OC Film Fiesta marks first decade with mariachi, Mexican film history and a Middle Eastern spotlight
This yearâs OC Film Fiesta, the 10th edition, kicks off Oct. 18 with a free screening of Noe Santillan-Lopezâs 2015 comedy âUna Ăltima y Nos Vamosâ at the Ebell Club in Santa Ana.
âWeâre always trying to make sure [our opening nights] are a good fit for the local narratives going on in the community,â says Sandra âPochaâ PeĂąa, who co-founded the OC Film Fiesta, a festival of Media Arts Santa Ana (MASA), with her husband and fellow artist/activist Victor Payan in 2010.
Last month saw not only the Santa Ana Mariachi Festival and the Anaheim Mariachi Festival, but also South Coast Repertoryâs production of JosĂŠ Cruz GonzĂĄlezâs âAmerican Mariachi.â
âWe love mariachi here,â says PeĂąa. âThatâs why we have so many successful mariachi events, and this is a family-friendly film with a good message about an amazing mariachi competition in Mexico City.â
Payan adds that the reason the opening night screening is free is because they wanted to harken back to the first five years of their festival, where screenings were free.
âThereâs something really special about throwing a free party for the community,â he says. âWe want to bring people together to laugh and enjoy and celebrate.â
âLeave the theater feeling good,â says PeĂąa.
The first OC Film Fiesta took place in downtown Santa Ana, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution and the 200th of the Mexican War of Independence.
Ten years later, itâs expanded from Santa Ana to Orange, Anaheim and Buena Park. This time around organizers are also celebrating the 150th anniversary of the city of Santa Ana, as well as the 250th anniversary of the Spanish PortolĂĄ expedition naming the Valle de Santa Ana.
âWe look at history a lot, and how it relates to the present,â says Payan.
OC Film Fiestaâs films highlight the Latino and greater immigrant community, with this yearâs spotlight focusing on the Middle East, including âKilikis ⌠The Town of Owlsâ from Morocco, a narrative feature about a political prison camp told from the guardsâ point of view; âBozkir Looks at Birdsâ from Turkey, a drama about two friends and a moral dilemma; and the documentary âFading Portraits,â about an Iranian photographer fighting against censorship to publish her photos of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
âPeople donât think about how diverse O.C. is,â says PeĂąa. âAnd cinema is a great cultural communicator to get to know different cultures, lives and philosophies.â
Short films in this spotlight include stories about a Jordanian womanâs difficulties trying to get a visa so she can visit her daughter (âNadiaâs Visaâ); a transgender actor whoâs fallen in love with her director (âShort Bodiesâ); an old man on a bus whoâs just trying to bring a turkey to his grandson when he runs into bandits (âElephant Burnâ); and a reporter in Orange County whoâs been covering parking stories and wants to do more serious journalism (âNon-Crimes of Orange Countyâ).
A highlight is a screening of Alex Rivera and Cristina Ibarraâs âThe Infiltrators,â which won the Audience Award and the NEXT Innovator Award this year at Sundance Film Festival. Itâs a hybrid documentary about a group of undocumented youth who deliberately get detained by Border Patrol in order to infiltrate a detention center, organize and get other detainees out.
âIt takes place in 2012 in Florida, but it looks like O.C. today,â says Payan.
Oct. 26 will bring a documentary double feature highlighting performer Dan Guerrero and the late artist Carlos Almaraz, who were childhood friends. âÂĄGAYTINO! â Made in America,â an adaptation of Guerreroâs one-man show, will play before âCarlos Almaraz: Playing with Fire,â made by the late Almarazâs wife Elsa Flores Almaraz and Richard J. Montoya from the famed performance troupe, Culture Clash.
On Oct. 27, those interested in civil rights documentaries can also watch the back-to-back screenings of Paul Espinozaâs âSinging Our Way to Freedom,â about musician/activist Ramon âChunkyâ Sanchez (known as Cesar Chavezâs favorite musician) and Ray Santistebanâs âThe First Rainbow Coalition,â about Chicagoâs multi-ethnic alliance of community groups in the 1960s that included the Black Panthers, Puerto Rican Young Lords and Appalachian Young Patriots.
And on Oct. 30, a free Taco Truck Cinema screening of the 2006 Jack Black comedy âNacho Libreâ will follow a talk by film historian Luis I. Reyes, who wrote âMade in Mexico: Hollywood South of the Border,â a book about the ways that Hollywood filmmakers and Mexican filmmakers have influenced each other for more than 100 years.
âItâs actually a triple whammy,â says Payan, âbecause thereâs an exhibit of contemporary artists in Oaxaca at the Mexican Consulate in O.C., where weâre screening âNacho Libre,â which was filmed in Oaxaca. So along with Luisâ book about Hollywood filmmaking in Mexico, itâs a multidimensional experience.â
Films by Orange County filmmakers include Eli Reynaâs short documentary âDrawing Out Stigma: My Story, My Journey,â produced by OC MECCA (Multi-Ethnic Collaborative of Community Agencies), which highlights mental illness; and âHome for Mom,â a short musical directed by Emiliana Ammirata and written by San Clemente writer Eloise Coopersmith that takes place in an elder care home.
And there will be a showcase of short films made by high school students from Edward James Olmos School of Film and Cinematic Arts in Santa Ana.
Looking forward, Payan and Pocha plan to kick off a schedule of yearlong screenings and move MASA into a new space in 2020 where they can host their youth cinema camp, murals and media program, a Millennial producerâs academy, and Cine Comadres, a female filmmaker circle PeĂąa started that regularly meets to support each otherâs projects.
Proceeds of the OC Film Fiesta go to support this work.
âMore revenue helps us do more programs,â says Payan.
IF YOU GO
What: 10th annual OC Film Fiesta
Where: Locations in Santa Ana, Orange, Anaheim and Buena Park
When: Oct. 18 to Nov. 3
Cost: $10 a screening; $5 for student, teachers, Santa Ana residents, military and veterans
Information: 888-906-0340; masamedia.org/ocfilmfiesta2019
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