WATSONVILLE FILM FESTIVAL CELEBRATES 10TH ANNIVERSARY WITH EXPANDED, HYBRID PROGRAM

Festival will present free film program online for 10 days and a special event at the Mello Center, Saturday March 12

The Watsonville Film Festival (WFF) will come full circle as it celebrates its 10th Anniversary with a special in-person event at the Mello Center for the Performing Arts, where it all started in 2012. The Festival will also present an outstanding virtual film program for free, from March 11-20. The 2022 Cine Se Puede Fellowship, which offers support and mentorship to local emerging filmmakers, will also be featured.

“We are excited and proud to celebrate a decade of the storytelling and artistry of the Latinx community in front of, and behind, the camera,” says Consuelo Alba, Director of WFF. “This year we are presenting an incredibly powerful selection of films, most of them directed by women. We will also honor Josefina Lopez, a trailblazer Latina and playwright and screenwriter based in Los Angeles.”

Under the theme 10 Years Cultivating Community Through Film, the WFF will present a virtual program featuring more than 30 award-winning, local and student films from March 11-20 via its streaming channel at watsonvillefilmfest.org

Highlights include Academy Award nominee The Mole Agent, double-Sundance winner Identifying Features, and Mexican Ariel Award nominee Things We Dare Not Do. Overall, the films shine the light on Latinx art, activism, resistance and community.

The Festival is collaborating for the first time with POV-PBS, the award-winning independent non-fiction film series, by presenting seven documentary films, including Fruits of Labor, a documentary following the life, dreams and challenges of a teenager and her family in Watsonville.

This year WFF is honoring Real Women Have Curves, a landmark American independent film on its 20th Anniversary, with an in-person screening at the Mello Center Saturday March 12 at 6PM. Josefina Lopez, who based the story on her own life as a child of immigrants in Los Angeles, will be the special guest. The film stars America Ferrera in her first feature film, which launched her career. It won the Sundance Audience Award, and was recently inducted into the Library of Congress National Film Registry. The event is free of charge, but people are encouraged to register on the WFF website.

Seven local emerging Latinx filmmakers who were selected to the inaugural WFF Cine Se Puede Fellowship will also be recognized at the March 12 event. Through this new program, the fellows will receive funding, tailored mentorship and ongoing support for 13 months.

“Our goal is to support early career filmmakers at a critical point in their professional journey, who are looking for sustainability to continue working and thriving in our region,” says Brenda Avila-Hanna, the WFF Cine Se Puede Fellowship lead and documentary filmmaker.

WFF will also screen several local films including fiction shorts Amor en Cuarentena and Disposable, experimental film Oda a los Frijoles and the documentaries Painter of Dreams, La Perla del Pacifico and The Work of Art (El Oficio del Arte), as well as student films. The screening of Disposable will be a world premiere.

“We are proud to present another great program this year. The outpouring of support to celebrate our 10th birthday has been amazing,” says Alba. “We are very grateful to the filmmakers, sponsors, donors, Amigos del Festival and our wonderful audience.”

Sponsors of the 2022 Watsonville Film Festival include University of California Santa Cruz / Arts Division, Ow Family Properties, Community Foundation Santa Cruz County, California Arts Council, Packard Foundation, Santa Cruz Community Credit Union, Annieglass, Arts Council Santa Cruz County and others.

Since 2012, the WFF has made a name for itself by programming thoughtful and provocative films, celebrating Latinx filmmakers and stories, supporting local storytellers, and opening spaces for Latinx audiences. The arts non-profit organization presents an annual festival, plus year-round programs, including the beloved Día de Muertos celebration at the Watsonville Plaza.

AT A QUICK GLANCE
WHAT: 10th Annual Watsonville Film Festival, presenting 30+ award-winning and local films online at watsonvillefilmfest.org

WHEN: Friday, March 11- Sunday, March 20, 2022
SPECIAL IN-PERSON PROGRAM: Celebrating 10th Anniversary of WFF with Real

Women Have Curves at the Mello Center Saturday, March 12, 6pm – 8:30pm
COST: Free, donations accepted. Register to reserve a seat at watsonvillefilmfest.org

Watsonville Film Festival joins Bay Area organizations for film screening, concert in Plaza

By Johanna Miller, The Pajaronian

WATSONVILLE—Mexican Independence Day is Sept. 16, and the Watsonville Film Festival (WFF) is teaming up with two Bay Area organizations to bring a celebratory event to the community.

Celebrando La Cultura, to be held Sept. 15-18, will include film, music and dance. It begins with a virtual screening of the award-winning documentary “Linda and the Mockingbirds” and a showcase of seven other films created by the Los Cenzontles Cultural Academy (LCCA) from San Pablo. A virtual conversation with filmmakers will be held Sept. 16 at 6pm.

On Sept. 17 from 6-7:30pm, LCCA’s band, known simply as Los Cenzontles (“mockingbirds” in the Nahuatl language), along with Los Originarios del Plan, and Watsonville’s Estrellas de Esperanza youth Folklorico group, will hold a concert in the City Plaza in honor of farmworkers. The event is organized in partnership with the McEvoy Foundation for the Arts in San Francisco.  

Consuelo Alba, executive director of WFF, said she was familiar with LCCA long before its founder and director Eugene Rodriguez approached her about doing a project together. They had screened one of the organization’s short films two years ago at their annual festival.

“I was very aware of their trajectory, the work they’ve been doing,” Alba said. “When Eugene asked us if we’d be interested … Of course we were! All of our organizations … our values align. We are all very excited to bring this program to the community.”

Rodriguez founded LCCA in 1989, first as a youth group before incorporating it as a nonprofit in 1994. The organization is a band, a music academy and a gathering space for youth and families; it has become a hub for Latinx artists across the Bay Area. 

LCCA researches traditional music, creating work and documenting as they go, often working with alumni of the program.

“It’s been a way to understand my own Mexican routes and share that with my students,” Rodriguez said. “As it turned out, they have become my musical collaborators over the years. Thirty-two years later, we are still teaching kids and continuing our mission.”

LCCA previously worked with the McEvoy Foundation on “Linda and the Mockingbirds” and other projects. Together, they began brainstorming about how to work with more groups. 

Celebrando La Cultura will be the first time the foundation is involved in an event outside of the Bay Area.

“This will help expand the [McEvoy Foundation]’s reach,” Alba said, “and it will put Watsonville on the map.”

“Linda and the Mockingbirds” follows well-known singer Linda Ronstadt as she travels through Mexico with Los Cenzontles. Together, they visit Ronstadt’s grandfather’s pueblo, learning about her history and culture.

 “Linda is so famous, but a lot of people don’t know about her Mexican heritage,” Alba said. “Bringing [Los Cenzontles] along to connect with her roots in Mexico … It’s wonderful. We are proud to present this film.”

Rodriguez said that Ronstadt had been working on a different documentary before bringing on the producer of that film to finance and direct most of “Mockingbirds.” It was a challenging yet exciting experience, he said.

“Adding in that Hollywood element … we weren’t used to it,” he said. “But ultimately we created an authentic piece with high production values. It was an amazing experience.”

“Linda and the Mockingbirds” premiered at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco in July. The Watsonville event is an extension of that premiere, Rodriguez said. 

“I feel very proud that our work is being recognized by such an established film festival as [WFF],” he said. “I’m so glad we can build these partnerships—not only with our music allies but also wonderful organizations like them and McEvoy.”

Celebrando La Cultura is both WFF and Los Cenzontles’ first in-person event since the pandemic began. 

“[Los Cenzontles] hasn’t performed in almost two years,” Alba said. “Us hosting them here … it’s a big responsibility. Thankfully, we have a great team to make this happen. We are so glad to present this event, to celebrate Mexican Independence Day, and honor our farmworkers.”

Alba said that WFF will be following all Covid-19 health protocols at the concert. In addition, Salud Para La Gente will be on hand with a pop-up vaccine clinic and information.

“It is very important to us, to keep people safe, while providing a place of joy,” Alba said.

For information about Celebrando La Cultura visit watsonvillefilmfest.org.

‘Celebrando la Cultura’: Arts program honors Pajaro Valley farmworkers

By Hannah Hagemann, Santa Cruz Sentinal

WATSONVILLE — The Watsonville Film Festival has teamed up with the McEvoy Foundation for the Arts and San Pablo-based musical group Los Cenzontles to present a three-part arts celebration honoring Pajaro Valley area farmworkers and the Mexican Americans who call the region home.

