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 NALIP 2008 Spring Latino Writers Lab Concludes in Santa Fe
NALIP's sixth annual Latino Writers Lab completed its first segment this past weekend in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Co-presented by the Writers Guild of America, Time Warner and the New Mexico Film Office, the 2008 LWL ran May 7 - 11. The twenty select screenwriters now spend the summer rewriting their scripts, and return to Santa Monica in September for part 2.
The New Mexico Film Office welcomed the Lab this year for the first time, as part of their effort to mature the above-the-line talents of New Mexicans, while introducing other Latino and Native writers to the opportunities and vistas of the state. Six writers attended from New Mexico, along with three local mentors including writer/director Joan Tewkesbury (NASHVILLE), writer/producer Barbara Martinez-Jitner (BORDERTOWN) and writer/director Gregory Nava (EL NORTE). Six mentor/instructors also participated from Los Angeles: Carlos Bermudez, Ted Braun, Chip Diggins, Harrison Reiner, Miguel Tejada-Flores and Ligiah Villalobos. Additional profesional presentations were given by WGA Diversity director Kim Meyers and NM Film Office Director Lisa Strout.
Writers applied from around the country, and about 25% of applicants were accepted by a professional panel of readers. The full list of participating writers is:
Elvira Carrizal-Dukes - Chaparral, NM
Miguel Duran - Redondo Beach, CA
Sonia Fritz - San Juan, Puerto Rico
JorDan Fuller - Tucson, AZ
Phillip Gunn and David Valdez - Albuquerque, NM
Nancy Hughes - Santa Fe, NM
Summer Joy Main Muñoz - Marina del Rey, CA
Adam Martinez - Los Angeles, CA
Alejandro Mora - Los Angeles, CA
Pedro Olivares - El Cajon, CA
Salvador Paniagua - Playa del Rey, CA
Leo Reyes - Albuquerque, NM
Ricardo Reyes - Hacienda Heights, CA
Cecilia Robles - Los Angeles, CA
Roberto Rochin - Glendale, CA
Luis Carlos Romero Davis - Tucson, AZ
Louie Torellas - Jamaica, NY
Derek Velez Partridge - Astoria, NY
Monica Winter Vigil - Los Angeles, CA
 How The Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer - In Theaters May 16
How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer will open on Friday May 16, 2008, in 54 theatres across the U.S. In her tenderly comic, richly textured feature debut, Georgina Garcia Riedel lovingly explores the terrain of longing, loneliness, and self-realization among three generations of single women in a Mexican American family as they grapple with romantic drought.
As sweltering summer stretches over a sun-bleached Arizona border town, Doenoveva (Lucy Gallardo), the Garcia family matriarch, decides to buy a car. The only catch is that she doesn't know how to drive. When she enlists Don Pedro's pedagogical skills, sparks begin to fly--at her house and beyond. Her daughter, Lolita, played with deadpan poignancy by Elizabeth Peseems to have hit a dry spell until things start to sizzle at the butcher shop where she works. Meanwhile, Lolita's teenage daughter, Blanca, a radiant America Ferrera (REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES), engineers an awakening all her own. It's as if the languid heat wave has thawed everyone's defenses and jump-started a sexual revolution.
How The Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer stars LPA Fellow America Ferrera and NALIP member Rick Najera (host of "The State of Latino Comedy" at NALIP Conference 9). Director, writer, and producer Georgina Garcia Riedel is also a NALIP member, as are producer Olga Arana, co-producer Jose C. Mangual, production manager Octavio Marin, and 10 other crew who helped bring the movie to the screen.
For more information on the film, visit www.garciagirlsmovie.com
 Bush Signs Legislation for National Museum of the American Latino
The Latino community celebrates the passage of bill H.R.512, sponsored by Congressman Xavier Becerra (CA-31) and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. It establishes a commission to study the feasibility of a National Museum of the American Latino and brings the nation one step closer to realizing the full vision of President Lyndon B. Johnson and others in recognizing Latino contributions to America’s past, present and future. Through the leadership of Majority Leader Harry Reid, Sen. Jeff Bingaman, Sen. Ken Salazar, Sen. Robert Menendez, Sen. Mel Martinez and their staff, this important legislation secures the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of the efforts that established the forthcoming Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture, and the extraordinary National Museum of the American Indian on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. “If progress is measured in baby steps, I think it’s safe to say that the president’s pen has brought this important project into its adolescence,” explained Mr. Becerra, “It is my hope that the commission will begin its work soon so that this vision, this dream, will further mature into full reality. It is truly and incredible day.”
