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Perspectivas
- a
particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a
point of view; true
understanding of the relative importance of things; a sense
of proportion
Afrotaino
Productions brings the second season of their film series celebrating
cultural expressions with mucho sabor. Perspectivas features
films that capture the blend of Caribbean and Urban sounds that
comprise the legacy of the Afro-Latino diaspora. Afrotaino Productions
specializes in delivering witnesses to the explosive fusion
of Urban and Caribbean music and dance entertainment.
Friday,
July 17 at 7pm
Sleep
Dealer
dir.
Alex Rivera, US/Mexico, 2008, video, 90 mins, color, English
and Spanish w/ English subtitles
Set
in a near-future, militarized world marked by closed borders,
virtual labor and a global digital network that joins minds
and experiences, three strangers risk their lives to connect
with each other and break the barriers of technology. In a world
marked by closed borders, corporate warriors, and a global computer
network, three strangers risk their lives to connect, break
through the barriers of technology, and unseal their fates.
Friday,
August 14 at 7pm
Bachata
Musica del Pueblo
dir.
Giovanni Savino,
US/Dominican Republic, 2003,
video, 60 mins, color, English
and Spanish w/ English subtitles
Bachata
Musica del Pueblo
explores a provocative and discriminated music from the Dominican
Republic. Bachata is commonly viewed as “vulgar”, “low class”,
a “poor people’s music”. It’s not featured on prime time radio
or promoted as the music of the Dominican Republic, a title
which is instead assigned to Merengue. Bachata, within the Latin
music industry has always been (and still is) reputed a musical
genre for an oppressed and marginal audience of laborers and
“lower class” people, denied by most Dominicans its role that
indeed plays a very important part in their culture and musical
traditions.
Proceeds benefited
The Dominican Festival. Each year, the Dominican Community
Cultural Center hosts the Annual Dominican Festival & Parade,
a series of events supporting its mission to promote the history
and culture of the Dominican community in the Philadelphia area
and facilitate the integration of all Latino communities into
American society. Now entering its tenth year, the Festival
has garnered the support of thousands of individuals who recognize
how these events can serve as catalysts of positive change in
our community.
Friday,
August 28 at 7pm
La
Clave
dir.
Mariella Sosa, 2008, US, video, 80 mins, color, English
and Spanish w/ English subtitles
La
Clave is the five-note two-bar rhythm pattern which generates
rhythmic measurement and is the foundation and backbone of Salsa
(and all Afro Cuban based music). La Clave is a fascinating
documentary about the similarities between music genres Salsa
and Reggaeton. With interviews of salsa icons Willie Colon,
Ismael Miranda, Gilberto SantaRosa and Reggaeton billboard chart–topping
artists including Julio Voltio, Tego Calderon, Hector “El Father”.
These artists all came together discuss how the two different
styles of music can have so much in common and how their music
is all composed under La Clave.
Friday,
September 18 at 7pm
Celia, The
Queen
dir. Joe Cardona
and Mario de Varona, US, 2008, video, 96 mins, color
This touching documentary
pays tribute to the work of a stellar performer who brought
the sound of salsa to the whole world. As a teenager in 1940s
Havana, Celia Cruz found her audience in the local canteens.
But her real start came when, pressed by her family, she entered
and won a local radio contest. A few years later she was signed
by one of Cuba's most popular orchestras, and her sultry, gravelly
voice became Cuba's most adored. Her trademark cry Azucar!
b ecame known across
Latin America. And when she fled Castro's Cuba in 1960 and eventually
arrived in the United States, she started a second even more
successful career fueled by her partnerships with salsa greats
Tito Puente, Willie Colon and Johnny Pacheco. Ironically, while
she became known as the voice of Cuba around the world, her
once beloved music was banned in her home country. Up until
the time Celia died in 2003, she was still performing. She even
made a turn in a video for Wyclef Jean's remake of Guantanamera
, the song she made famous.
When she passed, she
was mourned everywhere from England to Argentina. Directors
Jose Cardona and Mario de Varona use archival footage of both
Celia and her loving husband, Pedro Knight, to tell the inspiring
story of a little girl from Havana who became an international
diva. Fans from David Byrne to Andy Garcia weigh in on this
fabulous woman's influence on their lives, and an intriguing
segment explores the cult-like status that Celia's music enjoys
in Japan. Foremost though is the presentation of Celia as the
warm, strong, free spirit who adored her fans and earned without
question her title "the Queen." - Genna Terranova, Tribeca Film
Guide
Proceeds benefited
AMLA - Artistas y Musicos
Latino Americanos.
For
further information on this series and other Afrotaino Productions
events,
visit
www.myspace.com/afrotainoproductions.
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