Event: “Rooftop Films” at El Museo

The Rooftop Films Summer Series continues tonight with a screening tonight at New York’s El Museo Del Barrio. The museum (one of the most underrated in the Big Apple, I believe) will feature music by “Puerto Rican electro-pop quartet” Balun, then feature the movie “Up With Me”.

According to Rooftop Films’ website, the film looks at several dilemmas:

“In school, they taught us about great civilizations. But one day, they’ll count Harlem as one of them, and they’ll count us...” But when Francisco, a teenager from Harlem, is admitted to an upstate boarding school on scholarship, he is torn between his life at home—his loyal girlfriend and his jealous best friend—and the new environment.

In tough and disadvantaged neighborhoods, people always face a dilemma choosing between local pride and worldly desire, between staying loyal and seeking a better life. How do you improve yourself (or even define “improvement”) in ways that don’t alienate your friends, your loved ones, your community?

Interested in tonight's event? Here are the details:

What: Cielo Abierto: Rooftop Films at El Museo

Where: El Museo Del Barrio, 1230 Fifth Ave. (at 104^th St.), New York, NY

When: Doors open at 8pm. Film starts at 9pm

Price: $9, advanced purchase “highly recommended” due to limited space

Weather: In case of rain the film will be shown indoors at the museum.

Image- El Museo Del Barrio

Source- El Museo Del Barrio, Rooftop Films, NYRemezcla, Urbanite

The Weekender: April 11 to 13

The work week is finally done and the weekend has fallen upon us. Do you have any plans for the next few days? If not, then please check out the following items:

• Havana Film Festival NY

The ninth edition of the Havana Film Festival New York starts tonight with the U.S. premiere of “La Noche de los Inocentes”. Yet if you can’t plunk down $100 for the tonight’s opening then check out the schedule where over 40 films from the Americas will be playing for a small price or even for free. (The Havana Film Festival NY lasts until April 18).

• “Torrijos: The Man and the Myth”

A photographic exhibition at the Americas Society comes to a close on Saturday. “Torrijos: The Man and the Myth” looks at snapshots of ex-Panamanian leader Omar Torrijos by Mexican photographer Graciela Iturbide. (FYI- The event is free).

• “Hope: Living and Loving with HIV in Jamaica”

For Sunday, why not check out “Hope: Living and Loving with HIV in Jamaica”. It’s a multimedia project created by the Pulitzer Center that highlights the impact of HIV in Jamaica. The interactive website contains essays, poems, music, and is done in conjunction with the Center’s “Global Gateway” initiative.

Lastly, we began the week with some glum news regarding Argentine rock group Los Fabulosos Cadillacs. Yet we end the week with news from a commenter that the rockeros are planning a new album and reunion tour. (Yay!)

Let’s celebrate the news with some Quilmes and a sing-a-long to “El Matador”!

Events tonight: Films from Chile and on Evo

If you’re a film enthusiast and are in New York City tonight there are a pair of events that you may be interested in:

• “New Chilean Cinema: An intimate conversation with 3 emerging film directors”

As part of the “Cinema Chile” film fest, New School University will host a panel discussion with a trio of up and coming Chilean directors. (Sebastián Lelio, María Elena Wood, and Matías Bize).

New School University
66 West 12th Street, Manhattan
Room 510
7pm to 9pm
Note: The event is open to the public and includes free wine and cheese.

• “Cocalero”

Yesterday we highlighted a biopic produced in Bolivia on Evo Morales. “Cocalero” is a documentary on the Bolivian president which has been featured in several film fests such as Sundance. The movie starts a seven-night run tonight at Cinema Village.

Cinema Village

22 East 12^th Street, Manhattan

Note: Click here for more info on tickets and showtimes

Image- indieWIRE (“A scene from Matias Bize's "En la Cama"”)

Sources- Cinema Chile, The Latin Americanist, imdb.com, cocalerofilm.com

Weekend Events!

Image of “He Practiced Every Day” by Luis Camntizer via El Museo del Barrio

Well, the weekend is finally here so why don’t you check out the following events that will be occurring between today and Sunday:

Friday

The Museo Alameda located in San Antonio, Texas opens tonight with a free concert by Linda Ronstadt and a fireworks exhibit. The museum’s aim is to “tell the story of the Latino experience in America through art, history, and culture” and is affiliated to the Smithsonian Institution, whose president is from Latin America. (Hat tip: VivirLatino).

However, if you’re in the Chicago area why not head off to the Congress Theatre to check out Julieta Venegas. The Mexican rockera (who’ve we discussed far too many times) is currently on a brief tour of the U.S. and will make future stops in Miami (April 14) and San Antonio (April 19).

Saturday

The weather in New York City is going to be god awful from Sunday until the middle of next week, so Saturday would be a prime day to go out. New York University’s Latino Studies department will be hosting an all day conference entitled “The Lived Experience of Latino Immigration”. If that’s not your cup of tea then why not catch a movie during the opening weekend of the Havana Film Festival New York which features movies from around Latin America including Peru, Uruguay, and Puerto Rico.

Sunday

In response to our post on International Women’s Day last month, someone at the International Museum of Women informed us of an online project they are doing now called “Motherhood”. As the name implies, the exhibit looks at the multiple facets of motherhood around the world and includes documentaries from Brazil and art from Mexico.

If you can make it before the storm hits, head off to El Museo del Barrio for its exhibition called “Los Desaparecidos.” It focuses on the thousands of people which vanished without a trace during repressive regimes in countries like Chile and Argentina. Some of the artists highlighted in the exhibit had strong connections to those who “disappeared” such as having close family members kidnapped by governments and tortured.

Links- VivirLatino, Museo Alameda, The Latin Americanist, Julieta Venegas, Congress Theatre, Gothamist, New York University, Havana Film Festival New York, International Museum of Women, El Museo del Barrio