“I’m really excited for people to see all the connections we have between film, music, dance, history and storytelling — that’s intentional with these programs,” said Consuelo Alba, director of the Watsonville Film Festival. “We want to paint a beautiful picture of Mexican culture, the contributions of our farmworkers, our artists and filmmakers.”  

Renowned Mexican American music group Los Cenzontles — or “The Mockingbirds” — will join Watsonville-based Estrellas de Esperanza youth folkloric group and traditional Mexican music group Los Originarios del Plan on Friday at the Watsonville City Plaza.

Leading up to the outdoor concert accompanying documentaries can be viewed at watsonvillefilmfest.org beginning Wednesday. The films center on the artists behind Los Cenzontles, who also do nonprofit work brining music education and cultural lessons to children.

A talk with the documentary filmmakers will also stream through the film festival website on Thursday.

“Through this program we are hoping that people will see the beauty and diversity of Mexico, have a conversation with the filmmakers and then join us at the plaza,” Alba said.

It’s the nonprofit’s first in-person event, and the Los Cenzontles’ first live concert, since the COVID-19 pandemic hit. An event Watsonville Film Festival was set to host in March 2020 had to be canceled because of the pandemic.

Los Cenzontles will perform at an outdoor concert next Friday. The musical group is critically acclaimed and has collaborated with the likes of musician Linda Ronstadt and Jackson Browne. (Contributed photo — Watsonville Film Festival)

The celebration is also in honor of the farmworkers — or “campesinos” — who call the Monterey Bay area home.

“They are essential workers, throughout the pandemic throughout the fires they have been working nonstop, so we really want to recognize their contribution to our community, to society and do it in a joyful way,” Alba said. “In a way that is meaningful and beautiful, bringing all these elements together that are part of the culture of many of the farmworkers.”

After a challenging year and a half of the COVID-19 pandemic, Alba said she’s looking forward to seeing the community come together.

“It has been really hard for our community, especially here in Watsonville through the pandemic, so we are very excited to be able to offer this concert to come together in a safe way again to celebrate,” Alba said.

IF YOU GO

What: “Celebrando la Cultura” arts program honoring Mexican American music, culture and bay area farmworkers

When: Watsonville Film Festival / Virtual documentary screenings Wednesday through Saturday. Free concert at the Watsonville Plaza at 6-7:30 p.m. Friday, September 17.

Where: Documentaries screened at watsonvillefilmfest.org. Concert at Watsonville City Plaza, 358 Main St., Watsonville.

Watsonville Film Fest celebrates Mexican music, honors farmworkers with free live show at the Plaza

By Wallace Baine, Lookout Santa Cruz

In 1987, Linda Ronstadt — then one of the brightest female stars in the pop-music universe — released an album called “Canciones de Mi Padre,” a full-on embrace of the Mexican folk music deeply entwined in her family’s roots. “Canciones” won Ronstadt a Grammy and went on to become the bestselling non-English language album in American musical history.

It turns out there’s a straight line to draw between Ronstadt and what will be happening in Watsonville on Sept. 17. On that Friday, at the Watsonville Plaza, during the weekly farmers market, the Watsonville Film Festival will present “Celebrando la Cultura,” a live concert headlined by Los Cenzontles, a Bay Area-based band that specializes in traditional Mexican music.

The free outdoor show is the culmination of the four-day online Watsonville Film Festival (Sept. 15-18) that will screen an uplifting new documentary called “Linda and the Mockingbirds.”

The “Linda” in the title of the film is, of course, Ronstadt. And the “Mockingbirds”? That’s the English translation of “Los Cenzontles.”

Los Cenzontles is, in fact, a cultural organization based in the North Bay city of San Pablo and founded more than 30 years ago to keep alive the dynamic traditions of Mexican music and culture. It’s a kind of academy that connects young students, most notably those with Mexican family backgrounds, to many of the great purveyors of Mexican traditional music in its many forms and styles, from mariachi to corridos to son jaracho. The organization has now served generations of young people throughout Northern California. From that organization springs a professional touring band, also called Los Cenzontles. On Sept. 17, that band will perform its first post-pandemic public concert in Watsonville.

In 2019, Los Cenzontles participated in a musical journey that formed the basis for the new documentary. The band and many students of its academy traveled by bus from Arizona deep into the heart of Sonora in northern Mexico. Accompanying them was Linda Ronstadt, now 75 and struggling with Parkinson’s disease which has robbed her of the ability to sing. The destination of the trip was the birthplace of Ronstadt’s paternal grandfather, a musician and businessman who was a major figure in Tucson, Arizona in the early 20th century.

“It all fell into place in a beautiful, organic manner, and happened pretty fast too,” said Eugene Rodriguez, the academy’s executive director and bandleader. “Since it was all based on long-standing relationships, it all came together pretty nicely.”

Primary among those relationships is that between Rodriguez and Ronstadt. The pop singer was instrumental in the support of the establishment of Los Cenzontles in the early 1990s, and has been a supporter ever since. It was Ronstadt who negotiated to get director James Keach (the director of award-winning documentary “Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice”) to follow the Cenzontles bus caravan to Mexico. Also along for the ride was yet another iconic 1970s rocker, singer/songwriter Jackson Browne.

Browne himself had a relationship with Los Cenzontles, having co-written the song on the DACA program called “The Dreamer” with Eugene Rodriguez, based on the immigrant story of Cenzontles vocalist Lucina Rodriguez (no relation to Eugene). As for Ronstadt, Browne was one of her oldest and closest friends in the music business, the two of them touring together as young unknowns in the 1960s, usually on the same kinds of rickety buses that the two superstars found themselves on in Sonora in 2019.

Los Cenzontles was preparing for a benefit performance in San Francisco with Browne when Rodriguez got a call from Ronstadt. “To my surprise, Linda is calling in the morning, which is not so common,” said Rodriguez. “And she said, ‘What are you doing?’ And I’m like, ‘Well, Jackson Browne just showed up.’ And she said, ‘Oh, invite him to Mexico with us.’ And I said, ‘Jackson, you wanna go to Mexico?’ and he said, ‘Sure.’ It was really that easy.”

Taken together, the online screening of “Linda and the Mockingbirds” and the live performance by Los Cenzontles in Watsonville make up the WFF’s “Celebrando La Cultura.” The band Los Cenzontles performs a wide variety of traditional Mexican song forms and has recorded with the likes of Taj Mahal, Ry Cooder and David Hidalgo of Los Lobos. Their songs are not necessarily all historical artifacts, many of them have a political edge still relevant today such as one of the band’s signature songs “Soy Mexicano Americano.”

The band will be the headliner in a show at the Watsonville Plaza that will also include the local folklorico dance troupe Estrellas de Esperanza, and the traditional harp band Los Originarios Del Plan. The entire program is presented by the Watsonville Film Festival.

The performance will mark the first for Los Cenzontles since the pandemic and since the release of “Linda and the Mockingbirds” in the fall of 2020. Which is not to say that Los Cenzontles is resuming anything.

“The work we do with kids, that never stopped,” said Rodriguez. “Throughout the pandemic, we did, like, 37 productions, videos or remote recordings.”

“Linda and the Mockingbirds” will be available for free streaming from Sept. 15 to 18, in honor of Mexican Independence Day at the Watsonville Film Festival’s site, co-presented by the McEvoy Foundation of the Arts in San Francisco.

Los Cenzontles will perform live at the Watsonville Plaza on Sept. 17 in honor of agricultural workers. Showtime is 6 p.m.

Art Organizations Join Forces for Juneteenth Multimedia Project

By: Johanna Miller / The Pajaronian

June 10, 2021

In celebration of Juneteenth, local arts organizations will come together for Murals / Art / Activism, a multimedia project highlighting the importance of public art in activism.

Juneteenth is the oldest national celebration commemorating the end of slavery in the U.S. The holiday has seen increasing recognition in recent years, with events being held nationwide.

Murals / Art / Activism begins on June 15, with two documentary films available to stream for free for four days via the Watsonville Film Festival’s (WFF) website. Later that week, festival organizers will host a Zoom event with the filmmakers and artists.

Finally, WFF and the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History (MAH) will host an in-person pop-up event in the City Plaza in downtown Watsonville. 

Pajaro Valley Arts, UCSC’s Everett Program and the Santa Cruz Art League are also involved in the project.

“We’re very excited to present this program,” said WFF Executive Director Consuelo Alba. “It has been a very organic process, how we all came together to present this.”

