LATINEGRAS: LOVE THE SKIN YOU'RE IN PREMIERES AT 35TH MIAMI FILM FESTIVAL
Film Explores Identity Crisis Faced by Black Women of Latin Culture
Dwight Casimere with Yvonne and Yvette Rodriguez of Latinegras
The cast of LATINEGRAS: Love The Skin You're In with Director/Producer Omilani Alarcon (center-left)
by Dwight Casimere
Latinegras:Love The Skin You're In, a documentary film produced and
directed by poet, singer and filmmaker Omilani Alarcon, is a
heartfelt, poetic journey of self-discovery concerning the identity
crisis suffered by black women who are of Latin heritage. In lyrical
words, and stunningly in-your-face cinematography, Omilani acts as
both on-camera presenter and behind-the-scenes narrator, interweaving
the personal, revealing testimonies of about a dozen women from
various locations within the Latin and Afro-Latin diaspora: Puerto
Rico, Guatamala, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Panama, and New York,
all expressing their continuing pain of identity. Broken down into
segments; Ghosts of Our Past, which charts the history of slavery from
the Middle Passage to the New World, The Politics of Blackness, which
recounts the establishment of the legal structuring of modern slavery
through the Louisiana Purchase and the Missouri Compromise, the One
Drop Rule, in which blackness is defined by the presence of one eighth
to one thirty-second of black blood in any person's genealogy,
Questions of Complexion and Skin Tone and the filmmakers own final
descent into self-confrontation in a final healing, almost Baptismal
journey to her own roots in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. The film is brought
to its conclusion amidst the catastrophe of Hurricane Maria, yet, the
filmmaker finds that even in this calamity, there is reason for hope
and the promise of a new beginning. Latinegras: Love The Skin You're In
is targeted at a very specific audience, yet its message of universal
acceptance and hope is a lesson that applies to us all.
Yvonne and Yvette Rodriguez
by Dwight Casimere
Latinegras:Love The Skin You're In, a documentary film produced and
directed by poet, singer and filmmaker Omilani Alarcon, is a
heartfelt, poetic journey of self-discovery concerning the identity
crisis suffered by black women who are of Latin heritage. In lyrical
words, and stunningly in-your-face cinematography, Omilani acts as
both on-camera presenter and behind-the-scenes narrator, interweaving
the personal, revealing testimonies of about a dozen women from
various locations within the Latin and Afro-Latin diaspora: Puerto
Rico, Guatamala, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Panama, and New York,
all expressing their continuing pain of identity. Broken down into
segments; Ghosts of Our Past, which charts the history of slavery from
the Middle Passage to the New World, The Politics of Blackness, which
recounts the establishment of the legal structuring of modern slavery
through the Louisiana Purchase and the Missouri Compromise, the One
Drop Rule, in which blackness is defined by the presence of one eighth
to one thirty-second of black blood in any person's genealogy,
Questions of Complexion and Skin Tone and the filmmakers own final
descent into self-confrontation in a final healing, almost Baptismal
journey to her own roots in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. The film is brought
to its conclusion amidst the catastrophe of Hurricane Maria, yet, the
filmmaker finds that even in this calamity, there is reason for hope
and the promise of a new beginning. Latinegras: Love The Skin You're In
is targeted at a very specific audience, yet its message of universal
acceptance and hope is a lesson that applies to us all.
35th MIAMI FILM FESTIVAL TACKLES RACIAL IDENTITY, IMMIGRATION WOES AND RELIGIOUS PHOBIAS
MIAMI FEST FEATURES TRIBUTE TO A FRENCH ACTING ICON AND HOSTS OSCAR-WINNING GREATS
by Dwight Casimere
The cast of Latinegras: Love The Skin You're In at its premiere with director/producer
Alimony Alarcon (center-left)
by Dwight Casimere
by Dwight Casimere
Alimony Alarcon (center-left)
by Dwight Casimere
The 35th Miami Film Festival March 9-18 plays host to a dazzling array of international stars and directors and features films that tackle such issues as racial identity among women who are both black and Latina, the struggles of suburban mothers on the brink of mental breakdown and the tribulations of a young Mexican American couple coping with the changing landscape of US immigration laws while trying to preserve their fledgling marriage. Four-time Oscar nominated writer, director and producer Jason Reitman premiered his newest film Tully on Opening Night, with Oscar winners actress Charlize Theron and screenwriter Diablo Cody. France's Oscar-winning national treasure Isabelle Huppert, is the subject of a Tribute Screening of her latest film Souvenir, at which she will receive the festival's Precious Gem-Icon Award and Spain's greatest living filmmaker Carlos Saura will receive the Precious Gem-Master Award at a screening of the new documentary on his career and family life, Saura(s).
Also featured was the directorial debut from two-time Academy Award-nominated Beninese-American actor Djimon Hounsou (Blood Diamond) which takes us on a personal journey of spiritual reclamation. Demonized by Christianity, scarred by colonialism and crudely misrepresented in Hollywood movies, we in the West know nothing about voodoo. It is time to tell the story from an African perspective.
With In Search of Voodoo, Hounsou returns to his West African birthplace to visit sacred sites, witness rituals and interview scholars, adepts and politicians, who provide an accessible survey of voodoo’s rich history and reliance on nature as a guiding force in the lives of its practitioners.
The festival features 148 films of all genres from 50 countries including three for the first time in the festival's Official Selection category from Benin, Georgia and Swaziland. The festival wraps up with the Award's Night screening of Curro Velázquez’s smash hit Spanish comedy Holy Goalie (Que baje Dios y lo vea), with star Alain Hernández in attendance. The Miami Dade College 35th Miami Film Festival continues through March 18.
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