Posted by Elena del Valle on July 12, 2021
Filmmaker Karla Legaspy
Photo: Betsy Martinez
A podcast interview with filmmaker Karla Legaspy is available in the Podcast Section of Hispanic Marketing and Public Relations, HispanicMPR.com. She discusses her short film The Daily War with Elena del Valle, host of the HispanicMPR.com podcast.
Karla is a Los Angeles based director and producer. She is a Two-Spirit MeXicana content creator, actor and film programmer. She is the writer, director and producer of the short film Gold Star, winner of the Latino Public Broadcasting New Media Grant and the 2016 People’s Choice Award for the PBS Short Film Festival. Karla co-produced AdeRisa Productions feature film Bruising for Besos about domestic violence in a lesbian community.
To listen to the interview, scroll down and click on the play button below. You can listen by looking for “Podcast” then select “HMPR Karla Legaspy” and download the MP3 file to your audio player. You can also find it on the RSS feed. To download it, click on the arrow of the recording you wish to copy and save it to disk. The podcast will remain listed in the July 2021 section of the podcast archive.
Posted by Elena del Valle on June 30, 2021
The Latino Experience (from left to right) shorts: Body and Spirit in Times of the Pandemic, Pasos de Valor and The Blue Cape.
Video, photo: PBS SoCal
Southern California PBS station PBS SoCal and KCET is scheduled to air The Latino Experience, a three-part series of short films in English and Spanish, by Latino filmmakers beginning Tuesday July 6 and Wednesday July 7 at 9 p.m. P.T. Five of the 13 films were made by Southern California-based filmmakers. Two of the short films, Body and Spirit in Times of Pandemic; and The Daily War, are set in and around Los Angeles. Scroll down to watch a video trailer of The Daily War.
What criteria was used in selecting the films? “PBS announced a call for submissions for scripted and unscripted projects of all subjects, but were particularly interested in projects that focused on contemporary Latino/a/x culture produced and created by Latino/a/x persons,” a PBS spokesperson responded by email. Filmmakers were eligible for support grants between $5,000 and $25,000. She explained that “Successful submissions needed to include: a clear story arc; confirmed access to the story and participants; a unique perspective on contemporary Latino/a/x culture; an engaging formal and aesthetic approach.”
According to a press release the films for the series were selected ”by a panel of experienced filmmakers” from entries received by PBS following a call for submissions in August 2020. The press release also indicated “The shorts received funding support as well as a national broadcast as part of the series.” The names of the judges and their affiliations were not identified. Bill Gardner and Wendy Llinas are listed as executives in charge for PBS for the series.
When asked what channels PBS used to announce its search for submissions the PBS spokesperson said,”PBS announced the project on PBS.org, through social media, and through their network of member stations. In addition, PBS producing partners such as Latino Public Broadcasting and NALIP also shared the announcement.”
PBS received more than 240 entries. PBS decision makers expanded the series to three hours from the two-hour special they had planned to accommodate “the overwhelming response to the call for submissions.”
When asked to identify the source(s) of funding (public, private, which grants) the spokesperson replied, “The Latino Experience was funded by PBS. Additional funders contributed to the production of some of the individual films.”
Some of the films of the series are: The Blue Cape written, directed and produced by Alejandra López and produced by María José Delgado; Body and Spirit in Times of Pandemic directed and produced by Andrés Caballero; Pasos de Valor written, directed and produced by Natalia C. Bell; The Daily War, a co-production with Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB), directed and produced by Karla Legaspy and co-produced and written by Adelina Anthony; Noche Buena written, directed and produced by Andres Rovira. It was also produced by (and starring) Ray Tezanos.
Posted by Elena del Valle on June 16, 2021
A scene of Caravan of Death
Photo: Mhz Choice
Beginning this month Caravan of Death (entitled Ecos del Desierto in the original Spanish release) a suspenseful, violent and dark four episode fiction mini-series based on the life of human rights lawyer Carmen Hertz in Spanish with English subtitles, should be available on Mhz Choice, an international streaming service. According to the program credits it was based on the court files of the Caravan of Death case well known in Chile. It recreates a brief period at the end of Hertz and her husband’s life together as well as incidents from 1973 and the military coup that deposed Chile’s president.
The series showcases the work of the lawyer and the tense political situation before and during the Augusto Pinochet era; as well as the human rights violations, rape and murders she accuses the military and the government of committing illegally. Each episode of the mini-series, which according to online source website ChileNovelas Wiki first aired in Chile in 2013, is approximately 50 minutes long. The English subtitles were provided by Mhz Choice. According to promotional materials this is the first Chilean series available on the streaming service.
