Gene Siskel Film Center's 2nd edition of PANORAMA LATINX SHORT FILM SHOWCASE screens Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020! (Chicago, IL.)

 

The showcase will feature the Chicago premieres of seven short films by 

Chicago-based Latinx and Afro-Latinx filmmakers

Chicago—Through a juried selection process, seven films have been selected out of over 40 entries to create the Gene Siskel Film Center’s second edition of the Panorama Latinx Short Film Showcase, which will take place at 8:00 pm on Saturday, February 1, 2020, at the Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 164 N. State St.

MC’d by Michael de Anda Muñiz, the short film showcase--which celebrates emerging Latinx filmmakers--will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers and a reception in the Film Center’s Gallery Café, featuring music, Mexican food, and beer.

The films, which will be making their Chicago premieres, were all created by Chicago-based Latinx and Afro-Latinx filmmakers from countries including Peru, Haiti, Mexico, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Iceland (yes, Iceland!), and Brazil. Addressing the complexities of our time through different genres and methods of storytelling, the films guide viewers over diverse layers of identity and community. From narratives and concerns surrounding climate change, class and gender dynamics, the directors present a variety of formats that point to the relevance of imagination in today’s world.

All filmmakers are scheduled to attend the event, and a reception will follow the screening, with beer courtesy of Marz Brewing and small bites from Taquerias Atotonilco. DJ Jungyal (José Rosa Félix) will play salsa, cumbia, reggaetón and other contemporary rhythms from Latin-America.

“The Gene Siskel Film Center is committed to presenting films that reflect the cultural make-up of the city and the breadth of filmmaking around the globe,” said Jean de St. Aubin, Executive Director of the Gene Siskel Film Center.

“Through Panorama Latinx, the Gene Siskel Film Center is dedicated to serving as an epicenter for the greater Chicago Latinx community by showcasing the work of emerging and established Latinx filmmakers representing a range of perspectives and themes onscreen. Our Panorama Latinx Short Film Showcase is an expression of this mission, and we are thrilled to celebrate so many nationalities, narratives, and formats in this film event,” said Alberto Ortega Trejo, Panorama Latinx Outreach Coordinator.

Films presented in the 2020 Panorama Latinx Short Film Showcase:

Title: Por Falta De

Filmmaker: Sofía Alfaro

Country: USA

Short synopsis: As an indifferent teenage girl prepares for her senior prom, the character addresses the audience with her reflections on the poetics of impermanence and quotidian life.

Title: Fever

Filmmaker: solYchaski

Country: Perú-Haiti

Short synopsis:  This experimental film speaks to the ever-shifting nature of humanity and community. Through poetry, repurposed archival footage, and digital animation, solYchaski challenges our current understanding of what it means to be a human.

Title: Home

Filmmaker: Carol Bedoy

Country: US-Mex

Short synopsis: Through family pictures, a voiceover tells the story of a family, their conflicts, and the experience of migration.

Title: Social Economies

Filmmaker: Gonzalo Escobar Mora

Country: Colombia

Short synopsis: Social Economies uses the tradition of magical realism to present a mind-bending narrative on the tensions and longings that emerge from class dynamics in Colombia, as seen through the eyes of three women of varying social positions.

Title: Trust Fall Into the Gap

Filmmaker: Nat Pyper

Country: Brazil

Short synopsis: This visual statement reflects on the way language gaps and time are the main components of storytelling—and depicts the sensation of forgetting the mother tongue.

Title: Presence of the Past

Filmmaker: Milton Guillén

Country: Nicaragua-Iceland

Short synopsis: Shot in Iceland, this science fiction film about losing and becoming explores the philosophical condition of two lost humans in what appears to be a rejuvenating planet.

Title: The Night Through

Filmmaker: Gustavo Jardim

Country: Brazil

Short synopsis: This short documentary explores how the Guajajara people, one of the largest indigenous groups in Brazil, rehearse for their annual Honey Celebration, which celebrates the Guajajara myth of how the night was created.

For more details about the films presented, visit http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/panoramalatinx-showcase

Selections for this short film showcase were determined by a jury consisting of: Marcela Fuentes, Alan Medina, and Marina Resende.

·      Marcela Fuentes is an Associate Professor at Northwestern University and author of “Performance Constellations: Networks of Protest and Activism in Latin America.”

·      Alan Medina is the co-founder of filmfront and Inga.

·      Marina Resende is an artist, researcher and critic for Hyperallergic and THE SEEN, among others.

Sponsors for Panorama Latinx’s Short Film Showcase are the Illinois Arts Council and Marz Community Brewing Company.

