PURO MEXICANO/PURO INSPIRACION
The Second Annual Puro Mexicano: Tucson Film Festival returns to Tucson Friday-Sunday, Nov. 3-5. Puro Mexicano is billed as "the first and only annual U.S. festival celebrating the films and contributions of Mexican and Mexican-American filmmakers."Numerous events are scheduled at the Fox Tucson Theatre; the Cultural Center of the Americas (Centro Cultural de las Americas) at 40 W. Broadway Blvd.; and outdoors at La Placita Plaza. Opening-night events include the premiere screening of Lalo Guerrero: The Original Chicano, a documentary about the great Tucson musician.
As part of the festival, the winners of the Pura Inspiración competition, sponsored by Reel Inspiration, will be screened. Winners of the Kids and Teens Short Film Competition screen at 12:30 and 1:30 p.m., respectively, on Saturday, Nov. 4, and the winners of the Short Film Competition (for adults) screen at 4 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 5. Both are at the Fox; the kids and teen screenings are free, and the adult screening is $5 in advance, or $7 at the door. All are free for students.
For a full schedule of events and to purchase tickets online, check tucsonfilmfestival.com; tickets can also be purchased at the Fox Tucson Theatre box office at 17 W. Congress St. The phone number at the Fox box office is 624-1515. See reelinspiration.org for more information on Pura Inspiración.
CASTING CALL
A casting call is out for male and female Latino actors between the ages of 7 and 15 for an upcoming independent short-film project. Casting will be conducted throughout November and December. Address questions and résumés to Ben Lopez from the National Association of Latino Independent Producers at ben.lopez@vientofuego.com.
UA EVENTS
Dennis Leoni: Tucson native and UA alum Dennis Leoni--who created, wrote and directed the groundbreaking Latino TV series Resurrection Blvd. --will give a talk and receive the UA Alumni Association Professional Achievement Award at 2 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 29, at the Arizona Inn, 2200 E. Elm St.; free.AFI screening: two films from the American Film Institute's 2006 International Film Festival play at the UA on Wednesday, Nov. 15. The Israeli film Frozen Days will be screened, and its director, Danny Lerner, will be on hand. The other film is TBA. 1:30 to 6 p.m. , Gallagher Theater, UA Student Union; free. Call 626-9825 for full information.
Chris Eyre: Award-winning filmmaker and UA alum Chris Eyre will be at UA on Friday, Nov. 17. Eyre, a Cheyenne-Arapaho filmmaker (Smoke Signals, Edge of America), will participate in a discussion on his career as a groundbreaking Native American filmmaker with Patrick Roddy, producer-in-residence at UA's Department of Media Arts. The free event starts at 5:30 p.m., at the Center for Creative Photography auditorium.
All events are presented by the Hanson Film Institute; the Eyre event is also sponsored by the Arizona State Museum.
EVENTS AT THE LOFT
48 Hour Shootout: Teams of local filmmakers were given 48 hours to write, produce, shoot and edit a film running between four and seven minutes long. The finished films will screen at 7 p.m., Friday, Oct. 27; $5.Thriller Contest: The Independent Film Association of Southern Arizona and the Loft present the Fourth Annual Three Minute Thriller contest at 10 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 28. A panel of local judges will rate the films, and prizes will be awarded; $10.
Lesbian Looks: The final film in the 2006 Lesbian Looks series, Loving Annabelle, runs at 7 p.m., Friday, Nov. 10; general-admission prices.
Twin Peaks: an evening dedicated to David Lynch's outrageous TV series, including screenings, a costume contest and an appearance by Catherine Coulson, aka "the log lady," happens at 8 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 11; $8, $6 for Tucson Film Society members.
Strange Behavior: The monthly series paring film and music features the spy flick Double Agent 73 and Phoenix band the Love Me Nots at midnight, Friday, Nov. 17; $5.
The Last Waltz: View a 30th anniversary screening of Martin Scorsese's famous film of the last, star-studded concert by The Band. In advance of the screening, several local musicians will perform music from the film; the musicians including Howe Gelb, Tom Walbank, Van Christian, Al Perry, Golden Boots and several others. It happens at 7 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 18; $20, $15 for students and TFS members.
The Loft Cinema is at 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. Call 795-7777 or check loftcinema.com for a full schedule of films and events and further information.
MORE SCREENINGS
Dry River: The Dry River Radical Video Night Series runs the first and third Thursday of each month, at the Dry River Community Center, 740 N. Main St. All films are at 7 p.m. and are free. Check dryriver.org for screening information.Monkey Box: The third Thursday of each month, Hadji Banjovi has a wildly diverse screening of 16mm films at the Monkey Box, 100 N. Stone Ave. Check it out for free at 8 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 16.
LOCAL DVDS
Several locally produced independent films have just been released on DVD. Patrick Roddy's Mercy can be found at patrickroddy.com. Fobia Films' America 101 is at fobiafilms.com. And local filmmaker and musician Timothy Gassen's just-released DVD collection of national garage-rock videos and history, The Knights of Fuzz, is at purple-cactus.tv (click on "Garage Nation").
