Leaving politics aside, Rodrigo Reyes looks anew at the brutal beauty of the U.S./Mexico border and the people caught in its spell. The evocative Dantesque essay film reimagines the border as a mythical place exploring the vulnerability of the human soul, the violence man creates and the destruction left in its wake. 

The film opens with Reyes’ own words: “Close your eyes. Try to imagine what the world was like, many, many years ago. Try to imagine when borders did not exist.” His invitation is for us to think about a world where time, wonder and mystery converge seamlessly. He continues, “And then we arrived.” Later, as the camera sweeps across an endless expanse of desert, Reyes adds, “We tore it apart into a thousand pieces. And in the madness that followed, we discovered violence, hate, and finally, separation.” 

In the auteur tradition of caméra-stylo, Purgatorio captures a stunning mosaic of compelling characters, empty edifices and stark landscapes along the border to deliver a haunting meditation and visceral experience. Exposing both the flaws of human nature and the incongruities of the modern world, the filmmaker reflects on questions that are impossible to answer. Reyes’ epic film transforms a treacherous reality into a fable of humanity.

Join NALIP member and alum, writer & director Rodrigo Reyes for an online screening and live chat of PURGATORIO on Tuesday, January 6th at 8p ET/5p PT (click here for more information). In partnership with American Documentary. 

Photograph: Tyler Golden/Tyler Golden/The CW

As traditional audiences move to on-demand services, networks are attempting to appeal to one of America’s last audience of loyal, committed TV watchers: Latinos.

In an internal memo sent to employees on Monday, MSNBC president Phil Griffin outlined his plans to bolster the channel’s viewership. The reason for the change of plan is simple: its audience has hit its lowest point since 2005 and it finished third in cable news behind Fox News and CNN. The decline in tradition television audiences across the board has been affecting cable and network channels since the turn of the decade with former nailed-on winners such as ABC’s Modern Family losing viewers. But the one advantage MSNBC has over its competitors is its ability to attract a diverse audience, and especially Latino viewers.

Latino viewers are an increasingly important demographic for all networks. The Nielsen Company found that Hispanics in the US have over $1 trillion in purchasing power and represent more than half of US population growth between 2000-2010. Bi-lingual homes where both Spanish and English are spoken currently watch about 50% Spanish-language television, while English-dominant Hispanic households watch a mere 3% of Spanish-language TV. In other words, television networks need to win over this audience if they want to make up the shortfall left by formally loyal absconders. But at the moment few networks are catering for Latinos specifically.

“Everybody – cable or broadcast, news or entertainment – lacks the same thing,” says Alex Nogales, president of the National Hispanic Media Center (NHMC), a media advocacy and civil rights organization for the advancement of Latinos. That “thing” is Latino executives who can guide and drive programming and talent decisions to best reach that specific audience. Nogales believes that while every network genuinely wants to have a foothold among Latinos, they continually fail to deliver the type of programming that those audiences want.

“I know they want to do the right thing for the business reasons behind it,” he said. “They see us, they know the numbers – but they haven’t really executed in terms of programming for Latinos.”

And the business reasons Nogales alludes to are significant. Hispanic women in particular represent a particularly sought-after advertising demographic. A 2013 Nielsen report shows that while Hispanics in general represent $1.3 trillion in purchasing power, it is the female members of Hispanic households that are driving purchasing decisions. That purchasing power is expected to reach $1.5 trillion in 2015, with Latinas expected to be 30% of the total female US population by 2060.

Latino viewers are not just critical for cable news, but for scripted programming as well. ABC’s overt attempt to target a Latino viewership with the sitcom Cristela has seen a major ratings win for the network. The show, helmed by comedian Cristela Alonzo, is the number two most-watched new comedy of the fall TV season. (Interestingly, it is ABC’s Black-ish, an attempt to speak directly to African-American viewers, which is the season’s top new comedy). As a result of the NHMC’s Memorandum of Understanding signed by the networks, they are now required to publish annual statistics on diversity and employment. The NHMC also published report cards each year, grading the networks on the presence of diversity shown in scripted and reality programming, as well as in writing, directing, and producing positions. According to the data gathered by the NHMC, Latinos made up 8% of regular characters on primetime broadcast scripted new and returning series in the fall 2013 television season. Furthermore, Latinos were only 3% of guests in cable news shows, Latino TV writers are underrepresented by a factor of four to one, and Latino TV producers are underrepresented five to one at the executive producer level, and nearly 30% of all television shows have no minority writers on staff.

