Before I review the recent Cinema Lounge, I want to urge all Tucson film and music fans to check out the Tucson Film and Music Festival screening this weekend at the Rialto as part of the HoCo Festival (the annual Hotel Congress music festival). Get more info about the Tucson Film & Music Fest at the bottom of the review.
Inspiration was on screen and in the air at the Loft’s second Cinema Lounge showcase for Arizona filmmakers. Roberto Gudino from UA Media Arts held the world premiere of his stirring documentary “Below the Fold” about the group of Chicano journalists at the LA Times whose series on Latinos in the Los Angeles area won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 1982.
For “Below the Fold,” Gudino interviewed several of the journalists involved, and his documentary reveals how they came together and pushed the LA Times editors to publish a breakthrough series of stories about the Latino community. The series, written entirely by Chicano reporters, gave a different perspective on the Latino community, a new perspective that challenged the negative stereotypes which dominated news coverage about Latinos at the time.
As Gudino noted in the Q&A after the film, many of the journalists involved came from humble beginnings, and they not only rose to become reporters at the LA Times, they changed the type of stories told about the Latino community and did such an outstanding job that they won a Pulitzer, journalism’s highest honor, for their work. It is an inspiring story, and a well wrought documentary.
The film’s executive producer Olga Briseno is the Director the UA’s Media Democracy and Policy Initiative (MDPI), an organization focused on Latino issues in the media. MDPI had tables set up in the lobby of the Loft offering posters for sale and literature. Several of the journalists involved in the series attended the screening and answered questions afterwards, including co-editors George Ramos, Frank Sotomayor and reporters Virginia Escalante, Nancy Rivera-Brooks and Louis Sahagun. I was happy to see many local filmmakers at the event, and Tucson’s Latino community turned out in force.
Spirits were high before and after the screening as friends, family and journalists associated with the film greeted each other and mingled. To the credit of the Old Pueblo, three of the LA Times journalists who worked on the series grew up in Tucson. A hearty congratulations to Roberto Gudino who is off to UCLA to seek his filmmaking fortune.
The Tucson Film and Music Festival, organized by filmmaker and former Tucsonan Michael Toubassi, offers a smorgasboard of viewing pleasure. Starting Friday and running through Monday, the festival selects films (mostly docs) that focus on musicians and bands. I can’t wait. My quick and utterly subjective picks include “Get Thrashed: The Story of Thrash Metal” on Saturday evening at 7:30, “The Last Western” about California’s former film set Pioneer Town on Monday at 12:30 p.m., “Sleepwalking Through The Mekong” about the band Dengue Fever on Monday at 5:30 p.m., and the Desert Shorts Program on Monday at 3:30 p.m. The Desert Shorts, a selection of short films, will include “Move Me,” the outstanding short film by Tucson’s own Jonathan Pulley which went to Sundance last year. There are so many more cool films, so check out the entire schedule at www.tucsonfilmandmusicfestival.com and go catch some flicks!