Alba said that WFF had already been in conversation with the Everett Program, and actively working with Calavera Media, who produced the short film “Painter of Dreams.”

Meanwhile, MAH was contacted by Oakland filmmaker Spencer Wilkinson, who was looking to screen his film, “Alice Street” through a grassroots impact tour funded by the California Arts Council and The San Francisco Foundation.

All of these projects collided to create Murals / Art / Activism.

“Prior to the pandemic… artists were kind of isolated,” said “Painter of Dreams” Director Gabriel Medina. “We all just wanted to make the best program we could. But now, people are starting to work together. We’re getting on the same page, seeing that it’s more powerful than going it alone.”

“Painter of Dreams” follows the story of Watsonville muralist Yermo Aranda and his relationship with the mural he created in the Watsonville High School (WHS) cafeteria. Originally painted in 1991 with the help of students, the piece was erroneously painted over in 2019, causing outrage in the community. 

Muralist Guillermo “Yermo” Aranda (left) with current and former Watsonville High School students who helped repaint the mural. —photo by Martha Victoria Vega Cendejas.

The recreation, painted by Aranda, his former students and current WHS students, was unveiled earlier this year.

“The film… focuses on Yermo, and the struggles he’s encountered trying to bring art to the community,” Medina said. “We want to bring his story to an audience who may have heard of it, but don’t know fully what it’s about.”

“Painter of Dreams” is Medina’s directorial debut for a film of this type. He said he was “honored” to be telling Aranda’s story.

“Yermo is widely known—many artists could have done this,” he said. “I’m so glad he entrusted us to document this experience.”

“Alice Street” follows two artists who create a mural in a neighborhood in Oakland. The diverse intersection, near the city’s Chinatown and the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, was changing drastically, due to what residents called gentrification. After struggling to get the mural painted, residents were then faced with the development of a luxury condominium that would have obscured the mural from view.

“I was profoundly impacted by their story,” Wilkinson said. “They had to struggle, fight for a seat at the table with developers … They showed how a community can resist gentrification. It was a roller coaster ride to watch and document.”

Alice Street, directed by Spencer Wilkinson, will be free to stream through the Watsonville Film Festival June 15-18.
—Photo by Ayse Gursoz

Wilkinson said that when he reached out to the MAH, they recognized the connection between his and Medina’s films, and connected them with WFF. 

“It’s a tremendous honor that [WFF] is interested in this story,” he said. “It’s honestly a dream come true.”

Medina and “Painter of Dreams” co-director Marcus Cisneros will join Aranda and Wilkinson on June 17 at 6pm for a virtual discussion and Q&A. The pop-up event will be held June 18, 4-6pm at the City Plaza. Artists will talk about and discuss their work with the community.

“The WFF is thrilled to work with all these wonderful organizations, filmmakers and artists to present this film program, and to create the space to discuss the importance of murals and the arts,” Alba said. “It’s vital to step up our support for the arts. As we recover from the pandemic we need connection, creativity and well being for everyone.”

This Year The Watsonville Film Festival Goes Virtual – And Free

By Roberto Eliason, BenitoLink

The Watsonville Film Festival has moved online this year, offering 20 films focused on Latino culture in North, Central and South America. The films range from local student productions to higher budget features and documentaries. All of the films and related special events are available free of charge on the festival website through March 13. 

Consuelo Alba, co-founder and executive director of the Watsonville Film Festival. Photo courtesy of Watsonville Film Festival.

“The Watsonville Film Festival was founded in 2012 specifically to highlight the stories of Latino filmmakers,” said Consuelo Alba, festival co-founder and executive director. “Historically we have been underrepresented and this is a chance to highlight their talent and creativity. And this year we are offering a very rich program with a lot of films you can’t see anywhere else.”

Several of the films stand out to Alba, with the most popular so far being “Cholitas,” directed by Jaime Murciego and Pablo Iraburu.

“I could talk for hours about how wonderful all these films are,“ Alba said. “But this one is a favorite. We promoted it quite a lot in relation to International Women’s Day. It is about six Indigenous women from Bolivia who decide to climb the highest mountain in the Americas, Mount Aconcagua. It is an incredible journey of empowerment and these ladies are amazing.”

Another favorite is “Quinceañera,” directed by Fanny Veliz Grande, about a yearly event organized by a school principal for students who cannot afford to host their own.

“It takes place in a small town called San Benito in Texas,“ Alba said. “It is a delightful film about a community that comes together for a celebration.”

“El guardián de la memoria (The Guardian of Memory),” directed by Marcela Arteaga, is indicative of the quality of the films being presented at the festival, having won the Ariel Award for Best Documentary Feature Film, the highest film honor in Mexico.

“It is a remarkable film that takes place at the border in Texas,“ Alba said. “It focuses on the work of a human rights lawyer as seen through the eyes of an artist.”

Still from “Fandango at the Wall,” courtesy of the Watsonville Film Festival.

Another film that’s been gaining attention is “Fandango at the Wall,” directed by Varda Bar-Kar. Produced by Carlos Santana, Andrew Young, and Quincy Jones, the film follows Arturo O’Farrill, founder of the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, as he travels to Veracruz, Mexico, to perform with masters of son jarocho music, a 300-year-old musical tradition drawn from African, Indigenous and Spanish roots. The film concludes with performances at Fandango Fronterizo, a festival that takes place on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border.

There are also six special events hosted by the festival, which are presented live on Zoom and archived on the festival’s Facebook page. 

One of them is an exploration of the themes of “Danzas Afromexicanas,” a film about four traditional dances from the Costa Chica in Mexico.

“It is a really amazing film and we had director Israel Reyes Larrea from Oaxaca speaking at the event,” Alba said. “It was filled with wonderful information and gave us a chance to recognize Afro-Mexican rights and culture.”

Still from “Cholitas,” courtesy of the Watsonville Film Festival.

Along with the feature-length and short films, the festival includes four films made by local students: “Christmas Blues,” directed by Isabella Lara, “Disconnected,” directed by Angie Rockie, “The Sound of Water,” directed by Diego Lopez, and “Isolation: My Quarantine Story,” directed by Julián Lopez.

“So far people are responding to our films very well,” Alba said. “I hope these films make them feel inspired, I hope they feel connected. It has been such a hard year with people feeling so uncertain about the future. We want people to feel connected to each other despite our having to spend so much time at home.” 

Each film can be viewed for 72 hours after registration. All films in Spanish or other languages have English subtitles. 

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Much More Than Films

by Claudia Meléndez Salinas, VOICES OF MONTEREY BAY

There are a few reasons why I have a soft spot for the Watsonville Film Festival. First, Consuelo Alba, the festival’s co-founder and I have a lot in common: We’re both from Mexico living the transnational dream; we were both born in the most revolutionary of years; we both love good music, good food and good company.

Having so much in common with this amazing mujer, it should only follow that we would have similar taste in films. And we do — and that’s another reason to like the festival. The movie selections Alba and her team always put together are *chef kiss.* Sweet. Poignant. Challenging. Sweeping. Toss one hundred adjectives in the air and one that describes the festival’s films will surely land on your screen.

Where else will you see an Ariel-winning documentary along with student-produced films about the pandemic? A wide variety of films about indigenous communities in the Americas? Real women with real lonjas dancing without a care in the world? Alba puts together a world-class event that will make you cry, laugh, and make you feel connected.

Director Marcela Arteaga uses art installations to convey the loss experienced by people displaced by violence.

But perhaps the biggest reason I’m such a huge fan of the festival is because it remains the “little festival that can.” Since its inception, the WFF folks have dealt with challenge after challenge, one setback after another, mostly because the festival does not have a permanent venue. Last year, when the pandemic hit, not having a venue became the understatement of the year.

And yet, here it is.

“After cancelling our annual festival in 2020, two days before opening night because of COVID, we decided to go online,” Alba said in an email. “We have been presenting films virtually since last April, including a five-day Day of the Dead celebration in the fall. We were able to double our audience reach, and we received wonderful feedback. People told us that our program made them feel connected, so we decided to go for it and present our usual number of films for WFF 2021.”

Mayrin Buitimea plays the role of Lucia in Corazón de Mezquite. Lucia wants to learn how to play the harp, something that’s forbidden for women in her Yoreme culture.

From March 5 to March 13, the WFF will present 20 films anyone will be able to see from the comfort of their homes, free of charge and free of COVID-19. It’s an offer nobody should refuse.

