Arts Alive San Antonio

By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor

Launched 43 years ago, CineFestival returns this year to the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center with in-person screenings and an emphasis on San Antonio and Texas filmmakers. The screenings start today.

The fest also has a new director, Eugenio Del Bosque, who was officially hired to lead the film showcase three years ago but due to the pandemic oversaw his first fest only a year ago. He comes to the job, however, with 13 years of festival programming experience that includes the Cine Las Americas International Film Festival in Austin.

“I had taken a break from the festival beat a couple of years ago but Cristina Balli, the director of the Guadalupe Center, reached out to me asking if I would be interested in programming the CineFestival,” explained Del Bosque. “Well, the CineFestival is the longest running Latino festival in the United States. So, I was honored that she thought of me for an event of that caliber at the historic Guadalupe Theater.

“San Antonio is very close to Austin but also completely different,” continued De Bosque. “For me, it was an attractive idea to get to know the San Antonio scene and its filmmakers. The audience is different and much bigger here. It helps give the festival a personality of its own.”

He also appreciated Balli’s ideas about a new approach to the nationally and internationally known event. 

“When she became the Guadalupe Center’s director in 2017, she redefined the festival,” said Del Bosque. “What she proposed then is to give the festival a more regional and local character by focusing more on Texas and San Antonio filmmakers.” She also moved the event to the summer, when people are more likely to make the trip to San Antonio to attend the screenings and festivities. “All these changes were very positive,” noted the director. “Her changes revitalized CineFestival.”

Which is not to say that filmmakers from other parts of the U.S. and Mexico are excluded but a lot of them also deal with Texas themes. That’s especially true for Mexican films.

The films to be screened were selected by Del Bosque and a selection committee, which includes filmmakers and programmers from other parts of the state.

This year also brought some changes in the awards. The Mesquite Award will be given for Best Texas Short Film, a category that includes both fiction films and documentaries. No official award will be given for feature films though there will be an Audience Award. Among the themes covered by filmmakers are immigration, Texas history, science fiction and family. “Family is a big one!” said Del Bosque.

Altogether 85 films will be screened- 12 feature films and 73 short films.

Tonight, the fest opens with the San Antonio premiere of Pepe Serna: Life is Art, a movie directed by Luis Reyes, which focuses on the life and work of “groundbreaking Mexican-American character actor Pepe Serna, a native of Corpus Christi, whose hundred-plus charismatic scene-stealing roles paved the way for generations of Chicanx actors in Hollywood and beyond.”

The closing night film will be Cuerpo, directed by San Antonian Mark Zuniga, which is described as “an ambitious horror film set in 18^th century San Antonio.” it explores the culture clashes between the Spaniards and the indigenous people they are trying to convert to Christianity. The movie was shot in the Alamo City with local cast and crew, and features an original music score, though the name of the composer was not provided.

Other local filmmakers who submitted short films are: Nathaniel Avila, Guillermina Zabala, Esmeralda Hernandez, Ai Vuong, Samuel Diaz Fernandez, Lisa Salinas Sosa, Miguel Contreras IV, Raymond Ramos and Violeta de Leon Davila.

There will be ten free screenings, including Family Day with the Texas premiere of Ainbo, Spirit of the Amazon by Richard Claus and Jose Zelada. All screenings will take place at the Guadalupe Theater.

To see the entire schedule, go to www.guadalupeculturalarts.org.

(The schedule is displayed in a somewhat confusing way but click on the top line starting with the time of the presentation to see what is happening each day. Ignore the various colored fields.)