Saturday, May 26, 2012

Nuestro Cine: Wedding Bell Blues

Indie filmmakers have increasingly sought the use of websites such as Kickstarter to help finance and support their plans.  But might this also be a useful resource for up-and-coming Latino and Latin American auteurs?  We will briefly look at one example today.

The following is the trailer to "After the Wedding," a drama/comedy film in the works that looks at traditional love in a modern age through the experiences of a newlywed couple: 


Weekend Headlines: May 26-27, 2012


* Honduras: Several thousand people took to the streets around the country to call for justice in the murders of over twenty journalists in the past three years.

* Brazil: President Dilma Rousseff used her line-item veto powers to reject portions of a controversial forestry law.

* Panama: An organization representing most of the world’s ship owners urged the Panama Canal Authority to delay a proposed toll hike.

* Costa Rica: Anti-whaling activist Paul Watson could be extradited to Costa Rica on charges from a 2002 incident involving a Costa Rican fishing vessel.

Friday, May 25, 2012

Daily Headlines: May 25, 2012


* Brazil: Defending champions Santos will face fellow Brazil club Corinthians in the semifinals of the Copa Libertadores while Universidad de Chile will try to upset six-time titleholders Boca Juniors of Argentina.

* Latin America: According to a new study alcohol consumption in Latin America is far lower than Europe and the U.S.

* Argentina: Researchers were able to identify the remains of a body found in a Uruguayan cemetery as those of an Argentine man who disappeared thirty-six years ago during the “Dirty War.”

* Ecuador: Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said that Ecuador will buy $400 million of fuel from Iran.

Video Source – YouTube via paulkiske

Online Sources- SI.com, Bernama, CNN, Bloomberg

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Daily Headlines: May 23, 2012


* Colombia: Is there a link between the deactivated bomb in a Buenos Aires theater where ex-Colombian leader Alvaro Uribe was supposed to lecture and the failed assassination attempt last week against former interior minister Fernando Londoño?

* Honduras: A new national police chief was sworn in to replace Ricardo Ramirez del Cid who left the post amidst controversy over the murder of journalist Alfredo Villatoro.

* Peru: Fisheries Minister Gladys Triveno claimed that “natural causes,” not oil exploration, led to the deaths of hundreds of dolphins off the Peruvian coastline.

* Guatemala: A judge added a second genocide charge against former dictator Efrain Rios Montt due to his supposed role in 1982’s Dos Erres massacre.

Video Source – YouTube via TVPublicaArgentina

Online Sources- Los Angeles Times, BBC News, Fox News, Huffington Post, Deutsche Welle

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Today’s Video: Red Card of God

The ongoing diplomatic tug-of-war between Argentina and Britain over the Falklands/Malvinas recently spread into the world of sport. Several weeks ago the Argentine government aired an ad featuring hockey captain Fernando Zylberberg secretly training on the disputed islands.

"To me to be training in any other province or to do it over the islands is the same," said Zylberberg in response to the commercial though his views were not shared by the British government or the International Olympic Committee.

A lighter, more humorous ad in the U.K. in order to promote ITV's coverage of June's Euro 2012 soccer tournament. The clip pokes fun at England's failures on the pitch and wonders what would've happened if the infamous "Hand of God" goal in the 1986 World Cup by Diego Maradona had been disallowed:


Daily Headlines: May 22, 2012


* Honduras: Residents of the Miskito Coast have called on U.S. drug agents to leave the area after four people were killed earlier this month in a counternarcotics raid.

* Haiti: Two U.S. citizens were arrested after allegedly taking part in protests by Haitian former soldiers seeking the return of the country's disbanded army.

* Chile: Several hundred anti-government demonstrators took to the streets of Valparaiso during President Sebastian Piñera’s state of the union address.

* Guatemala: Officials are on high alert due to increased activity from the Volcan de Fuego in central Guatemala.

Video Source – YouTube via Democracy Now (A recent segment on Democracy Now took a critical look at the “war on drugs” including this month’s deadly DEA raid in Honduras).

Online Sources- Fox News Latino, Huffington Post, LAHT, IOL News

Monday, May 21, 2012

Daily Headlines: May 21, 2012


* Cuba: In a possible setback for future oil exploration off the Cuban coast Spanish firm Repsol claimed that the first well they drilled in Cuban waters came up dry.

* Brazil: President Dilma Rousseff will receive compensation for the human rights abuses she suffered during Brazil's 1964-1985 military dictatorship, while she formally inaugurated a “truth commission” to investigate violations committed during that era.

* Mexico: Police arrested a suspected member of the Zetas drug gang accused of being behind the recent massacre of forty-one people.

* Peru: Did the military secretly execute over a dozen rebels in 1997 during a raid to rescue hostages in the Japanese ambassador's residence?

Video Source – YouTube via Associated Press (From January 2012 – “An oil rig is ready to begin drilling off Cuba's coast. The area is believed to have billions of barrels of oil under the sea floor, and Cuba is hoping that oil will provide an economic boost.”)

Online Sources- BusinessWeek, GlobalPost, Bloomberg, Huffington Post, Time