Cine Las Americas announced today its opening and closing night screenings for the 16th Cine Las Americas International Film Festival, which runs April 16-21, 2013. This year's lineup presents about 100 films, including independent and bigger budget films, documentaries, and short films from over 30 different countries including Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Venezuela, Peru, Paraguay, Guatemala, Spain, Portugal, Canada and the U.S.

Pablo Berger's BLANCANIEVES will inaugurate the fest on Tuesday, April 16 at the Stateside Theatre. Winner of multiple awards and chosen to represent Spain at the 2012 Academy Awards, the film stars Maribel Verdú, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Angela Molina and newcomer Macarena García.

Closing the festival is 7 CAJAS (7 BOXES) on Sunday, April 21 also at the Stateside Theatre. A cunningly plotted action thriller, the film shows a rarely seen Paraguay on the cinematic map, bringing an inventive, lo-fi ingenuity to the traditional crime thriller.

A re-telling of the classic Brothers' Grimm fairy tale "Snow White", BLANCANIEVES is a
breathtakingly beautiful film and a uniquely spirited homage to the black-and-white Golden Age of Europe's silent cinema. Set in a romanticized 1920s Seville, Berger's Snow White is Carmen, the daughter of a famous bullfighter, who lives under the tyrannical rule of her monstrous, evil stepmother, Encarna. She escapes and joins a troupe of bullfighting dwarves, where her beauty and natural talent in the ring attract notices from the press. But soon the news reaches Encarna, who at last she knows where to find Carmen, and she prepares for the final showdown.

7 CAJAS develops on a single, sweltering hot night in Asuncion, Paraguay. Víctor, a 17-year-old wheelbarrow delivery boy, dreams of becoming famous and covets a fancy TV set in the infamous Mercado 4. He's offered a chance to deliver seven boxes with unknown contents in exchange for a quick hundred bucks. But what sounds like an easy job soon gets complicated. When something in the boxes is highly coveted, Víctor and his pursuers quickly find themselves caught up in a crime they know nothing about.

The film festival will take place at the Stateside Theatre in downtown Austin, the Alamo Drafthouse Village, and the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center (MACC), with additional screenings at St. Edward's University. All screenings at the MACC and at St. Edward's University are free and open to the public. All films are subtitled in English.

Festival audiences are encouraged to purchase film passes in advance. The pass gives full-preferred access to the film festival events, including screenings and parties. Special discounts and benefits are available for members of Cine Las Americas. Individual tickets for all screenings are also available online and at the box office of each venue. For more information about membership and to purchase passes and tickets, please visit cinelasamericas.org.