Panorama Latinx is a program at the Gene Siskel Film Center dedicated to year-round Latin American film screenings. We engage the dynamic Latinx community of greater Chicago through showcasing the work of emerging and established Latinx filmmakers, educational screenings, and community partnerships.

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The Panorama Latinx Short Film Showcase will be presented at the Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, located at 164 N. State St.

Tickets are $12/general admission, $7/students, $6/Film Center members, and $5/Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) staff and School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) faculty, staff, and students. All tickets may be purchased at the Film Center Box Office. Both general admission and Film Center member tickets are available through the Gene Siskel Film Center’s website www.siskelfilmcenter.org/content/tickets or through the individual films’ weblinks on www.siskelfilmcenter.org. There is a surcharge of $1.50 per ticket. The Film Center and its box office are open 5:00 to 8:30 pm, Monday through Thursday; 1:00 to 8:30 pm, Friday; 2:00 to 8:30 pm, Saturday; and 2:00 to 5:30 pm, Sunday.

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A Gene Siskel Film Center membership is a year-round ticket to great movies for only $6 per screening! Memberships are $50 (Individual) and $80 (Dual). For more information, call 312-846-2600 or visitwww.siskelfilmcenter.org/content/membership.

Discounted parking is available for $20 for 24 hours at the InterPark SELF-PARK at 20 E. Randolph St. A rebate ticket can be obtained from the Film Center Box Office.

The Film Center is located near CTA trains and buses. Nearest CTA L stations are Lake (Red line); State/Lake (Brown, Green, Orange, Pink, Purple lines); and Washington (Blue line). CTA bus lines serving State St.: 2, 6, 10, 29, 36, 62, 144, and 146. 

For more information about the Film Center, call 312-846-2800 (24-hour movie hotline) or 312-846-2600 (general information, 9:00 am-5:00 p.m., Monday-Friday), or visit www.siskelfilmcenter.org.

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About the Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago:
Since 1972, the Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago has presented cutting edge cinema to an annual audience that has grown to 85,000. The Film Center’s programming includes annual film festivals that celebrate diverse voices and international cultures, premieres of trailblazing work by today’s independent filmmakers, restorations and revivals of essential films from cinema history, and insightful provocative discussions with filmmakers and media artists. Altogether, the Film Center hosts over 1,500 screenings and 200 filmmaker appearances every year. The Film Center was renamed the Gene Siskel Film Center in 2000 after the late, nationally celebrated film critic, Gene Siskel. Visit www.siskelfilmcenter.org to learn more and find out what’s playing today.

About the School of the Art Institute of Chicago:
For 150 years, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) has been a leader in educating the world’s most influential artists, designers, and scholars. Located in downtown Chicago with a fine arts graduate program ranked number two by U.S. News and World Report, SAIC provides an interdisciplinary approach to art and design as well as world-class resources, including the Art Institute of Chicago museum, on-campus galleries, and state-of-the-art facilities. SAIC’s undergraduate, graduate, and post-baccalaureate students have the freedom to take risks and create the bold ideas that transform Chicago and the world—as seen through notable alumni and faculty such as Michelle Grabner, David Sedaris, Elizabeth Murray, Richard Hunt, Georgia O’Keeffe, Cynthia Rowley, Nick Cave, and LeRoy Neiman. Learn more at saic.edu.

Celebrate the One you Love @ Chop House Chicago in Chicago, IL.

 

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African Mask Rituals - Stunning Photography Exhibition ON VIEW at the Boca Raton Museum of Art (Boca Raton, FL.)

 

Two in a Fancy Dress, Red Cross Masquerade Group, by Phyllis Galembo. Winneba, Ghana, (2010), Ilfochrome Phyllis Galembo: Maske Major photography exhibition (January 28 - May 31)

