Paraíso
Wednesday evening, the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival presented Leon Ichaso's Paraíso, a brilliant stunning film shot with a crew of only ten for the astounding low budget of $30,000. It's a provocative Cuban exile drama framed around the story of Ivan, newly arrived by raft and his adjustment to life in Miami's exile community. Always controversial, Ichaso's Ivan has a dark side, caused by years of hustling to survive in Cuba's inhumane, repressive society, the film is brutally unsparing in its portrait of the Revolution's "New Man." Highly recommended.
Here's the trailer:
Silly exiles, the definition of being "provocative" and don't forget "cool" is wearing the new 800 $ Belstaff Che Guevara replica jacket ...
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZDlmY2NjZGNiYWEyMWQ3YTRhZTA3Mzc4NmE1MmRjNWI=
Apparently they sold out quickly.
I like the fact that it's using local actors in the Miami area. They can be seen frequently in AmericaTEVE. The director's also Cuban--He directed "El Cantante". It should open up new opportunities to use local Miami Cubans for Miami-based shows, or movies, instead of using actors of different origins. Not all latins are Puerto Rican and Mexican, Hollywood!
Thanks for the info Ziva-that's the first I hear of this film. If it's by Leon Ichaso it must be excellent-the trailer sure is. I can't wait to see it.
Looks top notch...Ichaso is truly la candela, his films are sharp, edgy, sexy, reality-based, low-budget, everything Hollywood and Cannes hipsters (claim to) admire. Sounds like Midnight Cowboy meets Taxi Driver with a touch of Scarface.
So we will certainly look for Ichaso's work to score highly at the Sundance, Telluride and Tribeca Film Festivals.
Then comes the triumph at Cannes, of course.
Thanks for the heads-up, Ziva, I knew of Ichaso's great work, but not of his latest (what looks like) masterpiece.
Unreal.
Sounds excellent. Sure hope I get a chance to see this film.
You guys are kidding yourselves. The Cuban-Americans left Andy Garcia embarcado when he made the film The Lost City and he lost his shirt over it. The same's going to happen here.
Spygirl...
forget about the others and you go see the movie. Un granito de arena could product a sand storm..no crees?
Oh, I will definitely go see the movie! But I have no hopes at all of the Cuban-Americans doing the same. Experience proves otherwise. Instead of supporting movies and plays like this one, they'll just sit home and bitch about Communist propaganda in Hollywood.
Does anyone know if this film will be playing in NYC?
Hi Dave, according to the Paraíso web site it played during July´s NY Latino film festival. Like Andy´s Lost City mentioned by Spygirl, I´m sure theatre distribution isn´t going to be easy. During the Q-A after the film, Leon joked that this could be it last showing. I'm not sure he was really kidding.
Obviously CIA propaganda. Or Cuban exile hysteria. Case closed. Now move along...nothing to see here.
Seriously, I'm all for work like this, but it's of little use at best. The problem is not genuine ignorance; it's willful ignorance or denial, which is a very different thing. That means the cure is not education or testifying, because those who refuse to see or hear will always find a way to get around or evade the truth. Those who knowingly traffic in hypocrisy and bad faith will keep doing so no matter what evidence we bring forth. It's like the Che thing. Or like the endless lies and distortions propagated and promoted by Castro, Inc., which are still being treated and repeated as gospel everywhere by all the "best" people with complete impunity. And even when a lie is proven to be a lie, they just brush it off and ignore it. Look at the New York Times. Look at the Nobel people with proven liar Rigoberta Menchu, who still got to keep her stinking Nobel prize. Look at Michael Moore. They simply don't give a shit that they're full of shit. It's like the old Lily Tomlin skit as the snotty phone operator who'd respond to customer complaints with "We don't care. We're the phone company. We don't have to." I'm sure FPL understands perfectly.
Asombra
You have a point there. But, at the same time, a lot of people are simply ignorant about Cuba simply because of the overwhelming amount of propaganda in favor of the Communists. I've met some and once they got ahold of some facts they did a 180. But, for the likes of Michael Moore, Robert Redford and Jesse Jackson, well #$@#** them.
OK, I just got back for a special screening for Astroboy. I would like to contact Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck about this, so if anyone can help out, please let me know how to bring this to national attention.
The kids' movie has a blatant pro-Communist sidestory about robots being exploited by humanity, so a few robots develop a "liberation movement," each of them sporting a raised red fist on their chest (the raised fist was the equivalent of the Nazi salute for the communists). they call each other comrade and the walls in their headquarters have names and pictures of Lenin and trotsky a couple of mass murderers. Needless to say that these "Commie robots" are portrayed in a benevolent light, in fact, they're cute. Apparently, to the screenwriter and the director Communist murderers are cutesy. Perhaps they will do one on the Khmer Rouge?
I wish to emphasize that this section of the movie has nothing at all to do with the main plot; it is not essential to the plot; it is simply a not so subliminal attempt at indoctrination. I also wish to emphasize that this is not the first time that Hollywood has inserted a Marxist theme in a kids' movie.
PLEASE PASS THIS ON!
The Astro Boy stuff has been for reported several weeks now.
For example, from October 8,
http://www.moviefone.ca/2009/10/08/astro-boy-battle-for-terra-left-leaning-animated-films/
In the video clip at the link I posted above, you can see a Lenin poster right around 2:24.
Sorry, I meant at 1:25 of 2:24.
Spygirl, looks like there is an anti-Obama message at 1:31. Did you catch that?
Sorry guys, I guess I wasn't up on the latest. But I was still shocked.