The series was directed by Andres Wood and produced by Wood Producciones and Chilevision with a mix of actors and archival video from sources such as the Institute National de l’Audiovisual and Chile Films. Actresses, Aline Kuppenheim and Maria Gracia Omagna, portrayed Hertz at two stages of her life. The executive producers were Alejandra Garcia and Carolina Zuñiga and the producer was Alejandro Fernandez.
Posted by Elena del Valle on May 26, 2021
It’s Not A Burden poster
Photo, video: Greenie Films
It’s Not A Burden The Humor and Heartache of Raising Elderly Parents, a new 90-minute documentary from Michelle Boyaner and Greenie Films spotlights the issues faced by the adult children of several elderly people. Some of them are living in assisted living facilities, some with dementia and or debilitating health conditions; some had passed away by the time the film was made. Boyaner and her mother feature prominently, often in video taken in the car. The emotionally charged 2020 film features candid conversations with the adult caregivers and their parents in several locations in California as well as Arizona, Georgia, Massachusetts and New Jersey. Scroll down to watch a short video introduction.
“Sometimes I pretend like she’s somebody else’s mother and that way I can be nicer to her,” Boyaner, who had been estranged from her mother until she made a promise to look after her to her sister, says in the documentary.
A bit later in the documentary one of the adult women who is her mother’s full-time caregiver asks, “Who’s going to take care of me?” when she gets old like her mother since she has no children. The producers found participants among their circle of friends and their friends. When asked about the goal of the documentary a spokesperson explained by phone that they hoped to remind viewers that when they look at their aged parents they remember who they were and that they are still those same people inside.
Made with the fiscal support of The Film Collaborative and Kickstarter funding. The film was written, directed and produced by Emmy®-nominated filmmaker Boyaner (Packed in a Trunk: The Lost Art of Edith Lake Wilkinson). Barbara Green (A Finished Life: The Goodbye and No Regrets Tour) served as cinematographer, editor and producer. Katie Ford (Miss Congeniality) and Wendy Zipes Hunter (Voices of Parkland) were producers. The original score composed by Joanna Katcher (Nice Manners) featuring songs by Danielle Ate The Sandwich. Maxine Lapiduss, Aaron Lustig and Barb Held were executive producers.
Gravitas Ventures (North American), a Red Arrow Studios Company, will distribute the documentary due to be released on video on demand (VOD) in the United States June 1, 2021 on iTunes, Vudu, Google Play, and Vimeo.
Posted by Elena del Valle on May 3, 2021
Tony Hereau, vice president of Cross-Platform Insights, Nielsen
Photo: Nielsen
A podcast interview with Tony Hereau, vice president of Cross-Platform Insights, Nielsen, is available in the Podcast Section of Hispanic Marketing and Public Relations, HispanicMPR.com. He discusses podcast insights with Elena del Valle, host of the HispanicMPR.com podcast.
In his job Tony strives to demonstrate the impact that audio has on media investment, marketing execution, and sales outcomes. He has over 20 years of experience in the buying and selling of media, championed the radio reach story via the Total Audience Report, and most recently developed a measurement service for the podcasting industry.
To listen to the interview, scroll down and click on the play button below. You can listen by looking for “Podcast” then select “HMPR Tony Hereau” and download the MP3 file to your audio player. You can also find it on the RSS feed. To download it, click on the arrow of the recording you wish to copy and save it to disk. The podcast will remain listed in the May 2021 section of the podcast archive.
Posted by Elena del Valle on April 14, 2021
A scene in Missing
Photo: Mhz Choice
Missing, a dark and suspenseful four-part series in Swedish with English subtitles, is available on international streaming website Mhz Choice. The inspector and lead character is played by Helena Bergström. Her character is a police detective originally from the area who now works in the city. Visiting a friend and her daughter she was asked to take over a case after an unexpected event in the police department leaves a void in their ranks.
Each 44-minute episode explores personal relationships as well as an unsolved death and later in the series a disappearance. No copyright free for editorial publication video clip was available. A short description of the series was available: “Police inspector Maja Silver returns to her hometown in the Swedish Bible Belt as a terrible discovery paralyzes the small community.”
Posted by Elena del Valle on March 31, 2021
Joshua calls for help
Photos: David Magdael & Associates
Islands, a debut feature film from Martin Edralin, a Filipino Canadian filmmaker, was released this year. The 90-minute film with English subtitles centers on Joshua, a religious Filipino immigrant to Canada, and his parents whose health is declining.
Islands explores first love in middle-age and duty to parents. Issues of the Filipino diaspora in Canada feature in the background. The film was in the 2021 SXSW Film Festival Narrative Competition. According to promotional materials, it was the first-ever Filipino-language narrative feature to premiere in competition at SXSW. It stars Rogelio Balagtas, Sheila Lotuaco, Esteban Comilang, Vangie Alcasid, Pablo Quiogue, Isys Szuky, and Maximus Szuky; and was produced by Martin Edralin, Priscilla Galvez.