Congressman Becerra, Assistant to the Speaker of the House, introduced this legislation during Hispanic Heritage Month in 2003. The measure, part of a larger legislative package, creates a 23-member bipartisan panel that will give the president and Congress recommendations about the scope of the project. Over a two-year period, the panel will consider the location, the cost of construction and maintenance, and the presentation of art, history, politics, business and entertainment in American Latino life.
 Deadline Extended: IDA's DocuWeek
Enter DocuWeek™ Theatrical Documentary Showcase! The deadline has been extended to May 21, 2008.
DocuWeek™ presents a public theatrical exhibition of outstanding new films. August 22-28 at Los Angeles' Arclight Theatre.
DocuWeek™ helps to qualify feature and short documentaries for Academy Award® consideration, by screening a seven-day commercial run in a theater in Los Angeles County. To be eligible for Awards consideration a feature film must also complete a seven-day commercial run in a theater in the Borough of Manhattan between September 1, 2007 and August 31, 2008. DocuWeek™ LA alone, does not qualify your feature film, please see the 81st Academy Awards Special Rules for Documentary Awards (Rule Twelve) for complete eligibility and application requirements.
Click here to submit to DocuWeek through Withoutabox.
 Call for Entries : NewLatino Filmmakers Screening Series at Anthology Film Archives
NewLatino Filmmakers is currently accepting entries for its July 30th screening at the Anthology Film Archives, when we put the spotlight on creative Latinas working behind the cameras in independent film as image-makers. The series is looking for dynamic women filmmakers and producers that are putting their unique mark on the industry and adding their own spin on the Latin Film New Wave while blazing a trail as today's emerging authors. NewLatino Filmmakers features a day-long series with three distinct sessions: 3-4 short-form documentaries, 3-4 narrative shorts and 1-2 feature presentation, followed by a panel and Q&A session with the filmmakers in attendance.
* Submission Deadline: June 30, 2008 / Screening Date: July 30, 2008
* Screening Theme: Latinas in Cinema: Filmworks Beyond the Glass Ceiling
* Screening Venue: Anthology Film Archives - New York City
* Submission Format: Region 1 DVDs ONLY. Filmmakers selected to screen will be provided with the venue screening formats.
* Submit via Withoutabox: http://www.withoutabox.com/login/4533
* Series Director/Curator: Edwin Pagan (eddy@newfilmmakers.com)
NewLatino Filmmakers showcases emerging Latino filmmakers/producers whose work is contributing toward the face of the Latino Film New Wave and who have not yet had a major commercial theatrical release. It also features non-Latino filmmakers/producers whose films are Latino-themed and/or whose primary subject matter touches upon the Latino/Latin American experience in a respectful manner, and who have not yet had a major commercial theatrical release. The series is now in its six year and is organized in collaboration with New Filmmakers at Anthology Film Archives.
Anthology Film Archives is America's only year-round film cinematheque and is one of the few festivals in the world today that is entirely curated and administered by filmmakers. Currently celebrating its 35th year of serving the independent film community. (www.anthologyfilmarchives.org)
 NALIPsters Invited to Downtown Film Festival LA Launch Party
Special invite to NALIP members:
YOU ARE INVITED!
Please join us to celebrate the official launch party of the much anticipated Downtown Film Festival LA! Although our festival is slated for August later this year, we are hosting a party to invite filmmakers to participate in our ongoing events leading up to the festival. In the weeks to come we will host many private parties on our rooftop terrace, private screenings, industry workshops and more. Please join our community!
Saturday
May 17th
7:30pm - 11:00pm
510 S. Hewitt St.
Rooftop
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Please RSVP to: Luke@dffla.com
The first annual Downtown Film Festival - Los Angeles (DTFF-LA), the first dedicated film festival in the historic core of the Entertainment Capital of the World, will be held August, 13-17, 2008. The five-day event will celebrate Downtown L.A.'s renaissance with a series of film screenings of Hollywood, independent and classic historic films, lectures, panel discussions, and exhibits, and parties and receptions.
The Downtown Film Festival was established to celebrate the resurgence of Downtown L.A. in all its facets - its historic movie palaces core, its legendary cultural and ethnic institutions, and its thriving business and residential communities. In 2008, its inaugural year, the Downtown Film Festival - Los Angeles will showcase why Downtown has become L.A.'s most exciting "new" community.
Submission Deadline: June 1st
www.DowntownFilmFestLA.com
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