Meet the artist on May 17 at 3:00 p.m. at the Museum for a special appearance (lecture and book signing)  African Masquerade Rituals and Spiritual Realms are Unmasked at the Boca Raton Museum of Art Museum goers will be spellbound by the transformative power of the African masquerade, as the Boca Raton Museum of Art presents Phyllis Galembo: Maske.  Her striking photographic series of contemporary mask rituals has drawn national and international critical acclaim. These large-scale images are nearly life-size and explore spiritual realms with brilliant, mesmerizing colors. For more than 30 years, the artist has traveled around the world to photograph participants in contemporary masquerade events that range from traditional, religious ceremonies to secular celebrations. Otoghe-Toghe, by Phyllis Galembo. Aromgba Village, Nigeria, (2005), Ilfochrome The exhibition opens January 28 and is on view through May 31. On May 17 at 3:00 p.m., Galembo will visit the museum to share personal stories about her work and her travels, the ritual mask ceremonies, and will sign two of her books at this personal appearance--Maske (published by Aperture), and Mexico, Masks and Rituals (by Radius Books and DAP). Her portraits are celebrated by the world’s leading fine art photography editors for their stunning resonance, setting her work apart from documentary and anthropological studies. Akata Dance Masquerade, by Phyllis Galembo. Cross River, Nigeria (2004), Ilfochrome  They will be shown in concert with the Museum’s historical collection of more than 40 African tribal artifacts and indigenous masks in the gallery across from Galembo’s show, for a complementary perspective. Through her lens, the viewer gains special access to the rarely seen other-worlds, as she captures the raw and sometimes frightening aspects of ceremonial garb. Masking is a complex, mysterious and profound tradition in which the participants transcend the physical world and enter the spiritual realm.  In her vibrant images, Galembo exposes an ornate code of political, artistic, theatrical, social, and religious symbolism and commentary.  Akata Dance Masqueraders, by Phyllis Galembo. Ogoja, Nigeria, (2004), Ilfochrome She has made over twenty trips to sites of ritual masquerades, capturing cultural performances with a subterranean political edge. Her photographs depict the physical character, costumes, and rituals of African religious practices and their diasporic manifestations in the Caribbean and Mexico. Galembo’s images reflect both the modern and ancient worlds.  The fifteen portraits by Galembo that were selected for this exhibition reveal the meticulous detail and creative imagination of mask-making. Affianwan, by Phyllis Galembo. Calibar South, Nigeria, (2005), Ilfochrome  “The tradition of masquerading is universal and timeless, and continues today in most cultures, including western societies,” says Irvin Lippman, the Executive Director of the Boca Raton Museum of Art. “Bringing together the Galembo photographs and masks from the Museum’s African collection underscores the cross-cultural complexity of meaning and purpose. However, what they have in common is their vitality, power, and boldness of humanity.” Aye Loja (The World is a Market Place that we Visit), Gelede Masquerade, by Phyllis Galembo. Agonli Village, Benin, (2006) The costumes in Galembo's photographs are worn in several types of modern-day rituals. They are created to summon ancestral spirits and deities during a range of events, including agricultural hardships, land disputes, rites of passage, funerals, harvests, moments of gratitude and celebration. Galembo’s large-scale portraits in this exhibition capture the mask-oriented cultural traditions of Nigeria, Benin, Ghana and Sierra Leone. Banana Leaf Masquerade, EkongIkon Ukom, by Phyllis Galembo. Calabar, Nigeria (2005), Ilfochrome While traveling and embedding herself for long periods in these societies, Galembo works with local assistants and translators.  They negotiate the terms with elders, so that she may be granted permission to make photos of these masqueraders. “The translators often find that gaining permission from community leaders can sometimes be quite helpful during these painstaking negotiations,” says Galembo. “Once an agreement has been struck, I set my own lighting and place the subjects in front of a neutral backdrop that enables the eye to focus on the diversity of materials in each costume.” Agot Dance Group, by Phyllis Galembo. Cross River, Etikpe Village, Nigeria, (2004), Ilfochrome  The masks and costumes in these photographs are made from a wide variety of surprising materials ─ leaves, grass, patterned fabrics, burlap sacks, full-bodied crocheted yarns, colored raffia, quills, shells, and even lizard excrement. All of her photographs are shot as portraits rather than during the act of ritual. She is allowed to photograph her subjects at the very moment right before their rituals and festivities commence.  Galembo prefers her colors to be brightly saturated, enhancing the spiritual and transformative powers of these garments.  “I never see my subjects out of costume, although the masqueraders are always men, often paying homage to women,” adds Galembo. Ekpeyong Edet Dance Group, by Phyllis Galembo. Etikpe Village, Nigeria, (2005), Ilfochrome Despite secularization and fading traditions, masquerading in Africa is abundant, robust, and far from disappearing.  Most of the photographs in this exhibition reflect sacred rituals, the spiritual aspect of masquerading rather than secular celebrations.  By donning garments, the masqueraders gain access to traditional knowledge, enabling them to relay critical messages to the community.  Egungun, by Phyllis Galembo. Adandokpodji Village, Benin, (2006), Ilfochrome   “I like the way viewers can grasp the real stories behind each image. Every mask, costume and fiber of material can represent so much to the people in these portraits. Many of these subjects created these ritual costumes because a spirit inspired them. These are people who make masks and costumes that are very spiritually motivated,” says Galembo. The modern world also finds its way into these costumes and masks with the usage of plastic bags, cardboard, and found objects. Ringo (Big Deer) Masquerade, by Phyllis Galembo. Kroo Bay, Sierra Leone, (2008) Awo-O-dudu (A Spirit They Saw) reveals a ghost- like shape summoning ancestral spirits during the dry months or times of crisis, when spirits are called to bless the deceased and entire villages. Ko S’Ogbon L’Ate (You Can’t Buy Wisdom at the Market) is a tribute to mothers, goddesses and ancestors. The wooden headpieces represent an animal and a human, each sings a different song during the ritual. Affianwan (“white cat woman”) represents spirit and transparency. The stunning headdress of this work is crocheted from one long flowing piece of fabric.  Two in a Fancy Dress and Rasta illustrates the cross of African and European traditions (fancy dress). Awo-O-Dudu (A Spirit They Saw), by Phyllis Galembo. Freetown, Sierra Leone, (2008), Ilfochrome  More About the Artist: Phyllis Galembo

