The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) presents Frames of Reality: New Film From Mexico, a film series to complement the exhibition Damián Ortega: Do It Yourself. Discover the newest voices in Mexican film with two Boston premiere documentaries and a feature back in the area by popular demand. Screenings take place in the Barbara Lee Family Foundation Theater. Tickets for each screening are $10 general admission, or $8 for members, students, and seniors. Tickets are on sale now at (617) 478-3103 orwww.icaboston.org.
El Generalby Natalia Almada – Boston Premiere (2009, 83 minutes, documentary, in Spanish with English subtitles)
Sunday, Nov. 1, 4 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 28, 2 p.m.
Time is blurred in this visually arresting portrait of family and country living under shadows of the past. Almada brings to life audio recordings she inherited about her great-grandfather, Plutarco Elias Calles, a revolutionary general who became president of Mexico in 1924. While many cite Calles as one of the true fathers of modern Mexico, time has hardly been kind to his reputation; he often used brutal violence to silence his political enemies. The documentary contrasts one family’s portrait of the man they knew with a leader seen as both hero and villain by the nation he led. Almada won the Directing Award for U.S. Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival 2009.
Intimacies of Shakespeare and Victor Hugo / Intimidades de Shakespeare y Victor Hugoby Yulene Olaizola – Boston Premiere (2008, 80 minutes, documentary)
Sunday, Nov. 1, 2 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 28, 4 p.m.
Yulene Olaizola’s debut film is a thought-provoking portrait of two lonely and strangely intertwined friends. For years, Olaizola’s grandmother Rosa told stories of a handsome young lodger. Living under (and on top of) her roof in the 1980s, he painted strange pictures on the walls and played an important role in Rosa’s emotional life. But this picture of a pleasant, harmless and creative young man slowly gives way to a shocking end. Intimacies won Best Film at the10th Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Film, Best Documentary at the Lima Latin American Film Festival, and Miami Dade College Grand Jury Prize at the 2009 Miami Film Festival.
Sin Nombreby Joji Fukanuga (2008, 96 minutes, color)
Sunday, Nov. 29, 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m.
Sin Nombre, Joji Fukanuga’s feature debut, is at once love story and chase film, thrill ride and vision of an apocalyptic hell. The film is set on the border, where Mexico becomes the crucible, and the fearsome gangs of today’s Mexican countryside the gauntlet to freedom. It is a glimpse into the lives and destinies of the people who desperately want to leave Mexico, to risk it all for even the promise of a better future. Sin Nombre is the recipient of the Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic and the Excellence in Cinematography Award: U.S. Dramatic at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.
About Damián Ortega: Do It Yourself
In playful and imaginative ways, Mexican-born artist Damián Ortega explores the elements that make up a whole – whether a dwelling, a body, a society or an economic system. In Ortega’s art, everyday objects such as entire cars, chairs, and building bricks are pulled apart, suspended or rearranged into dynamic configurations. This exhibition, the first-ever survey of Ortega’s work, features 19 works–including large-scale sculpture, photography and film–revealing the rich range of his artistic activity. Damián Ortega: D