But when it comes to increasing viewers, the need for securing a Latino audience is not just a politically correct pander, but a financial necessity. Cristela may have drawn a large audience but the breakout critical hit was the CW network’s, Jane the Virgin. After series star Gina Rodriguez received a Golden Globe nomination the show saw a 20% bump in viewership for its winter finale episode, which garnered 1.3 million viewers. In comparison, network heavyweight The Voice earned only 2.9 million viewers for NBC for it’s season finale, and NBC’s new Katherine Heigl-helmed drama State of Affairs had 1.6 million viewers.

MSNBC has recently added Telemundo anchor Jose Diaz Balart, a Cuban-American, to their roster but as Nogales asserts, the networks have some way to go before they get it right.

“There are negative stereotypes left and right – and they still occur,” says Nogales, “You have to include us to make sure you’re not creating stereotypes that blow up in your face. You have to know our sensitivities and then know how to proceed.”

One can only assume that the network realises that should it wish to rise above its competition in the cable news landscape, that means telling the stories that matter to people outside the echo chambers on either coast. As Nogales put it, “This is not a time for niceties – you have to do something. Stop standing in front of the elevator and saying, “You first,” “No, you first.” It’s time to just get in the elevator already.”

Check this out at the TheGuardian.com

It was an incredibly busy year for Latino cinema, with films premiering and winning prizes at local and international festivals. Unfortunately, most of these movies don’t make it to theaters in the U.S. and when they do it’s at a festival that only hardcore cinephiles may know about. So, even though Latinos love movies and go to the theater a lot more than other ethnic groups — they end up watching mainstream Hollywood blockbusters, not Latino indies. We know it’s hard to keep up with all the movies coming out of Latin America and/or made by home-grown Latinos and you can’t go to as many festivals as you’d like — so we’re here to help. Here is our list of the Top 14 Latino Films of 2014 That You Probably Didn’t See But Should.

*In case you are wondering how we picked the movies. It was a complicated process that is akin to an election in Latin America –- back-room deals, bribery, and threats of violence. Eventually, we agreed on a totally unfair system of rating the movies we liked that played in U.S. theaters or prestigious film festivals throughout the year and may have won some awards. And before you get all huffy, we chose to include films directed by American-born Latinos, Latin Americans, and by non-Latinos (but on Latino subjects).

Read more at Remezcla.com

Political reaction to the historic U.S.-Cuba joint bid to normalize relations may be polarized, but the response from both countries’ artistic communities has been close to ecstatic.

“It’s historic, it’s exciting and it’s about time,” said “Che” producer Laura Bickford of President Obama’s announcement Dec. 17 that the U.S. will re-establish diplomatic ties with Cuba and eventually relax travel, export, communication and banking rules.

Bickford had to use Puerto Rico and Mexico to double for Cuba in Steven Soderbergh’s 2008 two-part biopic about Cuban revolution leader Che Guevara. “We look forward to traveling to Cuba without needing a license and collaborating with Cuban talent in a less cumbersome way,” said Bickford, who also produced Benicio Del Toro’s short for the 2012 Spanish-language anthology “Seven Days in Havana.”

They were allowed to conduct research in Cuba, and to shoot Del Toro’s “cinema verite” docu short in Havana because their expenses were nil, and because documentaries are allowed. But at present, U.S. filmmakers are generally not allowed to hire Cuban actors or crew, or make movies with them, said Bickford.

