Through a juried selection process, seven films have been selected out of over 40 entries to create the Gene Siskel Film Center’s second edition of the Panorama Latinx Short Film Showcase.
The event takes place at 8:00 pm on Saturday, February 1, 2020, at the Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 164 N. State St.
MC’d by Michael de Anda Muñiz, the short film showcase — which celebrates emerging Latinx and and Afro-Latinx filmmakers — will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers and a reception in the Film Center’s Gallery Café, featuring music, Mexican food, and beer.
Making their Chicago premieres, all of the films were created by Chicago-based Latinx and Afro-Latinx filmmakers from countries including Peru, Haiti, Mexico, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Iceland (yes, Iceland!), and Brazil. Addressing the complexities of our time through different genres and methods of storytelling, they guide viewers over diverse layers of identity and community.
From narratives and concerns surrounding climate change, class and gender dynamics, the directors present a variety of formats that point to the relevance of imagination in today’s world.
All filmmakers are scheduled to attend the event, and a reception will follow the screening, with beer courtesy of Marz Brewing and small bites from Taquerias
Atotonilco. DJ Jungyal (José Rosa Félix) will spin salsa, cumbia, reggaetón and other
contemporary rhythms from Latin-America.

“The Gene Siskel Film Center is committed to presenting films that reflect the cultural make-up of the city and the breadth of filmmaking around the globe,” said Jean de St. Aubin, Executive Director of the Gene Siskel Film Center.
“Through Panorama Latinx, the Gene Siskel Film Center is dedicated to serving as an epicenter for the greater Chicago Latinx community by showcasing the work of emerging and established Latinx filmmakers representing a range of perspectives and themes onscreen. Our Panorama Latinx Short Film Showcase is an expression of this mission, and we are thrilled to celebrate so many nationalities, narratives, and formats in this film event,” said Alberto Ortega Trejo, Panorama Latinx Outreach Coordinator.

FEBRUARY 1 | GENE SISKEL FILM CENTER
2020 PANORAMA LATINX SHORT FILM SHOWCASE
Por Falta De Filmmaker: Sofía Alfaro | Country: USA
As an indifferent teenage girl prepares for her senior prom, the character addresses the audience with her reflections on the poetics of impermanence and quotidian life.
Fever Filmmaker: solYchaski | Country: Perú-Haiti
This experimental film speaks to the ever-shifting nature of humanity and community. Through poetry, re-purposed archival footage, and digital animation, solYchaski challenges our current understanding of what it means to be a human.


Home Filmmaker: Carol Bedoy | Country: US-Mex
Through family pictures, a voiceover tells the story of a family, their conflicts, and the experience of migration.

Social Economies Filmmaker: Gonzalo Escobar Mora | Country: Colombia
Social Economies uses the tradition of magical realism to present a mind-bending narrative on the tensions and longings that emerge from class dynamics in Colombia, as seen through the eyes of three women of varying social positions.


Trust Fall Into the Gap Filmmaker: Nat Pyper | Country: Brazil
This visual statement reflects on the way language gaps and time are the main components of storytelling—and depicts the sensation of forgetting the mother tongue.



Presence of the Past Filmmaker: Milton Guillén | Country: Nicaragua-Iceland
Shot in Iceland, this science fiction film about losing and becoming explores the philosophical condition of two lost humans in what appears to be a rejuvenating planet.

The Night Through Filmmaker: Gustavo Jardim | Country: Brazil
This short documentary explores how the Guajajara people, one of the largest indigenous groups in Brazil, rehearse for their annual Honey Celebration, which celebrates the Guajajara myth of how the night was created.


For more details about the films presented, click on this.
Film jury
Selections for this short film showcase were determined by a jury consisting of:
Marcela Fuentes, an Associate Professor at Northwestern University and author of Performance Constellations: Networks of Protest and Activism in Latin America;
Alan Medina co-founder of filmfront and Inga.
Marina Resende, an artist, researcher and critic for Hyperallergic and THE SEEN, among others.

Sponsors
Sponsors for Panorama Latinx’s Short Film Showcase are the Illinois Arts Council and Marz Community Brewing Company.
Panorama Latinx is a program at the Gene Siskel Film Center dedicated to year-round Latin American film screenings. We engage the dynamic Latinx community of greater Chicago through showcasing the work of emerging and established Latinx filmmakers, educational screenings, and community partnerships.
Tickets, etc
The Panorama Latinx Short Film Showcase will be presented at the Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, located at 164 N. State St.
Tickets are $12/general admission, $7/students, $6/Film Center members, and $5/Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) staff and School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) faculty, staff, and students. All tickets may be purchased at the Film Center Box Office. Both general admission and Film Center member tickets are available through the Gene Siskel Film Center’s website www.siskelfilmcenter.org/content/tickets or through the individual films’ weblinks on www.siskelfilmcenter.org. There is a surcharge of $1.50 per ticket. The Film Center and its box office are open 5:00 to 8:30 pm, Monday through Thursday; 1:00 to 8:30 pm, Friday; 2:00 to 8:30 pm, Saturday; and 2:00 to 5:30 pm, Sunday.
A Gene Siskel Film Center membership is a year-round ticket to great movies for only $6 per screening! Memberships are $50 (Individual) and $80 (Dual). For more information, call 312-846-2600 or visit the Gene Siskel Center website.
Discounted parking is available for $20 for 24 hours at the InterPark SELF-PARK at 20 E. Randolph St. A rebate ticket can be obtained from the Film Center Box Office.
The Film Center is located near CTA trains and buses. Nearest CTA L stations are Lake (Red line); State/Lake (Brown, Green, Orange, Pink, Purple lines); and Washington (Blue line). CTA bus lines serving State St.: 2, 6, 10, 29, 36, 62, 144, and 146.
For more information about the Film Center, call 312-846-2800 (24-hour movie hotline) or 312-846-2600 (general information, 9:00 am-5:00 p.m., Monday-Friday), or visit www.siskelfilmcenter.org.
About the Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Since 1972, the Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago has presented cutting edge cinema to an annual audience that has grown to over 100,000. The Film Center’s programming includes annual film festivals that celebrate diverse voices and international cultures, premieres of trailblazing work by today’s independent filmmakers, restorations and revivals of essential films from cinema history, and insightful provocative discussions with filmmakers and media artists. Altogether, the Film Center hosts over 1,500 screenings and 200 filmmaker appearances every year. The Film Center was renamed the Gene Siskel Film Center in 2000 after the late, nationally celebrated film critic, Gene Siskel. Visit www.siskelfilmcenter.org to learn more and find out what’s playing today.
About the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
For 150 years, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) has been a leader in educating the world’s most influential artists, designers, and scholars. Located in downtown Chicago with a fine arts graduate program ranked number two by U.S. News and World Report, SAIC provides an interdisciplinary approach to art and design as well as world-class resources, including the Art Institute of Chicago museum, on-campus galleries, and state-of-the-art facilities. SAIC’s undergraduate, graduate, and post-baccalaureate students have the freedom to take risks and create the bold ideas that transform Chicago and the world—as seen through notable alumni and faculty such as Michelle Grabner, David Sedaris, Elizabeth Murray, Richard Hunt, Georgia O’Keeffe, Cynthia Rowley, Nick Cave, and LeRoy Neiman. Learn more at saic.edu.
Send your film-screening updates to Reel Chicago Editor Dan Patton, dan@reelchicago.com.