Voices of Monterey Bay has sponsored the festival in the past, and this year, we’re presenting two of the films: “The Guardian of Memory” and “Corazón de Mezquite.”

As part of the presentation I interviewed Carlos Spector, an attorney who for more than three decades has represented Mexicans seeking political asylum in the United States. Film director Marcela Arteaga met Spector when she was researching organized crime and the trail of death it leaves in its wake. Spector became the subject of “The Guardian of Memory,” and through him, Arteaga explains the concept of “authorized crime” — completely new to me.

“It’s not well known, I myself didn’t know there are Mexicans seeking asylum,” Arteaga said. “To seek asylum is (to think of) war and nobody has thought about this in terms of war. Not war the way (former President) Felipe Calderón used to define it, but more like a civil war. We had to choose just one place to portray this the best way possible, and most Mexicans in exile are from Guadalupe.”

The term “authorized crime” describes the forces pushing people out of their communities: cartels, organized crime terrorizing the community.

In 2008, when the Mexican government sent an army to the Chihuahua border near El Paso and Ciudad Juárez, ostensibly to fight drug trafficking, Guadalupe had a population of 17,000 people. Today there are only 1,000 people living there. Spector, himself from Guadalupe, is a proponent of the term “authorized crime” to describe the forces pushing people out of their communities: cartels, organized crime terrorizing the community. But when the Army was sent in to fight against those cartels, the results were even worse: further community destruction, but Guadalupe’s residents have no recourse, nobody to defend them.

Arteaga’s profoundly touching film (winner of 2020 Ariel for best documentary, Mexico’s highest award) succeeds not just for the story itself, but for the poignant art installations that pepper the film, intended to recreate the life the exiles leave behind: the abandoned bicycles, the burning clothes on a clothesline, the empty houses with nothing but photographs on the walls. They evoke feelings of abandonment, of profound loss, much more powerfully than words ever could.

But there’s power in remembrance and both Spector and Arteaga hope the movie will lead some action or at the very least maintain the memory of the disappeared alive.

“What we want to do is to leave models of how to fight,” Spector said. “We have created an organization (Mexicans in Exile) that can still receive activists. The solution is binational, it lies in demanding and fighting for democracy in Mexico and fighting for our rights in our country. Our contribution has to be our story, that’s what we leave behind. In that sense, we’re the guardians of memory.”

The second movie Voices of Monterey Bay is presenting is “Corazón de Mezquite.” While on its surface it has nothing to do with “The Guardian of Memory,” you could say it’s a narrative on the other side of the spectrum. It’s fiction, and has nothing to do with cartels of organized crime. But it was the authorized crime that Spaniards committed against indigenous people of Mexico for centuries, leading to their near extinction. “Corazón de Mezquite” takes place in the heart of Yoreme country, home to a little known indigenous group in northern Mexico.

Film director Ana Laura Calderón decided to make the movie when visiting the community with a group of anthropologists. And while she learned a lot about the Yoreme, also known as Mayo in Mexico, she said she learned more about humanity during the process.

“I learned a lot about the Yoreme, in particular I learned about their generosity. We worked in their homes, with their clothing, with their traditions. The celebration we have in the film, we had no money to recreate it, so we asked for permission to film the real one. They were happy to contribute. The talent they have is wonderful. They threw their heart into everything we were doing,” she said in Spanish.

Calderón believes it’s important for everyone to learn more about the indigenous cultures that have survived more than 500 years of invasion because they are a direct link to our past.

“They are our identity,” she said. “They are our ancestral past, they are our cultures. It’s important to rescue these traditions. Also, stories that are more particular tend to be more universal. You can see this story in China or in India and they’re going to see what we have in common. Everything is connected, so it’s important not to forget the past. For many years we have said ‘I’m not indigenous’ and I think that’s terrible. We have to recognize it and give it its proper place.”

And perhaps that’s the biggest reason why I’m so fond of the Watsonville Film Festival. Within its mission of bringing people together through film there’s room for so much more: for rescuing traditions, for remembering the past, for recognizing who we are and giving our roots their proper place. Because this little film festival is so much more than that.

The Watsonville Film Festival runs March 5-13, online only. Twenty films that range from an Ariel-winning documentary to local high school productions. Donations accepted. To register, and to view all the films available, click here.

Voices from the ‘Ville: Young filmmakers form their own highlight reel at Watsonville Film Festival

By Wallace Baine, Lookout Santa Cruz

MAR 3, 2021

Are you a young person looking to get some experience in filmmaking? Here’s a pro tip to get you started:

Grow up in Watsonville.

A handful of young people in Watsonville have gotten a head start on the way to careers as filmmakers thanks largely to two enormously helpful programs that, to put it mildly, not many towns its size can boast.

They are DigitalNEST and the Watsonville Film Festival, the former a program designed to get the both the tools of the know-how of technology into the hands of young people, and the latter a community platform that is committed to showcasing the work of talented locals.

Viva Califas: Arts organizations come together to highlight the work of local Latinx artists

The WFF is poised to kick off its 2021 festival — an all-virtual affair — on Friday, March 5, presenting a variety of multicultural films online for free, through March 13. 

Right there in the master list of the festival’s artist-contributors are two young Watsonville-based filmmakers, both products of DigitalNEST and both cultivated and encouraged by the WFF.

Angie Rockey, an 18-year-old Watsonville High School student, will debut her documentary short titled “Disconnected,” while Diego Lopez, a 19-year-old Cabrillo College student, is set to unveil the narrative fiction film he created with his two brothers titled “The Sound of Water.” Both are part of the WFF’s Youth Films

Angie Rockey

(Kevin Painchaud/Lookout Santa Cruz)

As its title suggests, Rockey’s documentary is a meditation on the experience of trying to get an education during the COVID-19 pandemic. The idea first came to her last fall from an assignment she received as part of an internship at DigitalNEST. She interviewed a college-student friend and used her own experience as a high-school student to create a kind of day-in-the-life chronicle of pandemic schooling.

“I got a lot of B-roll of the schools we attended,” she said, “the footage of them now empty I thought would be very impactful.”

“Disconnected” is not Rockey’s first foray into filmmaking. She had also produced a narrative fiction film titled “Alone,” in which she used the relatively empty streets of Santa Cruz County shortly after the pandemic shutdown to create a post-apocalyptic story of a young woman trying to figure out if she’s the only one left alive after a catastrophic event. The film was presented in 2020 by the WFF’s “Chicas in Cinema” program of short film.

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In the wake of “Alone” and “Disconnected,” Rockey plans to attend the celebrated film program at the University of Southern California in the fall. Both of her Watsonville Film Festival short films will, she said, endure as a kind of testament to a unique time in American history.

“When things go back to normal, or as normal as they can be, it’ll be cool to have something to reflect back on and remember the times before.”
Diego Lopez first began volunteering at the Watsonville Film Festival as a high schooler back in 2016. 

It was there the young man met Jacob Martinez, the founder of DigitalNESTwho encouraged him to investigate the program there. Lopez said that DigitalNEST taught him not only the basics of film technology, but how to write a screenplay as well.

(Kevin Painchaud/Lookout Santa Cruz)

Lopez is now on the verge of debuting his short film in the same film festival where he once volunteered. “The Sound of Water” is a 8-minute narrative-fiction film that Lopez made with his younger brothers Julian and Esteban.

The film is a story of a young man (Esteban) who loses his older brother (Julian) but is haunted by his brother’s voice and likeness emerging from bodies of water.

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“With the quarantine,” said Lopez of the genesis of the idea, “people are losing loved ones and many of them can’t accept that the person is gone, and still sees them and hears them.”

The film was shot over the course of a week at various locations around Santa Cruz County, from Mount Madonna to the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf. It is at the end of the wharf where the film’s critical scene was shot, of the protagonist scattering his brother’s ashes in the ocean.

Lopez, who both directed the film and plays a small role in it, said he rushed his brothers to the wharf to take advantage of “golden-hour” lighting in the late afternoon. Still, he was only able to do one take, because they didn’t have enough ashes to do more than that.

“We had one shot at this,” he said. “So I said, we’ve got to do this. Ignore everyone around, and let’s make this Oscar-worthy.

The Watsonville Film Festival takes place March 5 through March 13. Lookout is the exclusive media partner of the event.