To shoot his Hemingway biopic “Papa” in Cuba, producer-helmer Bob Yari reportedly had to secure a U.S. Treasury Department license exempting the production from restrictions imposed by the U.S. embargo, now in its 54th year. Since it reenacted firsthand accounts of true events, “Papa” qualified as a documentary.

While some U.S. filmmakers have managed to bend the rules to some extent, it hasn’t been that easy for Cuban filmmakers.

Cuba’s Office of Financial Asset Control stopped producer Claudia Calvino from tapping the $5,000 she raised from crowd-funding site Indiegogo.com for Miguel Coyula’s sci-fi thriller “Blue Heart,” the first Cuban project to use crowdfunding.

Calvino, who produced the first live-action Cuban zombie pic, Alejandro Brugues’  “Juan of the Dead,” is developing Brugues’ next projects and Carlos Lechuga’s “Havana: Vampire Territory.”

“Despite interest from U.S. producers, the embargo forbids us to associate with them; I believe the situation will change from now on,” said Calvino, who cites instances when they’ve tried to secure music rights, Dolby licenses and other U.S.-based services to no avail.

“It’s still early days but it would be fantastic if American producers could invest in Cuban films,” said Brugues. “It’s an exotic country rich in history with marvelous people, and a storied tradition in cinema.”

Cuban-born Alex Garcia of U.S.-based distrib FiGa Films concurred: “To start, Cuba’s already a moviegoing country,” he said.

At the Havana Intl. Film Festival in early December, he observed people lining up for hours and filling up Havana’s large 2,000-seat theaters. He also noted that for the first time the festival projected digital-formatted (DCP) pics in select theaters. “It’s only a matter of time before Cuba catches up with the rest of the world, and all theaters on the island go digital like everywhere else.”

Broadway producer Robert Nederlander of Nederlander Worldwide Entertainment is staging “Rent” for the first time in Cuba starting Dec. 24 for a three-month run.

Featuring an all-Cuban cast, it will be the first full Broadway musical in Cuba in more than 50 years.

Among the new exceptions unveiled, public performances, workshops and athletic competitions, which used to require approval on a case-by-case basis, will now be open to general travel licenses to Cuba.

“This will streamline the process,” said Nederlander, who recalls it took him a year to get a license to mount the production and six months to find musicians and singers with the collaboration of the Cuban National Council of Performing Arts.

In November 2011, Nederlander presented “Broadway Ambassadors” in Havana as part of the 14th Annual Havana Theatre Festival.

“It’s estimated that a trillion dollars’ worth of business has been lost to this embargo,” said Otto Padron, president and CEO of Meruelo Media Holdings, parent company of the Meruelo Group, which serves a diversified portfolio of affiliated entities with interests in a wide range of businesses including real estate, banking, distribution and media. Padron, a former Univision programming exec, manages Meruelo’s media properties, including KWHY-TV-Channel 22 and digital radio platform KDAY 93.5 FM.

In a statement, the Meruelo Group said: “As Cuban American entrepreneurs and businessmen, we applaud the president’s bold action to expand commercial opportunities and to increase trade prospects with Cuba. We look forward to lending our experience and expertise to ensure the success of this new policy that will benefit Cubans and Cuban Americans everywhere.”

Univision and Telemundo say it’s too soon to make a statement.

The possibility of more location shoots in Cuba could also open up. “It’s a great place to shoot but perhaps not in the summer when the heat is unbearable,” said Brugues. “I’d leave the summer for meetings on the beach.”

Check this out at Varitey.com

 

Awards Go to 8 Projects for Broadcast and New Media

Los Angeles, CA (December 22, 2014) – Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB), a non-profit organization funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, announces eight newly funded programs as part of its 2014 Public Media Content Fund. The initiative invites independent producers to submit proposals on Latino-themed programs or series for funding consideration.

“We are very proud of our producing community and look forward to working with these talented filmmakers in bringing the rich diversity of the Latino cultural experience to the American public on PBS and into classrooms across the country through PBS LearningMedia,” said Sandie Viquez Pedlow, LPB Executive Director.

