The San Diego Latino Film Festival continues the 10th Annual 2009 Cinema en Tu Idioma Film Series showcasing two critically acclaimed Latin American feature films. This month will feature screenings of the Argentinean film LEONERA and the Chilean film TONY MANERO, October 9-15 at UltraStar Mission Valley Cinemas at Hazard Center (off 163 Freeway & Friars Rd.). Cinema en tu Idioma is funded in part by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.
Lion’s Den/Leonera. Directed by Pablo Trapero (Mundo Grua, Nacido y Criado, El Bonaerense, Familia Rodante). Starring Rodrigo Santoro (Lost, Che Part 1 & 2, 300, Caran-diru) and Martina Gusman.
Produced by Walter Salles (Motorcycle Diaries, Central Station), Leonera, the official Argentinean selection for the Cannes Festival, tells the story of Julia, a 25 year-old university student, two weeks pregnant, with no criminal record, who wakes up one morning surrounded by the bloody corpses of her lovers- Ramiro and Nahuel. Charged with murder, she is sent to prison to wait for trial. Her fellow inmate Marta becomes her ally; her mother Sofía, her opponent. The duel between Julia and her mother expresses the dilemma of what is better for the child, to be brought up next to his mother in prison, or without her, but in freedom. This story addresses motherhood, love, confinement, justice and hope; but above all it deals with Julia and her son, Tomas, as she struggles to raise her son from prison.
Tony Manero. Directed by Pablo Larrain (Fuga – SDLFF 07).
Scarface meets Saturday Night Fever in this critically acclaimed Chilean film. In the midst of the tough social context of Pinochet’s dictatorship, Raúl Peralta, a man in his fifties, is obsessed with the idea of impersonating Tony Manero, John Travolta’s character in Saturday Night Fever. Dreaming of winning a Tony Manero look-and-dance-alike contest, Raul devotes most of his time to perfecting his act. But his urge to reproduce his idols likeness drives him to commit a series of crimes and thefts.
Tickets are $9.50 General Audiences / $7.50 Students and seniors. Individual tickets can be purchased prior to each screening at the UltraStar Mission Valley Cinemas at Hazard Center box office (7510 Hazard Center Dr., SD, CA 92108).