Latest news with #41stChicagoLatinoFilmFestival
Los Angeles Times
07-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
New film ‘Cocodrilos' honors missing and murdered journalists in Mexico
Killing journalists can't kill the truth — or can it? This chilling question comes to mind in the new film 'Cocodrilos,' a Mexican thriller that takes a fictionalized approach to highlighting the real-life dangers that journalists and media workers face when covering organized crime. Directed by Mexican filmmaker J. Xavier Velasco, the drama made its world premiere on Sunday at the 41st Chicago Latino Film Festival and is the director's first feature-length film. 'I believe fiction is a medium that can reach more people than a documentary,' said Velasco in a Zoom interview ahead of the film's debut. Set and filmed in the coastal state of Veracruz, Velasco's home state — a hotbed for journalist assassinations — the tropical noir flick follows budding photojournalist Santiago Ortiz (played by Hoze Meléndez) as he unravels the details surrounding the assassination of his beloved mentor, Amanda González (Teresa Sánchez). As Ortiz begins to pull the threads of her final investigation, he risks everything, including his own life, to uncover the truth. '['Cocodrilos' is] an homage to the journalists, these folks that risk their lives, who dedicate themselves to a job that can truly lead them to death,' said Meléndez. To prepare for the gravitas of the lead role, Velasco handed Meléndez the book 'Romper el Silencio,' a collection of testimonies by living journalists who delineate the risks involved in uncovering the violence and corruption inherent in the narcotic trafficking world. 'I get goosebumps thinking of that book, because it's very difficult to digest,' said Meléndez. 'The courage of journalists is something that needs to be recognized, not just because it's a job in which you risk not only your own life, but also the lives of those close to you.' While the 'Cocodrilo' storyline is not based on any one journalist's story, it is inspired by the various real-life threats that continue to plague Mexican media in the present day. According to a joint 2024 report by nonprofit Committee to Protect Journalists and Amnesty International, at least 141 journalists and other media workers have been killed in Mexico since the turn of the century, making it the most dangerous country for journalists in the Western Hemisphere. Mexico is also the country with the highest number of missing journalists in the world. Born in Xalapa, the deadliest Mexican city for journalists, Velasco was especially moved to action by the murders of two local journalists: crime reporter Regina Martínez, who was killed in her home in Xalapa in 2012, and photojournalist Rubén Espinosa, who was killed in Mexico City along with four women in 2015, an investigation that has been dubbed the Narvarte case. 'What really caught my attention was how the discourse was being handled. Due to questions of empathy and the impact of violence, it occurred to me to talk about the subject,' said Velasco, whose 2011 short, 'Juan y la Borrega,' touched on similar themes of organized crime violence. In 2019, Velasco penned the script for 'Cocodrilos' with the help of his sister and author, Magali Velasco, who later wrote a 2024 book by the same name. Though the film touches on a delicate subject matter, it does not expose the public to the specifics of such grisly acts associated with the cartels. Instead, the film transmits threats through symbolism in objects left behind such as shoes, pieces of tattered clothing and other elements that Mexicans can identify with. Said Velasco, 'Imagine the worst that's behind that, right?' 'I was interested in approaching the topic from a position of respect, not a position of revictimizing,' said Velasco. 'To avoid this sensationalism, the over-exploitation of violent images had to be avoided at all costs.' While Velasco and Meléndez know that the killing of journalists will resonate deeply with Mexican nationals, they hope the subject matter will speak to the dangers faced by storytellers around the world. Velasco took care to mention the Israel-Gaza war, in which at least 173 journalists and media workers have been killed since October 2023 — marking the deadliest period for journalists since the Committee to Protect Journalists began tracking violence against journalists in 1992. ' There is an attack on the mediums, nonprofit news outlets, on the truth. There is an attempt to coerce the communicators who are trying to say the facts,' said Velasco. 'There are tremendous issues that are happening globally, not just in Gaza, but also in the United States.' Before the film premieres elsewhere, there will be an additional screening of 'Cocodrilos' on Tuesday, April 8 at the Landmark's Century Centre Cinema in Chicago. It will be followed by a Q&A session with Velasco and Meléndez.
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The Tribune's Quotes of the Week quiz for April 5
Well, the first week of April had lots in store for us, so let's get right into it! The stock market took a major downturn this week after President Donald Trump announced new tariffs, including a 10% baseline tax on imports from all countries. China retaliated Friday by matching the tariffs set against them with a 34% tariff on all U.S. products. Legal backlash against Trump administration policies continued this week. On Monday, a federal judge in San Francisco paused plans to end temporary legal protections for Venezuelans, a move to cut billions in federal support for public health initiatives across the country was blocked Thursday, and Illinois joined 18 other states in suing to stop the president's executive order reshaping how U.S. elections are run. Speaking of elections, many suburbanites voted this week in races across the Chicago area for mayor, city council and village board. Incumbents performed well while state Republicans took a major hit, losing races in several municipalities. After almost a year of fraught negotiations, the Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago Public Schools finally have a contract deal. It's the first time in a decade a deal has been reached by without a strike vote or strike In sports news, the Chicago Cubs finally had their home opener at Wrigley Field, a 3-1 victory over the San Diego Padres on Friday. And while it's football offseason, the Bears also had a busy week, signing veteran quarterback Case Keenum, providing an update on their new stadium prospects and Chairman George McCaskey saying Wednesday he has no interest in selling the team. Plus, the 41st Chicago Latino Film Festival opens this weekend. Catch a screening through April 13 at Landmark Century Centre Cinema at 2828 N. Clark St. That's all for the news. Now the fun stuff: the Tribune's Quotes of the Week quiz for March 30 to April 5. Missed last week? You can find it here or check out our past editions of Quotes of the Week.
