BORDER (LESS) FILM FESTIVAL
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6
BYRD THEATRE, 2908 W. CARY ST., RVA
Co-sponsored by Re Establish Richmond, Sacred Heart Center of Richmond,
Chop Suey Books, Plan 9 Music & James River Film Society
Each screening $5 at box office/ $10 all-day passes available @eventbrite
Three separate film programs examining the social/political conditions that precipitated
the refugee crises in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas.
10:30 am Breadwinner (2017, 94 min.) Another animated feature from Nora Twomey and the Cartoon Saloon in Ireland, produced by Angelina Jolie, and dubbed the best of 2018 by Indie Wire. Set in Kabul, Afghanistan, our heroine, young Parvana, is thrust into the role of family breadwinner when her father is imprisoned. Under the Taliban, women must be escorted on the streets, so she is forced to disguise herself as a boy on her errands. Parvana’s adventure becomes broader and more universal as war looms and grave choices are to be made. Insightful and entertaining, a family classic!
1 p.m. El Norte (1984, 140 min.) One of the best films of the indie boom of the ’80s was this Mex./U.S. co-production directed by Gregory Nava, from a screenplay by Anna Thomas. The story of a brother and sister forced to flee their ranquil Guatemalan village because of the death squads who make their way through Mexico and into California illegally. The opening scenes of the film shot in Mexico have a wondrous magical quality, and are countered by the harsh realism of life in “El Norte”. The late critic Roger Ebert described it as a “Grapes of Wrath for our times”. With Zaide Silvia Gutierrez as Rosa, and David Villaipando as Enrique.
4 p. m. Double feature! Fata Morgana (2018, 48 min.) A participatory film made by VCU grad and Fulbright scholar Jen Lawhorne, and African refugees, Ebrima and Toumani, who are trying to establish themselves in Messina, Sicily, after receiving official asylum. A timely film that shifts the gaze of the traditional documentary to those directly affected by the immigration process, and the problems encountered in a new homeland. With director Jen Lawhorne! The Man We Called Juan Carlos (2000, 52 min.) Wenceslao Armira, aka Juan Carlos, was a Mayan farmer, teacher, priest and guerilla, and the father of two murdered children. Filmed over two decades by co-directors Heather Mac Andrew and David Springbolt, the film explores the intersections of different lives, North and South, through coincidence and timing, across borders and history. “This sophisticated and troubling film raises important questions about human rights,” Stephen Hume, Vancouver Sun.