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Watsonville Film Festival spotlights women in film and community

Published by Lookout Santa Cruz

This year, 11 of the 20 films presented by the Watsonville Film Festival (WFF) are directed by or focused on women. Since its inception in 2012, WFF has shared many documentaries and fiction films directed, produced, edited by and starring women. In an industry dominated by men, WFF believes it is imperative to celebrate female-identified filmmakers and stories.

Don’t forget that this year’s festival will be virtual and free for all! WFF knows that art is crucial to keep people connected and inspired, and that everyone should have access to powerful films. Make sure to go to watsonvillefilmfest.org to watch films at your leisure, March 5-13.

Below are exclusive trailer releases for our upcoming feature film lineup:

Cholitas

Among the selected films for the ninth edition of the Festival is Cholitas, a documentary that follows five indigenous Bolivian women climbing the highest mountain of the Americas. Wearing bright skirts, they rise above the traditional and expected roles of Aymara women. 

This inspiring film was nominated for seven Goya awards in Spain. In Spanish and Aymara with English subtitles. Screening sponsored by the Katz-Lapides Family Fund and co-presented with Watsonville International Women’s Day Coalition.

Corazón de Mezquite

Corazón de Mezquite, directed by Ana Laura Calderón. This fiction film follows the life of Lucia, an indigenous Yoreme girl living in northern Mexico. 

Lucia is fighting for her dream against her community’s tradition of not allowing women to play the harp. Along the way, she tries to connect with her father and find her place in her community. In Spanish and Yoreme, with English subtitles. Limited tickets available.

Our Quinceañera

Our Quinceañera documents a high school principal in San Benito, a small town in Texas, who hosts a yearly coming-of-age Quinceañera celebration for students who can’t afford it. 

The entire border town gets together to teach these girls that with the power of community, any dream can come true. In English and Spanish, with English subtitles. Sponsored by Attorney Alberto Garcia. Limited tickets available.

La felicidad en la que vivo (The Happiness in Which I Live)

Meet Samantha Flores as she feeds hummingbirds, dances away and shares her dream of opening a center for the LGBTQ elder community. This short documentary from Mexico City captures the essence of this fascinating 88 year-old transgender woman, and will surely bring a smile to your face. In Spanish, with English subtitles.

We are proud to present these films and more, for free. We are also excited to partner with the Watsonville International Women’s Day Coalition to honor local women who are making outstanding contributions to our community.

For the past five years, the Watsonville International Women’s Day Coalition has celebrated women on March 8 with a community event in the Watsonville Plaza. Although the pandemic prevents us from being together in person, we are excited to virtually co-host this event with them. We will recognize local, female-identified leaders who fit the theme of “Choose To Challenge” in all that they do. From education to health care to civic engagement and advocacy for our vulnerable neighbors, these women are bravely calling out inequity and helping to create a more inclusive world for us all.

Other women-directed films to watch out for are The Guardian of Memory,by Marcela Arteaga, winner of an Ariel (Mexican Academy Award) for best documentary, and El Sembrador / The Sower, by Melissa Elizondo, audience choice for Best Documentary at the Morelia International Film Festival.

About the Watsonville Film Festival

We are a non-profit arts organization founded in 2012 by Watsonville-based filmmakers and educators. WFF showcases primarily Latinx stories and uses film as a catalyst to educate, entertain and inspire audiences; to spark powerful conversations and to promote positive impact. See our year-round program at watsonvillefilmfest.org.

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2021 WFF is made possible with generous support from:

California Arts Council

Community Foundation Santa Cruz County

Arts Council Santa Cruz County

Santa Cruz Community Credit Union

Ainsley-Hicks Family Foundation

Rebecca & Bud Colligan

Ow Family Properties

Annieglass

Katz-Lapides Family Fund

Attorney Alberto Garcia

Councilmember Rebecca Garcia

Amigos del Festival

Santa Cruz Jewish Film Festival

My Mexico Tours

Exclusive Media Sponsor 

Lookout Santa Cruz

Community Partners

Digital NEST

Kuumbwa Jazz Center

Cabrillo College EOPS

Estrellas de Esperanza

Voices of Monterey Bay

Snazzy Productions

EPF Media

Watsonville Film Festival launches virtual cinema to present annual edition

Published By LOOKOUT SANTA CRUZ

Under the theme Stories Matter, the 9th annual Watsonville Film Festival(WFF) will present online a powerful and unique selection of 20 films by award-winning directors and local filmmakers for free from March 5-13.

We are very proud to be able to share this program with the community. After canceling our Festival two days before Opening Night in 2020 due to the pandemic, we kept working all year to put this program together. The situation with COVID has been very intense for everyone, especially for Watsonville, so we decided to offer our programming free as a gift to our community.

Starting Friday, March 5th at 7 p.m., you can watch, via our virtual cinema, films that celebrate Latinx artistry, that put a human face on issues we are confronting as a society, and that give us reasons to rejoice and have hope.

It’s important to note that historically, Latinx have been underrepresented in front of and behind the camera. Only 4.5% of movies released in the last 10 years featured Latinx characters, many of them with negative stereotypes. Watsonville Film Festival is doing its part to bring equity and representation to cinema in our region.

— Consuelo Alba, Executive Director of the Watsonville Film Festival

By putting the spotlight on filmmakers who tell new or long-overlooked stories, and by inviting underrepresented voices to share their creativity, Watsonville Film Festival is weaving a new and vibrant tapestry of what the world really looks like.

Empowering our community, especially our youth, to tell their own stories and sharing those narratives is something we are truly proud of. This year we are presenting four local shorts created during the pandemic by high school and college students. All films will be available at watsonvillefilmfest.orgfrom March 5-13 for free. Donations are greatly appreciated. Films not in English have English subtitles.

Watsonville Film Festival taking submissions for community project

Watsonville Film Festival taking submissions for community project

February 4, 2021

By Johanna Miller / The Pajaronian

Last March, film director Melissa Elizondo was about to board a plane from Mexico bound for the Watsonville Film Festival (WFF) when she got a call from Executive Director Consuelo Alba. The festival had been canceled due to the pandemic, and international travel was rapidly shutting down.

“She was my first call,” Alba said. “I caught her on her way to the airport. It was so sad.”

WFF was the first major event in the Pajaro Valley to be canceled because of the virus. Since then, the organization has held onto one of Elizondo’s films, “The Sower,” for hopes of showing it at a future event. 

The collaboration will finally happen at this year’s festival, set for March 5-13. The virtual event will also feature about 20 films, from award-winning documentaries and shorts to local work.

Alba said they have been hard at work selecting and curating films. They’ve searched for some, and had others submitted to them directly. 

“We might not be Sundance, but our films are of the same quality,” she said. “We’re really looking forward to sharing them.”

EXPEDITION Watsonville Film Festival will screen “Cholitas” for International Women’s Day on March 8. Directed by Jaime Murciego and Pablo Iraburu, the award-winning film tells the story of five Bolivian women who attempt to climb the tallest mountain in America. —image courtesy Watsonville Film Festival

In addition, WFF is inviting the community to help create its own film project, “We Are Watsonville.” People can submit photographs and/or short videos that represent Watsonville. Participants can also film themselves saying one word that describes what Watsonville means to them, and why.

The completed film, to be compiled by Inspira Studios, will be presented during a kickoff event on March 5.

“We are very excited about this,” Alba said. “There are so many filmmakers in our community, but also, with the technology we all have now on our phones, everyone can take photos and videos. We invite everyone to be creative with us.”

Send submissions to info@inspira-studios.com or call 322-7513. The deadline to submit is Feb. 10. WFF asks people to reach out if they need technical help.

Because this year’s festival will be entirely virtual, organizers have chosen to present it on a professional streaming platform called Eventive, which has been used by festivals across the globe. Alba says the platform will take their event “to the next level.”

“With everything being digital, it was important for us to offer the very best in quality,” she said. “And working closely with filmmakers… we need to be sure to protect their work. This is a big step forward for that.”

In addition to film screenings, the festival will also host virtual Q&A sessions with filmmakers and actors, and hold a number of events. On the final day, WFF is teaming up with the Kuumbwa Jazz Center for “Virtual Fandango,” which will feature a screening of the award-winning documentary “Fandango at the Wall.” The film follows multi-Grammy Award winners Arturo O’Farrill and Kabir Sehgal as they prepare to record a live album at the U.S.–Mexico border wall.

“It’s a wonderful story about how we are all connected, despite everything,” Alba said.

