Carlos Carrera’s “Backyard” (“El Transpatio”), Mexico’s official entry in the 2009 Oscar foreign-language film category, will be the closing night attraction at the 14th Los Angeles International Film Festival, which will screen films from 20 countries during its run from August 19 through August 25 at the Mann Chinese 6 theaters in Hollywood.
Carrerea’s film (photo below), which stars Jimmy Smits, Ana de la Reguera and Joaquin Cosio, is a fictionalized version of an investigation into a series of murders of young women in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
Other films that will screen at the festival include the drama “Bedrooms,” a collaborative work from directors Youssef Delara, Michael D. Olmos and Victor Teran; the Columbian Oscar entry “Los Viajes del Viento” (“The Wind Journeys”); and the Cannes Directors Fortnight selection “Navidad” (“Christmas”).
The festival will also mark the west coast premiere of William Wedig’s “Forged,” which stars Manny Perez as an ex-con trying to make a new life.
The Latino Public Broadcasting Showcase section will highlight documentaries produced by Latinos and focused on the Latino community around the world.
As part of an ongoing mission to preserve Latino cinematic history by restoring and archiving one film each year, the festival has this year helped restore the Puerto Rican classic “Dios Los Cria.” LALIFF is the only Latino film festival to have its films preserved by the Academy Film Archive.
Tickets go on sale on Tuesday. Information is available at latinofilm.org.
From the LALIFF press release, here are the features screening at the festival:
Narrative films:
BEDROOMS (USA)
Dir: Youssef Delara, Michael D. Olmos, Victor Teran
CHAMACO (THE KID) (Mexico)
Dir: Miguel Necoechea
CONTRACORRIENTE (UNDERTOW) (Peru, Colombia)
Dir: Javier Fuentes-Leon
CUESTION DE PRINCIPIOS (A MATTER OF PRINCIPLES) (Argentina)
Dir: Rodrigo Grande
DIOS LOS CRIA (FACADE) Puerto Rico)
Dir: Jacobo Morales
È PROBIDO FUMAR (SMOKE GETS IN YOUR EYES) (Brazil)
Dir: Anna Muylaert
EYES WIDE OPEN (Uruguay, France)
Dir: Gonzalo Arijón
FORGED (USA)
Dir: William Wedig
GO FOR IT! (USA)
Dir: Carmen Marron
HABANA EVA (Cuba, Venezuela, France)
Dir: Fina Torres
HERMAFRODITA (Dominican Republic)
Dir: Albert Xavier
LOS VIAJES DEL VIENTO (THE WIND JOURNEYS) (Colombia)
Dir: Ciro Guerra
LULA, O FILHO DO BRASIL (LULA, THE SON OF BRAZIL) (Brazil)
Dir: Fabio Barreto
MAL DIA PARA PESCAR (BAD DAY TO GO FISHING) (Spain, Uruguay)
Dir: Alvaro Bechner
MEMORIAS DEL DESARROLLO (MEMORIES OF OVERDEVELOPMENT) (USA/Cuba)
Dir: Miguel Coyula
NAVIDAD (CHRISTMAS) (Chile, France)
Dir: Sebastián Leilo
OVEJA NEGRA ((BLACK SHEEP) Mexico, Spain)
Dir: Humberto Hinojosa Ozcariz
RABIA (SPAIN, COLOMBIA, MEXICO)
DIR: Sebastian Cordero
RETRATOS EN UN MAR DE MENTIRAS (PORTRAITS IN A SEA OF LIES) (Colombia)
Dir: Carlos Gaviria
TE EXTRANO (I MISS U) (Mexico, Argentina)
Dir: Fabian Hofman
EL TRASPATIO (BACKYARD) (Mexico)
Dir: Carlos Carrera
TROPICO DE SANGRE (Dominican Republic)
Dir: Juan Delancer
UN DIA DE SOL (Guatemala)
Dir: Rafael Tres
VIAJO PORQUE PRECISO, VOLTO PORQUE TE AMO (ITRAVEL BECAUSE I HAVE TO, I COME BACK BECAUSE I LOVE YOU) (Brazil)
Dir: Karim Ainouz, Marcelo Gomes
LA YUMA (Nicaragua)
Dir: Florence Jaugey
Documentaries:
CRUZ REYNOSO: SOWING THE SEEDS OF JUSTICE (USA)
Dir: Abby Ginsberg
EL AMBULANTE (THE PEDDLER) (Argentina)
Dir: Eduardo del la Serna, Lucas Marcheggiano, Adriana Yurcovivh
EL ANALON – A MAVERICK HUMANITARIAN CONSUELO ALBA (USA)
Dir: Consuelo Alba
ENTRE A LUZ E A SOMBRA (Brazil)
Dir: Luciana Burlamaqui
HARVEST OF LONELINESS: THE BRACERO PROGRAM (COSECHA TRISTE) (USA)
Dir: Gilbert Gonzalez, Vivian Price
IMMIGRANT NATION (USA)
Dir: Esaú Meléndez
ONLY WHEN I DANCE (Brazil, UK)
Dir: Beadie Finzi
SEQUESTRO (KIDNAPPING) (Brazil)
Dir: Jorge Wolney Atalla
THE STORM THAT SWEPT MEXICO (USA)
Dir: Ray Telles
TIEMPO DE LEYENDA (Spain)
Dir: José Sánchez-Montes González
TIN TAN (Mexico)
Dir: Francesco Tabeada Tabone
WOMEN WITH ALTITUDE (USA)
Dir: Sarah Vaill