His whole life Joshua, a timid, middle-aged single man, has lived with his parents. He pleads with God to find him a wife and is afraid of being without a love interest. When his mother suddenly passes he quits his job to look after his father full-time. Inexperienced at taking care of anyone, including himself, Joshua struggles with his father’s care. A visiting cousin helps Joshua and his dad, and stirs confused emotions in the single man.
Filmmaker Martin Edralin
A Toronto-based filmmaker Edralin directed Hole, a short film screened at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and 2015 Sundance Film Festival. Hole, won the Grand Prize at Clermont-Ferrand, jury prize at the Seattle International Film Festival, and a Canadian Screen Award. Emma, his second short, was selected among TIFF Canada’s Top Ten and won Best Live Action Short at the Rhode Island International Film Festival.
According to the SXSW Film Festival website Islands received Special Jury Recognition for Breakthrough Performance. The SXSW Film Festival strives “to celebrate raw innovation and emerging talent both behind and in front of the camera.”
Posted by Elena del Valle on March 17, 2021
Awake
Photo: Mhz Choice
Last month Awake, a 16 part series from Lebanon, became available on Mhz Choice, a subscription streaming video on demand service known for its international offerings. According to a press release it is the first Arabic-language release on its platform. Mhz Choice acquired the series from Videoplugger, a United Kingdom distributor. It is in Arabic with English subtitles. The episodes are about 40 minutes long.
Awake, released in 2019, is set in Beirut. It is about Dana (Flavia Bechara), a young woman who wakes up from a coma after twelve years. She is unable to speak or interact with others. Her sisters Lama (Stephanie Atallah) and Jinane (Ruba Zaarour) and family members help her slowly understand what happened to her, unveiling family secrets and how the world has changed. Nadia Tabbara created the series and Mazen Fayad directed it.
Posted by Elena del Valle on December 16, 2020
The Velocipastor poster
Photos: Filmocracy
Established in 2018 Filmocracy offers 2,800 independent films in a variety of genres in shorts, documentaries, feature length and series, except music videos, for an audience mainly between 25 and 40 years of age. The selection includes foreign language films with subtitles. One film, Road To Your Heart, was in Afrikaans without subtitles.
“Filmocracy is the only site that offers virtual film festivals and also rewards users for watching and rating movies,” said Paul Jun, chief executive officer, Filmocracy, by email when asked what makes the streaming platform stand out. “Users earn virtual popcorn which they can spend in our shop on things like gift cards, movie tickets, and festival passes. Most of our subscribers come through the virtual film festivals we host.”
Paul Jun, chief executive officer, Filmocracy
According to the website subscriptions range from free with ads to Festival Premium for $29.99 a month. Most of the 17,000 users are in the United States, mainly Los Angeles and New York, with large user groups in Spain, India, and Brazil, according to Jun.
Eight categories of rating options (Plot, Characters, Cinematography, Performances, Dialogue, Sound/Music and Overall) appeared whenever I paused the videos. A rating number appeared at the top of videos that had been rated. As of this writing a drop down menu at the top of the homepage listed eleven categories. There were also featured films and upcoming virtual film festivals, including the Blastoff Film Festival, DC Chinese Film Festival, Diorama Film Festival, Around Films International Film Festival Barcelona for the remainder of 2020.
The three most watched films in 2020? The Velocipastor, Temp to Perm (disturbing short), and Extra Innings. Top genres in number of films: Drama, Documentary. The company markets mostly on FaceBook, Twitter and YouTube. In addition to Jun the Los Angeles based company is owned by Kasia Jun Kaczmarczyk, Phillip Jun, Pawel Drzewiecki, and Jasper Grey.
Posted by Elena del Valle on November 18, 2020
Graciela Borges is Mara in The Weasel’s Tale (El Cuento de las Comadrejas)
Photo: Outsider Pictures
The Weasel’s Tale (El cuento de las comadrejas), a new suspense film with touches of dark humor and romance, will open in United States theaters December 11, 2020. The unrated film is in Spanish with English subtitles. No video clip file was made available.
Four long-time friends sharing a stately home in Argentina find themselves the victims of an unscrupulous greedy couple seeking to con them out of their home permanently. A Spanish Argentina collaboration copyrighted 2019 the 129-minute film was directed and written by Juan José Campanella (The Secret in Their Eyes). It appears to be a remake of Los muchachos de antes no usaban arsénico, a 1976 film from Argentina by José A. Martínez Suárez.
The film was distributed by Latido in Spain and Outsider Pictures and Strand Releasing in the United States. The cast features Graciela Borges as Mara, Oscar Martínez as Norberto, Luis Brandoni as Pedro, Marcos Mundstock as Martin, Clara Lago Grau as Bárbara, and Nicolas Francella as Francisco.
