthday.  He talks to her.  One particular year, he gets an interesting request…  Nini (Dir. David Moreno) thieves decide to rob a shop that deals in the buying and selling of gold.  Unexpected things happen.

We haven’t talked much about docs.  Tayos (Ecuador, 87 min.) is a fascinating story of caves in Ecuador.  Tucked in the Amazonian Rainforest, these are no ordinary caves.  There are various legends including lost civilizations—even Alien occupation.  Von Daniken is part of the story.  The short is directed by Miguel Garzon.

Also a serious documentary, Tempestad (Mexico, 105 min.) is the story of two different women.  The only thing they have in common is that they are victims of unjust and sad crimes.  One woman is falsely imprisoned and goes through the prison system—in a prison sub-contracted to the Narcos!  The other is a woman whose daughter has been kidnapped by a policeman’s son and his gang!  The women attempt to find justice and won’t give up the fight.  It makes you glad that we don’t have that degree of corruption in America.  However, it isn’t far-fetched to think privatization through.  It might, for instance, be possible for the mafia to incorporate and run a for-profit prison here.  Political decline is in the air.  We need to remain vigilant about our Democratic institutions.  The depiction of such horrifying conditions comes to us courtesy of Tatiana Huezo—the director who does a beautiful job regarding visuals and music.  This is a meditation into the hellish side of real life.

More in terms of shorts—Relatos Latinos (86 min.) go in interesting directions.  If you think that the criminal disposal of bodies is easy, you owe it to yourself to watch Basura (Dir. Juan Silva) from Spain.  This topic shouldn’t be funny, but it is…  Caminan (Dir. Mikel Rueda) is the story of two people searching for similar things meeting in the middle of nowhere.  Even if one of the actors weren’t Maribel Verdu of Y Tu Mama Tambien fame, this would be a nice short to watch.  Hijo por Hijo (Dir. Juan Avella), a short from Venezuela, deals with the time honored story of kidnapping in Latin America.  In this case, there is a wonderful twist.  Sometimes, things turn out well…  Spark (Dir. Juan Martinez Vera) is another short from Venezuela—of a political nature.  Oscar, a student, deals with censorship in his country by coming up with a solution.  Instead of using Internet based technology, he uses a cell phone application utilizing Bluetooth.

Mukul Khurana has been writing about the art and culture scene in San Diego for over a decade.  He specializes in film and theater reviews as well as film festival coverage in general.

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