Wednesday, October 21 at 6:30pm: Join Cine Latino in a LIVE ZOOM conversation that includes 499 Director Rodrigo Reyes, Director of Cinematography Alejandro Mejía, Adela Pineda Franco, Professor of Latin American Literature and Film, Director of Latin American Studies at Boston University, and Story Strategist and Nonfiction Filmmaker Richard Ray Perez, moderated by Film Critic and Executive Director of Cinema Tropical Carlos Gutierrez.
Part of the first-ever retrospective of award-winning Mexican-American director, screenwriter, and producer Rodrigo Reyes.
Register for the Free Zoom Q&A
Panelists
Rodrigo Reyes - Director
Award-winning Mexican-American director, screenwriter, and producer Rodrigo Reyes has screened his films in over 50 film festivals around the world. Named one of the 25 New Faces of Independent Film by Filmmaker Magazine, he was the recipient of the 2016 National Endowment for the Arts Fellow at MacDowell Colony, the 2017 National Mediamaker Fellowship by the Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC), the Spotlight on Storytellers Award from the Sundance Institute, as well as the Guggenheim Fellowship and Creative Capital Award. Rodrigo’s work has received the support of Tribeca Film Institute, Sundance Institute, California Humanities Council, Film Independent, IFP Narrative and Documentary Labs, the Berkeley Film Foundation, the Bay Area Video Coalition, the Mexican Film Institute, and ITVS Open Call.
Carlos A. Gutiérrez - MODERATOR - Film Critic, Executive Director Cinema Tropical
Carlos A. Gutiérrez is co-founder and executive director of Cinema Tropical, the New York-based media arts non-profit organization that has become the leading presenter of Latin American cinema in the U.S. As a guest curator, he has presented several film series at different cultural institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art, Film at Lincoln Center, the Guggenheim Museum, and Anthology Film Archives. He is a member of Film Forum’s board of directors and has served as a member of the jury for various film festivals including Morelia, SANFIC, Seattle, Margaret Mead, DocsMX, and Austin’s Cine Las Américas. He has served as both expert nominator and panelist for the Rockefeller Fellowship Program for Mexican Film & Media Arts, the Sundance Documentary Fund, the Tribeca Film Institute’s Latin America Media Arts Fund, and the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative.
Alejandro Mejía - Director of Cinematography
Alejandro is a lefty Mexican-born Cinematographer based in Brooklyn N.Y. His work has screened at Sundance, Berlinale, Tribeca, Toronto, Rio de Janeiro and Korea film festival, amongst others. Winner Best Cinematography for “499” at Tribeca FIlm Festival 2020. In the year 2019 he was nominated for Best Cinematography at the Emmy Awards in May 2019 (WE SPEAK NY) and at the Critic Choice Awards (306 HOLLYWOOD). Since 2018 Alejandro has been part of the AMC - Mexican Society of Cinematographers. He was at Sundance Film Festival 2018 with the Feature Film 306 HOLLYWOOD, premiering at the opening night for Next Section. To Berlinale he returned twice; once in 2015 with the film STAY AWAKE, winner of the Slamdance Film Festival, and once selected as Cinematographer for the Berlinale Talent Campus 2016. He won the Panavision Award for the Short Film MARTA ROSA at the Palm Springs International Film Festival 2015.
Adela Pineda Franco - Professor of Latin American literature and Film and Director of Latin American Studies at Boston University
Pineda’s research focuses on the relationship between culture and politics, the transnational impact of visual media on literature and intellectual thought, and US-Mexico cultural relations. Her recent books John Steinbeck y Mexico. Una mirada cinematográfica en la era de la hegemonía norteamericana (Bonilla Artigas Editores, 2018) and The Mexican Revolution on the World Stage: Intellectuals and Film in the Twentieth Century (SUNY Press 2019) explore the role of cinema and intellectual thought in the shaping of inter-state cultural relations during the twentieth century.
Richard Ray Pérez - Story Strategist, Nonfiction Filmmaker, Consultant
“Rick” Perez leads WORLD Channel’s effort to new diverse audiences through the acquisition and distribution of original nonfiction programming for the public media channel’s multi-stream platforms. Prior to joining WORLD Channel, Perez was Director of Creative Partnerships at Sundance Institute, where he developed strategic partnerships focused on the convergence of nonfiction filmmaking, innovative thought leadership, and themes vital to contemporary societies. Perez was also a senior reviewer for the Sundance Documentary Film Fund. In addition to his work at Sundance Institute, Mr. Perez executive directed and executive produced the feature documentary, Cesar’s Last Fast, a film about the spiritual commitment of American civil rights and labor leader Cesar E. Chavez that premiered in competition at the Sundance Film Festival and was recently recognized by the NY Times of one of 20 essential films that?capture the Latinx experience. Perez frequently participates as a speaker, panelist and moderator at domestic and international events focusing on non-fiction filmmaking; leads workshops on documentary storytelling; and nurtures filmmakers throughout the world, including artists traditionally underrepresented in the field of non-fiction cinema. Perez holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Visual and Environmental Studies from Harvard University.
About 499
WATCH MOVIE
On the eve of the 500th anniversary of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, acclaimed filmmaker Rodrigo Reyes uses magical realism and hard-hitting testimonial to survey a modern Mexico still reeling from colonialism’s blood-soaked legacy in this stunning new documentary.