Chicago Tribune
05-04-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
The Tribune's Quotes of the Week quiz for April 5
Well, the first week of April had lots in store for us, so let's get right into it! The stock market took a major downturn this week after President Donald Trump announced new tariffs, including a 10% baseline tax on imports from all countries. China retaliated Friday by matching the tariffs set against them with a 34% tariff on all U.S. products. Legal backlash against Trump administration policies continued this week. On Monday, a federal judge in San Francisco paused plans to end temporary legal protections for Venezuelans, a move to cut billions in federal support for public health initiatives across the country was blocked Thursday, and Illinois joined 18 other states in suing to stop the president's executive order reshaping how U.S. elections are run. Speaking of elections, many suburbanites voted this week in races across the Chicago area for mayor, city council and village board. Incumbents performed well while state Republicans took a major hit, losing races in several municipalities. After almost a year of fraught negotiations, the Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago Public Schools finally have a contract deal. It's the first time in a decade a deal has been reached by without a strike vote or strike In sports news, the Chicago Cubs finally had their home opener at Wrigley Field, a 3-1 victory over the San Diego Padres on Friday. And while it's football offseason, the Bears also had a busy week, signing veteran quarterback Case Keenum, providing an update on their new stadium prospects and Chairman George McCaskey saying Wednesday he has no interest in selling the team. Plus, the 41st Chicago Latino Film Festival opens this weekend. Catch a screening through April 13 at Landmark Century Centre Cinema at 2828 N. Clark St. That's all for the news. Now the fun stuff: the Tribune's Quotes of the Week quiz for March 30 to April 5.
Chicago Tribune
03-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Chicago Latino Film Festival opens this weekend, with indelible ‘Memories' and a multitude of stories
A photograph. A voice on tape. Moving images of everyday life, evoking the double meaning of that word, 'moving.' I previewed only a fraction of the 41st Chicago Latino Film Festival, the first full day of which is Friday, with the fest continuing through April 13th at the Landmark Century Centre on Clark Street. But even with a too-small sampling of festival titles, often a theme emerges — in this instance an idea of how memories of our lives, or the lives of others, can be reclaimed or questioned years afterward. Sometime around the age of 70, according to one of many different female voices we hear in the beautiful new film 'Memories of a Burning Body,' women may come to a point when 'we allow ourselves the luxury to pull out the weeds.' It's an evocative metaphor for painful, half-buried memories, or misappropriated guilt so deep it takes two hands to do the pulling. Winner of the audience award at the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival, 'Memories of a Burning Body' comes from Costa Rica-based writer-director Antonella Sudasassi Furniss. (It's one of two Costa Rica films in this year's lineup, which represents 21 countries of origin including Central and South America, Spain, Portugal and the U.S.) A docu-fiction hybrid with an unusual, almost liquid flow, it'll screen at8 p.m. Friday and 8:45 p.m. Sunday. The words on the screen at the start of 'Burning Body' put it succinctly: 'This film is the conversation I never had with my grandmothers.' Pre-COVID, Sudasassi Furniss began talking with women ranging in age, from their mid-60s to early 90s, about female pleasure and what these women learned, or didn't, from mothers, fathers, nuns, friends and husbands. From the recorded memories of eight interview subjects, the filmmaker then adapted their stories (details of which, in some cases, never having been shared with anyone) into a screenplay. 'Burning Body' tells one fictional woman's story, divided into thirds, with three different actresses — in ascending order of age, Juliana Filloy, Paulina Bernini and the marvelous Sol Carballo — portraying a kind of Everywoman in childhood, young adulthood and around 70. The film concerns far more than variations on a single theme. It's a weave of expectations, misogyny, conditions and societal forces that too often prescribe women's lives, bodies and fates. None of it feels reductive or simplistic; much of it conveys serious joy and tactile discovery. As the three leading performers come and go, sharing the same apartment setting, a walk down one hallway might lead to a memory of Catholic school sex education (very light on the education part), while another hallway or transition takes us into some increasingly frightening scenes from a marriage, before and after Bernini's character gives birth to her first child. Sudasassi Furniss' directorial instincts are so light-fingered yet so effective, we really do experience her film the way most of us — maybe all of us — sort through who we were, and are. And what life can mean right now. 'Memories of a Burning Body' began with a filmmaker talking, and getting real people to reminisce on tape. From Mexico, the ripped-from-the-headlines drama 'Crocodiles' (screening 6:30 p.m. Sunday and 5:45 p.m. April 8) hinges on a Veracruz investigative reporter's tense meeting, in a church, with a source for an inflammatory story she's risking her life to uncover involving the local cartels. What she tape-records is one terrified man's account of what he has seen and, so far, survived. 'Crocodiles' is a world premiere, and the festival screenings will feature appearances by director J. Xavier Velasco and leading actor Hoze Meléndez. Based on the real-life murders of several journalists, the film has its overheated elements but it's undeniably effective. And at a time when journalism's demonization by those in power has become a fact of life and death, Velasco's film is both a risk and a warning cry. I also caught three Chicago-made short film playing at different times on the festival calendar, including an impressive directorial debut from 'Chicago Fire' cast member Joe Miñoso. 'Paper Flowers' (6:15 p.m. April 12 and 3:30 p.m. April 13) begins with a boy with a Camcorder, running around his Chicago backyard, chasing and filming his sister. This Chicago slice of life takes place in the recent past. But Miñoso's simple, sure miniature speaks directly to the early 2025 America's rampant deportations — and the reminder that recording our memories may be more important, and heartbreaking, than we knew.