Phyllis Galembo's photographs are included in numerous public and private collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the New York Public Library. She is represented by Axis Gallery. She was born 1952 in New York, where she continues to live and work. Galembo graduated with a Master of Fine Arts from University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1977 and has been a Professor Emeritus at Albany, State University of New York since 1978. Using a direct, unaffected portrait style, she captures her subjects informally posed but often beautifully attired in traditional and ritualistic dress. Portrait of the artist Phyllis Galembo (photo by Niki Berg) Attuned to a moment’s collision of past, present and future, Phyllis Galembo is recognized for her ability to find the timeless elegance and dignity of her subjects. She highlights the creativity of the individuals morphing into a fantastical representation of themselves, having cobbled together materials gathered from the immediate environment to idealize their vision of mythical figures.  While still pronounced in their personal identity, the subject’s intentions are rooted in the larger dynamics of religious, political and cultural affiliation. Establishing these connections is the artist's hallmark. Her work has appeared in Tar Magazine, Damn Magazine, Photograph and Harpers. She has been profiled on CNN, NPR Radio and NBC Today.  Other collections that feature her work include: Oceania and the Americas, Photography Study Collection (New York); the Philadelphia Museum of Art; the Houston Museum of Art; the International Center for Photography (New York); the British Art Museum, Yale University; Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library; Polaroid Corporation (Boston); and the Rockefeller Foundation, among many others.  MORE ABOUT THE MUSEUM’S AFRICAN COLLECTION Complementing Galembo’s exhibition are more than 40 African tribal artifacts from the Museum’s collection, including headdresses and masks, each pertaining to masquerades and ceremonies. These are exhibited in an adjacent gallery, across from the Galembo show. Pictured above are some of the historic African masks from the Museum’s collection that complement Galembo’s contemporary photographs. More than 40 African tribal artifacts will be shown in an adjacent gallery across from Galembo’s exhibition. The two Kuba masks in the collection (Kuba Bwoom Mask and Kuba Ngaady-A Mwash Mask) are both from the Democratic Republic of Congo, recreating the Kuba dynastic history. Another work in the museum’s African collection, a Bamana Headdress (Chiwara), represents a mythical character who taught humans to turn wild grasses into grain.  A Mossi Nakomse Headdress (Zazaido), is used in secular and religious rituals by young men. The Zazaido masquerade honors male and female elders at funeral ceremonies, and blesses survivors. A Yoruba Crown from Nigeria is worn on state occasions, and reflects the spiritual connections of the ruler. The face represents his royal lineage and ultimately the god Oduduwa, who remained on earth and became their first king.  The collection also includes a Dan mask (Deangle), an Ogoni Mask (Nigeria), a Toma Mask (Landai), a Senufo Mask (Kpelie), a Guru Mask (Gu), an Igbo Crest Mask (Nigeria), and a Yoruba Oro Efe Gelede Mask (Nigeria/Republic of Benin).

ABOUT THE BOCA RATON MUSEUM OF ART

	Celebrating our 70th anniversary in 2020, the Boca Raton Museum of Art encompasses a creative campus that includes the Museum in Mizner Park, Art School, and an Artists Guild. As the "Official Art Museum of the City of Boca Raton, "the Museum has provided seven decades of cultural and artistic service to the community, and to many visitors from around the world. Open 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays; 10:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m. on Thursdays; and 12:00-5:00 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Visit www.bocamuseum.org for more information.