BORDER TUNES A screening of the documentary “Fandango at the Border” will be part of the festival’s closing celebration on March 13. —photo courtesy Watsonville Film Festival

WFF is aiming to offer this year’s festival for free to the community. This is a big deal, Alba said, as the event is normally their biggest fundraiser of the year. They are still looking for a few more sponsors and donors so they can make it happen.

“We really want to offer this gift to the community,” Alba said.

Email watsonvillefilmfest@gmail.com for ways to help.

Alba said she is happy WFF can keep providing films to the community. The festival’s virtual film series last year reached about 10,000 viewers, which she called a “silver lining” of everything going on. 

Still, she is eager to return to in-person events when they are safe, especially so that filmmakers like Elizondo can finally visit the community.

“As soon as we can have live events again, Melissa is going to come to Watsonville,” she said. “We can’t wait.”

•

The full Watsonville Film Festival 2021 program will be announced next week. For information and to stay in touch, visit watsonvillefilmfest.org or follow the organization on social media.

Watsonville Film Festival to Host Virtual Day of the Dead Celebration

by Johanna Miller, The Pajaronian

The Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) is a Mexican holiday observed across the globe every year in which families honor their deceased relatives with food, drink and various celebrations.

For the past few years, the Watsonville Film Festival (WFF) has organized a special community Day of the Dead celebration in the City Plaza, complete with music, food, altars, arts and crafts and an outdoor screening of the Disney/Pixar film “Coco.” 

But with the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the organization has had to switch gears.

“We knew we had to find a way to celebrate any way we could,” said Consuelo Alba, executive director of WFF. “Everything is different in 2020, but the beautiful Día de Muertos traditions must continue.”

“Fiesta Virtual de Día de Muertos,” organized by WFF, Pajaro Valley Arts (PVA) and Mariposa Arts, will kick off Oct. 28 with five days of online activities, including screenings of both locally produced shorts and other films, virtual music and dance performances, poetry, panels and discussions, and hands-on tutorials. 

Everything will stream free online.

“We have been working very hard behind-the-scenes on this program. It’s important, especially now, to highlight the incredible talented and creativity in this community,” Alba said.

On Oct. 16, local artist Venessa Ledesma and her son were at PVA on Sudden Street filming bilingual tutorials on sugar skull-themed face painting and constructing paper marigolds, flowers traditionally used on Day of the Dead altars, or “ofrendas.”

Local artist Nessa Ledesma and her son have filmed two bilingual tutorials on sugar skull face painting and paper marigold crafting to do at home. —photo by John Speyer

Ledesma’s painting tutorial offers two options: A full-coverage meant for when you are with your shelter-in-place family, and another half-coverage for when you are in public wearing a face mask.

“I really enjoy doing it, seeing the transformation of little kids into little sugar skulls,” she said. “And it’s fun to see them excited about it… It helps them feel connected to the culture.”

In addition to the virtual activity lineup, WFF has also created an official “Fiesta Virtual de Día de Muertos” Coloring & Art Activity Book, with support from PVA. Ten local artists are featured in the 28-page book, which in addition to black and white pieces you can color, also includes word searches, history and writing activities.

“[The book] really was a community effort,” Alba said. “We are very excited for people to see it.”

Families can purchase the book, as well as gift one to a local farmworker family, by visiting watsonvillefilmfest.org/amigos. All proceeds will support the organization.

Watsonville Film Festival executive director Consuelo Alba shows off the organization’s new Day of the Dead coloring activity book, which was created with Pajaro Valley Arts and other local groups. —photo by Johanna Miller/The Pajaronian

The Watsonville Film Festival also invites families to take photographs of their own Day of the Dead ofrendas, face paint and outfits. Send them to joanne@watsonvillefilmfestival.org by Oct. 26 and they will be shared during a special virtual event Nov. 1, which will also include a dance performance by Watsonville’s own folkloric dance group, Esperanza del Valle.

“Fiesta de Día de Muertos” coincides with PVA’s annual art exhibition “Mi Casa es Tu Casa,” which also opens Oct. 28.

“[It] was all about creative synergy,” said PVA Board Treasurer Judy Stabile. “While the formats have changed, ‘Fiesta de Día de Muertos’ and ‘Mi Casa es Tu Casa’ will, as in the past, be joyful celebrations of community.”

Ledesma said that finding ways to celebrate Day of the Dead during the pandemic is important, not only as a way to stay connected to living family members, but also with those who have passed. 

“It can remind people of the struggles of our ancestors, what they went through… and appreciate what we do have,” she said. “And seeing it all through such a beautiful, colorful celebration… it’s very meaningful.”

Fiesta Virtual de Día de Muertos 2020

Live virtual events:

Oct. 28: Live Calaca painting class with Gilroy-based artist Nacho Moya.

Oct. 29: Day of the Dead poetry featuring internationally-renowned poet Lucha Corpi, local author Adela Najarro and Los Escritores del Nuevo Sol/Writers of the New Sun from Sacramento. Hosted by Najarro and fellow Cabrillo College instructor Shirley Flores-Munoz, and PVA.

Oct. 30: Mi Casa Es Tu Casa Panel: Conversation about the upcoming Day of the Dead exhibition presented by PVA, focusing on the film “Common Ground.” Guests include Carmina Eliason, artists Lucien Kubo and Judy Stabile.

Oct. 31: Panel with Esperanza del Valle: Celebrating their 40th Anniversary, Director Janet Johns and dancers reflect on their history of celebrating dance and culture in Watsonville.

Nov. 1: A celebration with music and dance, including a special dance performance by Esperanza del Valle, songs by local musicians, and short videos made by filmmakers featuring the intimate process of creating ofrendas for loved ones.

Ongoing activities:

Films: Two locally made films (“Macaria” and “Common Ground”), an award-winning film from Mexico (“Music for the Ultimate Dream”), a documentary (“Artbound: Day of the Dead”), and some animated films will be free to view.

Coloring & Art Activity Book: A 28-page bilingual book featuring artwork by Trinidad Castro, Kathleen Crocetti, Paul De Worken, Juan Fuentes, Ome Garcia, Rosa Hernández, Nessa Ledesma, Cindy Nalleli Rodríguez, Augie WK and Gerardo Zambrano.

Community Engagement: Families are invited to take photographs of their home celebrations and send them to the WFF team by Oct. 26. They will be shared during the special celebration on Nov. 1.

Watsonville Film Festival launches virtual film series

By Johanna Miller, The Pajaronian. April 14, 2020

For the past month, Consuelo Alba and her small programming team at WFF have been working on moving part of the festival to an online format. With the help of longtime partners Digital NEST, they were able to organize the Virtual Watsonville Film Festival, which includes a series of free online film screenings and live discussions with filmmakers.

“[WFF] has always been about connecting with the community,” Alba said. “We wanted to find a way to keep engaging with each other despite everything… To stay connected against all odds.”

Watsonville Film Festival postpones…

By Allison Garcia, Santa Cruz Sentinel, March 11, 2010

Wednesday, the board of directors of the film festival announced that the festival is canceled for health and safety reasons regarding the coronavirus, COVID-19.

“We’re incredibly sad to miss the opportunity to celebrate these films with you together this weekend. But that opportunity will come again,” the board wrote on the festival website. “As soon as we know when and how we might bring the festival to life this year, we will celebrate that moment with you.”

In its eighth year, the film festival will present films, music, art and conversations with filmmakers. An inspiring and unique selection of 20 films by up-and-coming local talents and award-winning directors from Mexico, Los Angeles, Bay Area, Santa Cruz and Watsonville will be screened, followed by Q&A with the directors. Selected screenings will also include post-film dances.

“We are so proud of our program,” Alba said. “We work all year to put it into place. People will see powerful films that celebrate Latino artistry, that put a human face on issues we are confronting as a society, and that give us reasons to rejoice and have hope.”

The film festival is also partnering with Pajaro Valley Arts to present the art exhibit Campesinos / Workers of the Land. The Festival Closing and art exhibit reception is at the PVA Gallery Sunday. Also for the first time, the Watsonville Film Festival will present films outside its home base.

For more information, visit www.watsonvillefilmfest.org.

A film festival celebrates a diversity of Latino stories that transcend ethnicity. [Cancelled due to COVID-19]

By Walter Ryce, Monterey County Weekly, March 12, 2020

The Watsonville Film Festival covers such a wide spectrum of the Latino experience that it takes a more universal shape. This year’s films cover the fusion of Africa and the Caribbean through a hot new music rising up in Cuba (Bakoso: Afrobeats of Cuba); farmers trying to save green space in Santa Cruz’s Beach Flats neighborhood (No Place to Grow); and, prescient, a short film (The Lost) about a devastating viral outbreak.