Every year LPB invites independent filmmakers to submit proposals in various stages, from research and development, to production, post-production and new media. All proposals are reviewed by a group of public media professionals, station programmers, independent filmmakers, academics, and executives from funding organizations.

This year, eight projects were selected for funding. Emerging filmmakers comprise 62.5% of total funded producers; mid-level producers make up 25%; veteran filmmakers constitute 12.5%; and 62% of the funded producers are women. The funding category breakdown is as follows: 50 % of the total projects are post-production; 12.5% are production and 12.5% is R&D. The final slate of programs represents filmmakers from different regions within the U.S.

The 2014 awarded projects (alphabetically) are as follows:

Broadcast

Adios Amor: The Search for Maria Moreno
Producer: Laurie Coyle
Category: Post-Production; 1 Episode/60 Minutes

In Adios Amor, the discovery of forgotten photographs prompts a search for an unsung heroine-Maria Moreno, a migrant mother of twelve who became spokesperson for a multi-ethnic farm worker movement in the pre-Cesar Chavez era, but was silenced and nearly forgotten.

 Jessica Gonzales vs. the United States of America
Co-Director/Co-Producer: Katia Maguire
Co-Director/Co-Producer: April Hayes
Category: Post-production; 1 Episode/60 Minutes

After surviving the murders of her three young daughters, Jessica Gonzales becomes a crusader for the human rights of the millions of American women who suffer from domestic violence each year and depend on restraining orders to protect them.

No Le Digas a Nadie (Don’t Tell Anyone)
Director/Producer: Mikaela Shwer
Category: Post-production; 1 Episode/60 Minutes

In a community where silence is seen as necessary for survival, undocumented immigrant activist Angy Rivera joins a generation of Dreamers in a quest to come out of the shadows and claim her place in the only home she’s ever known.

Siqueiros: Walls of Passion
Director/Producer: Lorena Manríquez
Category: Post-production; 1 Episode/60 Minutes

Siqueiros: Walls of Passion is a one-hour documentary film about Mexican visual artist David Alfaro Siqueiros and the resurrection of his Los Angeles mural America Tropical, located at the birthplace of Los Angeles and later championed by the Chicano movement as a symbol of its oppressed culture.

The Unafraid
Co-Director/Co-Producer: Anayansi Prado
Co-Director/Co-Producer: Heather Courtney
Category: Production; 1 Episode/90 Minutes

The Unafraid follows the personal lives of several immigrant youth in Georgia, a state that has banned undocumented students from attending the top five state universities.

Turning Texas Blue
Co-Director/Producer: Paul Stekler
Category: Development; 1 Episode/60 Minutes

Texas will soon be a Latino-majority state, but political power has lagged because of the low political participation of the state’s Mexican-American electorate.  The 2014 Texas statewide campaign focused on mobilizing the Latino vote through grassroots efforts particularly in the counties of south Texas, along the border with Mexico. Turning Texas Blue will focus on the results of the 2014 Texas statewide elections and what it portends for the state in 2016.

New Media

The SweetSpot
Director/Producer: Kimberly Bautista
12 Webisodes/12-15 Min

This new media project looks at new meanings of relationships, cultural identity, and family among Latinos in Los Angeles who find that at 30, they’re in an extended adolescence, where shifting generational expectations, student loans, and underemployment have altered their plans for adulthood.

GoldStar
Director/Producer: Karla Legaspy
1 Episode/ 13 Minutes

A young little girl aspires to be a rock star and gets help from her new neighbor, but when she dedicates a love song to her female teacher at school, she’s made to feel shame and confusion by the homophobic reactions from school officials and her parents.

About Latino Public Broadcasting
Latino Public Broadcasting is the leader of the development, production, acquisition and distribution of non-commercial educational and cultural media that is representative of Latino people, or addresses issues of particular interest to Latino Americans. These programs are produced for dissemination to the public broadcasting stations and other public telecommunication entities. LPB provides a voice to the diverse Latino community on public media throughout the United States. For more information please visit www.lpbp.org.