The 8th Cine Las Americas International Film Festival presents the first Cine Las Americas Conference from April 18-19, in partnership with the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP) and the University of Texas at Austin.

The conference offers four different panels on themes related to filmmaking and the role of Latinos in the film industry. Evening screenings of films by panelists will complement the panel discussions. All conference activities are free of charge.

The panel topics are: Social Documentary, Community Filmmaking, Navigating the Public Television Funding Arena, and International Co-Production and Distribution. Panelists and moderators include international, national, and local filmmakers, including international renowned director Nicolás Echevarría, Latino Public Broadcasting Executive Director Luca Bentivoglio, and U.N. Correspondent Simone Duarte.

Participating Departments from the University of Texas at Austin are: the Brazil Center, the Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies, Department of Radio-TV-Film, the School of Journalism, the College of Liberal Arts, and the College of Communications.



Schedule and Panelists are as follows:

Monday, April 18

Social Documentary, 12 – 2 pm
Texas Union, African-American Culture Room, UNB 4.110
Panelists: Nicolás Echevarría, Simone Duarte

Community Filmmaking, 4 – 6 PM
Texas Union, Texas Governors’ Room, UNB 3.116
Panelists: Simon Sedillo, Andy Garrison, Juan Valadez, Trent Sharp

Free Screening 8 – 10 PM
Communications Building, Auditorium, CMA 2.320
Poetas Campesinos, Dir: Nicolás Echevarría, 1980, 50 min
En Route to Baghdad, Dir: Simone Duarte, USA, Brazil, 2004, 56 min

Tuesday, April 19

Show Me the Money! Navigating the Public Television Funding Arena, 12 – 2 PM
Texas Union, Chicano Culture Room, UNB 4.206
Moderator: Luca Bentivoglio
Panelists: Rick Tejada-Flores, Ray Telles

International Co-Production and Distribution, 4 – 6 PM
Texas Union, Texas Governors’ Room, UNB 3.116
Panelists: Becky Glupczynski, Kimberly Myers, Marta Sanchez

Free Screening, 8 – 10 PM
Communications Building, Auditorium, CMA 2.320
Race Is The Place, Dir. Ray Telles and Rick Tejeda-Flores, 2005, 90 min



Panelist Bio Information:

Nicolás Echevarría, México
Echevarría started making documentaries related to the indigenous world in Mexico in 1973. His titles include: Judea, Semana Santa entre los Coras (1974); Híkuri Tame (1977), depicting the Peyote pilgrimage of the Huichol Indians; María Sabina, Mujer Espíritu (1979); Teshuinada (1980); Poetas Campesinos (1980), and Niño Fidencio, el Taumaturgo de Espinazo (1981). He has won several international awards and is one of the Mexico’s most important and prolific documentary filmmakers.

Simone Duarte, Brazil
Simone Duarte’s coverage of the 9/11 attacks was nominated for an Emmy International. She worked for the UN during the early days of Sergio Vieira de Mello’s administration in East Timor and did a feature series on the area. Her first documentary Archivo de la identidad screened at the Amnesty International Film Festival in Los Angeles and Salt Lake City, and at Global Visions in Canada. Duarte won a silver medal award from the UN Correspondant’s Assocation for her latest film, En Route to Baghdad.

Simon Sedillo, Austin, TX
Simon Sedillo is a human rights activist and a local community filmmaker based out of the Austin Independent Media Center (www.austin.indymedia.org). Sedillo has been involved in the production of 13 films in the last year, ranging from self-empowerment films by and for minority youth, to human rights documentaries in the U.S. and in Mexico.

Andy Garrison and Juan Valadez, Austin, TX
East Austin Stories is a collaborative effort between University of Texas film students and community residents, business people, patrons, and passers-by in East Austin. The stories related are a personal and community resource and a bridge between people locally as well as beyond the city’s borders.

Trent Sharp, Austin, TX
While working as an English teacher at Reagan High School, Sharp launched the school’s digital filmmaking program in 2001 as a weekend class where students at risk of dropping out could earn credit. This program eventually inspired similar digital-media labs in other Austin-area high schools. Sharp is also on the Steering Committee for the Austin Student Digital Film Festival.

Becky Glupczynski, New York City
Becky Glupczynski has worked in the film industry since 1997. Her production credits include Requiem For A Dream (Assistant Producer), Frida (Production Coordinator), and Maria Full Of Grace (Line Producer).

Kimberly Myers, Los Angeles
For six years, Kimberly Myers was Director of Drama at WNET, the New York public television station. In Los Angeles, she has worked as both a studio executive and as a producer. She currently has a producing deal with Moctesuma Esparza at Maya Pictures.

Marta Sanchez, New York City
Marta Sanchez has produced and directed a number of short films, TV programs and music videos. She worked as the liaison between the Spanish and English offices for Nemesis, a music video production company based in London. Currently, she is the theatrical and international sales manager at Women Make Movies, a nonprofit distribution agency.