The festival begins on Thursday, March 12, with a party, a reception and a screening of a restored classic documentary Chulas Fronteras (Beautiful Borders), about the Mexican-American musicians of the Texas and Mexican border, and a dance party DJed by Juan Antonio Cuellar who is digitizing the Strachwitz Frontera Collection at UCLA.

It ends with a group art show called Campesinos / Workers of the Land, opening 2-4pm Sunday, March 15, at the Pajaro Valley Arts Gallery featuring Arleene Correa Valencia, who is depicted in the festival film Represent, and

photographer Craig Sherod, whose portraits of braceros are in the music video Best of Me.

In between, the festival is filled with free film talks and screenings.

The film We Are the Radical Monarchs introduces audiences to an Oakland- based alternative to the Girl Scouts, aimed at girls of color ages 8 to 13 who can earn merit badges based on advocating for social justice issues like LGBTQ+ and disability rights and the environment.

The docu-thriller The Infiltrators, winner of two NEXT awards at Sundance, tells the true story about a group of undocumented Dreamers who get detained by Border Patrol to infiltrate a for-profit detention center in Florida.

The feature-length film El Sembrador (The Sower) may be a revelation for the slow, leisurely way it envelopes the viewer. It’s one of those meditative films, but there is a message that it builds slowly from the ground up.

It’s about Mariano Escobedo multigrade bilingual primary school in the rural community of Monte de los Olivos in Chiapas, Mexico. It’s about the school’s teacher, Bartolomé Vásquez Lopez, who recalls being scolded as a student for asking for help in his native Tsotsil language. And it’s about the kids in this community, who they are now, and what they might become if given the opportunity.

It’s about education, but it doesn’t cite any studies or have authorities pontificating. It focuses on the lush, green, hilly countryside, horses frollicking near a lake, fog drifting across the landscape. A constant sound is of birds chirping and insects buzzing. Then Lopez talks about how a family in this community feeds him and puts him up in their home, a structure made partly of sticks and palm leaves for a roof, and won’t let him leave because he taught their kids to read.

The film shows the children from Lopez’s class, talking about what subject they like most and using farming tools to hoe and till a patch of land in preparation for planting. Some are barefoot, some wear sandals, some sneakers. It shows them waking up in bare rooms, doing chores like gathering firewood or chopping weeds, then going to school.

Lopez’s teaching style is less about pedagogy than it is about relationships and nature.

The kids play outside, jump in dirt, roll on grass, climb trees. They make fires to cook tortillas. They find a baby bird and return it to its nest. They wrestle each other. They’re taught to swim in a local watering hole. Afterward, Lopez hoses them down in a scene of pure childhood joy that the filmmaker (Melissa Elizondo) slows down to revel in it.

In the classroom, they finish a real-world discussion. “Yesterday we found a drunk guy,” one child says. “What did he do?” Lopez asks.
“He pissed his pants,” says another kid.

“You will get older,” says Lopez. “Maybe some of you will drink beer. Is that good?”

They yell disapproval for drunkenness.

While grooming a young horse, Lopez says the kids teach each other: “In my school, they’re learning through freedom and happiness. The school is the starting point of the development of a town.”

The kids go mostly unnamed, but you get familiar with them. The filmmaker visits the home and hears the story of an older girl on the cusp of graduating, who tells a heartbreaking story about her family, and her hopes for continuing school.

Their families may want them to work instead, or they don’t have enough money.

Lopez had to learn two more languages to communicate with all his kids. Lopez says the word “complicated” a lot when talking about their education. He gets kids from age 6 to 11 and we can tell that he worries about their future after him. He can only prepare them as best he can, and he seems to be trying to figure it out along the way.

The pace of the film is a slow build and the camera is unobtrusive, which lets the story unfold in a quiet way that feels completely transporting, and in this media-saturated, instantly connected world, like a fresh revelation.

There is likely more at the festival.

[Event has been cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns] 8TH ANNUAL WATSONVILLE FILM FESTIVAL is Thursday-Sunday, March 12-15, at Watsonville Woman’s Club, Digital NEST, Pajaro Valley Arts Gallery and Beach Flats Community Center. $10/film; $25/opening night; $15/Friday films and dance party; free/youth under 21; free/film talks; no one turned away for lack of funds. watsonvillefilmfest.org

Watsonville Film Festival to celebrate Latino directors, stories

By Johanna Miller, The Pajoarnian, March 6, 2020

WATSONVILLE—In 1976, film directors Les Blank and Chris Strachwitz released “Chulas Fronteras” (Beautiful Borders), a documentary highlighting Mexican-American musicians who called the Texas-Mexican border home. The film was eventually selected by The Library Of Congress and added to the National Film Registry list.

A newly restored version of “Chulas Fronteras” will open the 8th Annual Watsonville Film Festival (WFF), which returns March 12 featuring a plethora of film screenings, events, discussions and—for the first time ever—a collaborative art exhibit.

WFF Executive Director Consuelo Alba said that “Chulas Fronteras” is appropriate to kickoff the annual festival, as “Stories Matter” is its theme.

“It is important, now more than ever, to talk about the border,” she said. “For people in that region, it means something different. To see the issue through music, dance, celebration... it’s beautiful.”

Twenty film screenings will be held over four days at the Watsonville Women’s Club, 12 Brennan St.

“We work all year to select the best films we can get,” Alba said. “We are very proud of [this year’s] program.”

One film is “Radical Monarchs” (March 13), which documents a social justice-based scouting group for young girls of color in Oakland. In attendance will be Anayvette Martinez, co-founder of the group. Alba said that Martinez was interested in attending, since Watsonville has a long history of activism.

“[Martinez] started the Monarchs for her daughter—she wanted to support and inspire her,” Alba said. “We are excited to have her come and talk with us.”

The festival will also highlight local talent, including the world premier of “Xilonen,” a film directed by young people at Digital NEST, following a young woman’s journey of becoming a Xilonen during the White Hawk’s Ceremony of Tender Corn.

A series of Film Talks will be taking place at Digital NEST, 318 Union St., during the festival. Alba praised Digital NEST students and staff.

“We enjoy working with [Digital NEST],” she said. “We have some incredible talent right here in our

community.”

A screening of Alex Rivera and Cristina Ibara’s “The Infiltrators,” winner of two Sundance Film Festival awards, will close the festival on March 14. The film follows a group of undocumented youth who intentionally get detained at the U.S.-Mexican border in order to expose a for-profit detention center.

Rivera will be attending, making it his second appearance at the festival.
“Alex has vision,” Alba said. “He is a big thinker and innovator.”

Being at the Women’s Club is new for the festival, which has been headquartered at various locations across the city. Plans are being made to convert the Women’s Club into a community movie theater, where people can watch the films, dance and socialize.

A short walk away from the club is Pajaro Valley Arts (PVA), which will collaborate with the festival for a special art exhibit on March 15. “Campesinos/Workers of the Land” aims to honor the history and contributions of farmworkers in the Pajaro Valley, and highlight connections between film and art.

Exhibit curator Judy Stabile said Alba contacted PVA at the start of the year about possibly working together.

“We didn’t see how we [could] have a show during the film festival... It takes us a good two to three weeks to mount our shows,” Stabile said, explaining that the gallery’s current show closes March 8. “We decided to do a preview reception... which will serve to be the closing party for the festival.”

The exhibit will open April 1. Stabile will curate along with Gabriel J. Medina of Watsonville Artists’ Meetup and Digital Nest. They and Alba selected the work for the exhibit, which includes pieces by Arleene Correa Valencia, Warren Chang and others.

“One of our goals in this collaboration was to try and involve more artists within the Watsonville area,” Stabile said. “[We are] looking forward to a deeper connection with Watsonville artists and community members who might not normally visit a gallery.”

Alba said she was “blown away” at how many submissions they received after sending out an open call for artists.

“We received more than 42 [pieces] from all over California,” Alba said. “It’s been amazing to work with [PVA].”

Alba added she hopes that this year’s Watsonville Film Festival can bring people together to confront important issues, but also celebrate Latino artistry.

“There are very few spaces where we can celebrate and honor the creativity of Latino filmmakers,” Alba said. “We see how politics affects [our] communities... how they become divisive. We want to show the humanity in everyone. We have the same hopes and aspirations as anyone else.”

