FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 10, 2023
MEDIA CONTACTS
Charles Coleman, charles@facets.org
Paul Gonter, paul@facets.org
FACETS Announces Chicago/Mexico City Filmmaker Exchange Screening + Q&A June 14
Press Release
CHICAGO — FACETS is excited to announce a one-night-only event, “Journeys: Where We Go,” part two of the three-part “Chicago/Mexico City Filmmaker Exchange,” on Wednesday, June 14th at 7:00pm. The event will feature screenings of Jose Luis Benavides’ Lulu en el Jardín and Otilia Portillo Padua’s Birders, followed by a Q&A with programmer Raul Benitez and the filmmakers. Screening tickets can be purchased in advance through FACETS’ website and cost $5/person.
Full synopsis, trailer, and ticketing can be found on FACETS’ website here.
SCREENING + Q&A
Join us for “Journeys: Where We Go,” part two of the three-part “Chicago/Mexico City Filmmaker Exchange,” featuring screenings of Jose Luis Benavides’ Lulu en el Jardín and Otilia Portillo Padua’s Birders, followed by a Q&A with programmer Raul Benitez and the filmmakers.
Lulu en el Jardín: A tenacious, Latina émigré narrates her forced institutionalization upon coming out as a teenage lesbian in 1970s Chicago. / Una latina tenaz narra la historia de su institucionalización al salir del closet siendo una joven durante los 1970s en Chicago.
Directed by Jose Luis Benavides, USA, 2018, 55 mins, documentary feature
Birders: Bird watchers on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border share their enthusiasm for protecting and preserving some of the world’s most beautiful bird species. / Observadores de aves en ambos lados de la frontera entre EE. UU. y México comparten su entusiasmo por proteger y preservar algunas de las especies de aves más hermosas del mundo.
Directed by Otilia Portillo Padua, Mexico, 2019, 37 mins, documentary short
Subtitle Information
Screening in Spanish with English subtitles.
Showtime
Wednesday, June 14, 7:00 pm
FULL SERIES
Made possible by a grant from DCASE, the Chicago/Mexico City Filmmaker Exchange is a three-part, cross-cultural program between filmmakers based in Chicago and in Mexico City, exploring the theme of displacement and its relationship to geography and the self.
Check out the series’ official website for more information about the full program.
BIOS
Jose Luis Benavides, Filmmaker: Jose Luis Benavides is a Latinx and queer video artist, photographer, and lecturer for the City Colleges of Chicago, Vanderbilt University, and Tennessee State University. Born-and-raised in Chicago, he works primarily with a range of personal archives. His videos explore issues relating to gender and sexuality, cultural erasure, migration, and institutionalized violence. He was recently awarded a Best of Fest – Spotlight Film at the 55th Humboldt International Film Festival.
Otilia Padua, Filmmaker: Her works include THREE VOICES (2012), which screened at SXSW, Ambulante, Morelia, DocsMX, Margaret Mead Film Festival, Documenta Madrid, LimaFilm Festival, FIDBA Buenos Aires, and London MexFest. The film was considered one of the audience favorites local documentaries for that year and had limited theatrical distribution. In 2019, she premiered the short documentary BIRDERS for Netflix. Otilia has participated in Berlinale Talents Doc Station (2011) and Guadalajara Talents (2011). She has been a grantee of the Mexican National Young Creator’s Fund, the Stimulus for Cinematographic Creators from the National Film Institute, the Sundance Institute and the Redford Center.
Raul Benitez, Series Programmer – Chicago: Raul Benitez is a film programmer in Chicago for over 14 years. For Full Spectrum Features Raul programs the Chicagoland Short Series. Raul also is the Senior Programmer at the Midwest Film Festival, and the After Dark amd shorts programmer for the Chicago International Film Festival. Raul also programs at Comfort Station Logan Square, and the Nightingale Cinema. Raul has been named a Chicago Film gem by New City Chicago for 2015,17,19 and in 2023 Raul was inducted to the Film Gem Hall of Fame. Raul was also named an Esteemed Artist by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and received a DCASE grant for his Chicago/Mexico City Filmmaker exchange program. Raul is on the board of the Chicago Film Society.
Viviana García-Besné, Series Programmer – Mexico: She ventured into the cinema as a documentary filmmaker and editor. She was a guest at the Sundance Documentary and Edit Lab and her debut De ella Perdida premiered in the official section of the Telluride Film Festival. Founder of the Voluntary Permanence Archive, which specializes in popular Mexican cinema, she constantly collaborates with prestigious institutions such as The Academy Film Archive, UCLA Film and Television Archive, and The Film Foundation.
Read full bios on the series’ website here.
About FACETS
Established in 1975, FACETS expands perspectives and affirms a shared humanity through inclusive engagement with film. FACETS‘ mission is to create cinematic experiences for youth and adults that foster vital conversations and community action through film exhibitions, media education, and film resources. Learn more at facets.org
FACETS presents the Chicago International Children’s Film Festival (CICFF), the largest children’s film festival in the world and an Oscar®-qualifying children’s film festival. Learn more at facets.org/cicff
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