Editor

The San Diego Latino Film Festival continues to showcase an amazing range of independent voices in film with Cine’mation, its first animated showcase.  The festival is proud to present this impressive array of work within the art form that includes animatics, 2D, 3D, and stop motion films.  Bringing something for everyone, the showcase presents art house programs alongside more traditional family films.

While the Cine’mation Showcase may be new to the festival, Latino/a contributions to the art form extend 100 years.  Starting in 1917, Argentinean animation director and cartoonist Quirino Cristiani breathed life into artwork creating the world’s first two feature length animated films.  Not content with that milestone, he went on to also produce the first animated feature with sound.  During the 1940s, when Walt Disney looked to Latin America for inspiration, Walt met with Cristiani who introduced him to Molina Campos, the source of the gaucho segment in Disney’s Saludos Amigos (the film that inspired Disney’s more famous The Three Caballeros).

In more recent times, the US has opened up to international animation with the popularity of anime features and anime-inspired television shows; yet Latin contributions remain relatively unseen. With the Cine’mation Showcase, the San Diego Latino Film Festival offers festival goers a look at the fascinating genre of Latin Animation in its many forms.

The Cine’mation Showcase draws from the rich talents of artists exploring the medium in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru, Portugal and Spain.  Highlights of the festival include:

Centerpiece Feature Film & North American Premiere of 
Wood & Stock: Sexo, Oregano e Rock'n'Roll   
77 min. - 2006 - Brazil - Portuguese with English Subtitles 
An adult comedy based on the colorful characters of Brazilian cartoonist Angeli.

Gisaku 
77 min. - 2005 – Spain – English 
Europe’s First Anime Feature Film

US PREMIERE of 
Dragones, Destino Del Fuego /Dragons, Destiny of Fire
2006 – Peru - Spanish with English Subtitles 
The Peruvian Box Office Hit of 2006

El Ratón Perez / The Hairy Tooth Fairy   
94 min. - 2006 – Argentina and Spain - Spanish with English Subtitles
A combination of live action & animation that enchanted audiences at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival

In addition to these feature films, the San Diego Latino Film Festival also includes an Art Exhibition featuring the artwork one of Mexico's Greatest Cartoonists, El Chango Ernest Garcia Cabral , alongside contemporary Latino comic illustrators; the World Premiere of Baldo, the animated version of the popular syndicated comic strip featuring a typical Latino teen that appears in over 200 newspapers daily; three special shorts programs highlighting the diversity of modern animation; guest appearances from the husband & wife creative team behind Nickelodeon’s new hit show El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera and a special LIVE appearance from Nickelodeon’s Dora, the Explorer and her loveable cousin Diego (Go, Diego, Go!)! 

See the San Diego Latino Film Festival website at www.SDLatinoFilm.com to learn more about the Cine’mation Showcase.

 Tickets range from $7 to $9.00 for film screenings, $5 to $30 for concerts and galas.  Tickets can be purchased  on-line NOW  or at the UltraStar Mission Valley Cinemas at Hazard Center (7510 Hazard Center Dr, San Diego, CA 92108) Box Office starting March 1st.  Box office is open daily from 10AM to 8:30PM.  All proceeds from the annual San Diego Latino Film Festival benefit MACSD's year-round education program for under-served youth, The Teen Producers Project . 

2007 Festival Sponsors:

24K International Realty & Funding Group, AeroMexico, Anheuser-Busch, AT&T, Bank of America, California State University San Marcos, City of Tijuana - H. XVIII Ayuntamiento, Coca-Cola, Nickelodeon, Comite de Turismo y Convenciones de Tijuana, Diario San Diego, Doctor's Weight Clinic, El Latino Newspaper, El Mexicano, El Sol de San Diego, Enlace, EXA, Harrah’s Rincon Casino, Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, KPBS, Latino Public Broadcasting, Macy’s, Medicis Communications, Mi San Diego 43, MTS, NBC 7/39, Nostika, Proyecto Acceso, Radio Latina, The Guild, San Diego Padres, Washington Mutual, Sandiego.com, Sauza, Signonsandiego.com, Sony Electronics, Southwest Airlines, Sycuan Resort & Casino, Telemundo 33, Televisa 12,The San Diego Union-Tribune, Union Bank of California, SanDiego.com, UniRadio, Univision 17, and Westgate Hotel. Additional support provided by: City of San Diego Commission for Arts & Culture, National Endowment for the Arts and The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

About Media Arts Center San Diego
Media Arts Center San Diego (MACSD) is a non-profit organization with a mission to nurture and support media artists working in film, video, audio, and computer-based multimedia. Proceeds from Cinema en tu Idioma and the San Diego Latino Film Festival help sustain ongoing educational efforts such as the Teen Producers Project. 

For more information about MACSD and the San Diego Latino Film Festival visit www.mediaartscenter.org or www.sdlatinofilm.com or call 619-230-1938.

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