Watsonville Film Festival thrives at Youth Center

By Johanna Miller, Register-Pajaronian, April 5, 2019

WATSONVILLE — The Watsonville Film Festival returned in full force last week, with four days of film screenings special events and more. For the first time ever, the event was held at the Watsonville Youth Center. According to co-founder and director of the festival Consuelo Alba, it was a big success at the new location.

“In previous venues we sometimes only had 100 seats,” she explained. “Moving to the Youth Center doubled our capacity.”

This year’s festival team worked to turn the center into a makeshift movie theater, which Alba said many people were “blown away” by.

“It was an amazing transformation,” she said.

In addition to film screening and discussions, the festival included a dance concert and other special events, some of which were sold out and ended up being standing-room only.

On Wednesday Alba and her team were still crunching official numbers, but she confirmed that attendance definitely rose from last year. Festival goers came from as far away as the East Bay.

“It looks like word is getting around,” Alba said. “More people are finding out about us every year.”
For information about the Watsonville Film Festival and its year-round events visit watsonvillefilmfest.org.

Watsonville Film Festival To Be Held At Youth Center (2019)

Register-Pajaronian, March 22, 2019

WATSONVILLE — The Watsonville Film Festival (WFF) returns to present a lineup of screenings by award- winning directors and young local filmmakers, as well as live music and film talks by experts in the industry.

The festival will take place at the Gene Hoularis and Waldo Rodriguez Youth Center, 30 Maple Ave. in Watsonville, from March 28-31.

Under the theme “Stories Matter,” the seventh annual edition of WFF will aim to humanize political issues, honor trailblazers, and offer inspiration to solve local and global problems.

“We believe that film is a potent medium that helps us see the world with fresh eyes, promotes respect and compassion, and expands possibilities for transformation,” said Executive Director Consuelo Alba. “We have designed the program for people to have a good time and also be inspired.”

WFF will open with the award-winning documentary “Singing Our Way to Freedom” on March 28 at 6:30 p.m. The feature-length film chronicles the life and music of Ramón “Chunky” Sánchez from his beginnings as a farmworker in California to when he received one of the nation’s highest musical honors at the Library of Congress in 2013.

“Singing Our Way to Freedom” won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the San Diego Latino Film Festival. Director Paul Espinosa will attend the festival for a question-and-answer session after the screening. Espinosa is a longtime producer for PBS, whose films have won eight Emmys.

WFF will host the Imagine Short Film Program on March 29 at 6 p.m., featuring the work of local and international filmmakers, including the world premiere of “Service With a Smile,” a science fiction short set in Watsonville in 2040. “Service With a Smile” was directed and produced by young filmmakers at Digital NEST.

At 8:30 p.m. that same day, a screening of “La Habitación / Tales of Mexico” will take the viewers on a journey of Mexico’s transformation throughout the last 100 years, told through the eyes of the tenants who have lived in the same room in a colonial-style house in Mexico City. The story’s vignettes were directed by eight of today’s leading Mexican directors.

A new documentary about Rubén Blades will be shown on March 30. The film follows the Latin American icon who was at the center of the New York Salsa revolution in the 1970s. His socially-charged lyrics and rhythms bought Salsa music to an international audience. Local band Flor de Caña will serve up their Afro-Caribbean dance music immediately following the film.

The WFF closes with “Harvest Season” on March 31 at 3:30 p.m. The documentary highlights the vineyard workers and small wine producers with roots in Napa. Filmed over the course of one agricultural year, “Harvest Season” follows the triumphs and tragedies of two Latino winemaking families and the Mexican farm laborers who help bring the wines to your table. Award-winning Director and TV Producer Bernardo Ruiz is expected to attend.

Ticket prices for the Watsonville Film Festival range from $5 to $20 depending on age and specific event. Pre-orders can be placed online, and tickets will also be sold at the door, beginning one hour before the first screening of the day.

In addition to film screenings, special guests of the WFF will share stories about their works, the challenges and rewards of making films as part of the Film Talks series at Digital NEST, 318 Union St. in Watsonville. These conversations are free and open to the public, and all ages are welcome.

For a complete list of film screenings and other events happening at the Watsonville Film Festival, and to pre-

order tickets, visit watsonvillefilmfest.org.

Film Festival Uses Meduim to Champion the Underdog

By Walter Ryce, Monterey County Weekly, March 28, 2019

The theme for this year’s Watsonville Film Festival is “Stories Matter.” That’s been true of the festival every year, and it’s true of this year’s festival from start to finish.

The opening film, 6:30pm Thursday March 28, is Singing Our Way to Freedom, a documentary about Ramon “Chunky” Sanchez, the Chicano Movement and immigration rights activist/musician (he was a favorite of Cesar Chavez) who used his songs to inform and activate people. It looks to be an examination of how music can power political movements, the way that Amandla! shined a light on the freedom songs in the fight against apartheid.

Before the film, there is live music by Noe Yacoatl from El Teatro Campesino; after the film, director Paul Espinosa will do a Q&A.

And that is a microcosm of the festival’s greater methodology. There are more than 20 films over four days, many accompanied by filmmaker talks, some by live music. The films can be international in scope, but they usually contain some components that live closer to home.

Like the short sci-fi film Service with a Smile. It was directed by Andres Mercado of Watsonville’s Digitial Nest (where four free talks with filmmakers will take place), and is about an undocumented waitress who is replaced by a service android. It’s being shown 6pm Friday in a block of short films that include many entries by filmmakers from CSU Monterey Bay, and as far away as Los Angeles, Mexico and London.

One film that’s gotten a push from festival awards is Collisions, a feature film about a 12-year-old girl and her little brother who enlist their distant uncle to help locate their mother who was arrested by ICE. It’s screening 1pm Sunday, March 31, with producer Vincent Cortez coming for a discussion.

The festival closes 3:30pm Sunday with Harvest Season, and it’s a worthy closer to a festival that proclaims the theme “Stories Matter.”

It follows one year in the lives of two Mexican-American wine-producing families in Napa Valley, and the workers who come from Mexico to harvest their grapes. It opens on a night in which winemaker Vanessa Robledo is working alongside migrant farm workers under tripod work lights and talking rhapsodically about her relationship to grapes, while moody ethereal music gives the scene a meditative atmosphere.

Her great-grandfather was a farmer in Mexico, and later generations came to the States as bracero workers. She is the fourth generation working in wine, and has ascended on the drive of proving herself as a woman. Her operation started from producing 200 cases to 10,000 cases.

“Failure was never an option,” she says.

The film finds its way to Gustavo Brambila, a veteran among a handful of Latino winemakers in the Napa Valley. He recalls that his father, who also made wine, would work and work, and Bramblia would bring him his dinner in the field. He seems to love the puzzle – pruning, tannins, alcohol levels, flavors – of making wine. He uses sophisticated equipment, but tastes grapes with quiet concentration in his eyes.

He also hasn’t been back to Mexico in many years to see his relatives, perceiving that he is not fully accepted by them.

Maybe the most revelatory story is of the third protagonist, Rene Reyes, who comes to work a vineyard on a guest worker visa. His face is weathered, his beard scraggly, his manner low-key, but he works like a machine as he clips vines and grapes. And he, too, is driven.

The camera follows discreetly as he seeks housing at a hospitable farmworker housing complex, as he makes understated but emotional phone calls home, as he wires money to his wife and two daughters. He has a conversation with another farmworker, outside of the mess hall at dusk, about work and family.

“This year almost no one got time off,” the man says. “The bosses have been really working us hard.”

“That’s good,” says Reyes. “So that the family can be better off back in Mexico.”

And when he says it, you can see that he’s seeing his family in his mind. It will be five months before Reyes goes back to see them. That other man, however, hasn’t been back to Mexico for seven years. It’s too hazardous. With cartels controlling the borders, dangerous coyotes forcing migrants to transport drugs, and stricter immigration laws, getting back to the States is not assured.

Both the stories of the winemakers and the wine workers together form a more complete picture of the process by which the stuff we imbibe is made. It’s a beautiful film, but its best storytelling virtue may be that it retains some of the grime and realism of its subject: work.

A new film series picks up the #MeToo and TimesUp momentum

The Women by Women Film Series in Watsonville is a step outside of Monterey County, is spread out over four months and is not a festival per se (although it’s launched by the Watsonville Film Festival), but it warrants attention for hewing to a cohesive and timely theme of films about women, made by women. Read Complete Article Here