Musician Manu Chao held a press conference this afternoon where she talked about her project named Cinelandia, and explained that she had already had in mind the selection of films making up the project. Her idea was to organize a small traveling movie theater and the city of Guadalajara gave her the opportunity for the first test run of her event that is being held during the Film Festival at the Cabañas Cultural Institute.
Part of the project is ManWoz, an exhibit of paintings by her friend Jacek Wozniac. The musician commented that new paintings were being made everyday for the purpose of displaying art work made in Guadalajara.
Manu Chao is a die-hard movie fan. She has written scripts but has never made a work dedicated entirely to movies since the time she devotes to her music leaves her very little time free.
There was also a press conference held for the feature-length film The Burning Plain that was attended by Guillermo Arriaga, director and scriptwriter, Alejandro Garcia, producer, Adrian Zurita, associate producer, and actors Joaquin de Almeida, Jose Maria Yasnik and Brett Cullen.
“It is easier for me to make a film where the stories do not have a fixed timeline as opposed to those that are sequential,” the director said. He also commented that Mexican movies are present at the world’s most important festivals due to their vanguard and great quality.
Later the books Placeres en Imagen and Abismos de Pasión were presented. The event was moderated by photographer Pablo Ortiz accompanied by Angel Miguel, the author of Placeres en Imagen, Eduardo de la Vega Alfaro, coordinator of the research center and movie studios, and Diego Galan, author of Abismos de Pasión and advisor to the Festival. They invited the attendees to enjoy both books and then cocktails were served.
The gala event was the feature-length film The Burning Plain by Guillermo Arriaga, who also wrote the scripts for Babel and Amores Perros.
Mexican director Arturo Ripstein, Guillermo Arriaga, Alejandro Garcia, Adrian Zurita, Joaquin de Almeida, Brett Cullen and Jose Maria Yaspik strolled up the red carpet. Yaspik also came to the Festival for his feature-length film Sin Nombre.
Director Guillermo Arriaga congratulated Raul Padilla for organizing events such as the International Book Fair and the International Film Festival in Guadalajara.
The filmmaker’s parents were present in box seats to support their son, as was his friend Alejandro Fernandez, a singer from Guadalajara. The gala benefited the social programs of Corporativa de Fundaciones, A.C.
