LATINO CINEMA AND MUSIC COMING TO PARRISH ART MUSEUM!

The 10th Annual OLA Film Festival, presented by the Organización Latino-Americana of Eastern Long Island, will take place the weekend of September 13–15 at the Parrish Art Museum. The festival opens Friday, September 13, at 5 pm, with the Oscar-winning, 40-minute documentary, Inocente. The screening will be followed at 6 pm by two hours of live music on the Mildred C. Brinn Terrace by Mambo Loco. Tanta Agua, a narrative film from Uruguay, will screen at 3 pm Saturday. The festival concludes Sunday at 3 pm with the Chilean documentary, Salvador Allende. Tickets for each film are $10, free for Members, students, and children. The Mambo Loco [below] performance is free with Museum admission.

Directed by Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine and winner of the 2013 Academy Award for Best Short Documentary, Inocente is the intensely personal coming-of-age story of a young woman’s drive to overcome the severity of her surroundings. Inocente is a 15-year-old immigrant, homeless and undocumented, who refuses to give up her dream of becoming an artist. Told entirely in her own words, the film meets Inocente as she realizes her life is at a turning point, and for the first time, she decides to take control of her own destiny. Irreverent, flawed, and funny, she’s now channeling her irrepressible personality into a future she controls. Her talent has been noticed, and if she can create a body of work in time, she has an opportunity to put on her first art exhibition. Inocente is a timeless story about the transformative power of art and a timely snapshot of homelessness in America.

Tanta Agua, directed by Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge, tells the story of an ill-fated family holiday. Alberto has not been able to spend much time with his children Lucia and Federico since his divorce, so he decides to take them to a hot springs for a short vacation. When they arrive at their rented cabin they learn that the pools have closed until further notice because of thunderstorms. Alberto tries to remain enthusiastic, but everybody’s moods inevitably turn sour, as the rain keeps falling and the walls seem to be closing in. When Lucia meets friends her age, equally bored at the rained-out resort, her vacation starts looking up, but her adolescent rebellion clashes with her father’s enthusiastic efforts for family quality time.

Chilean filmmaker Patricio Guzmán is one of cinema’s most acclaimed documentarians. With Salvador Allende, he turns to the life of an inspiring and controversial leader, whose overthrow by an American-backed military destroyed not only his dream of Chilean socialism, but the lives of many of his supporters. On November 4, 1970, Salvador Allende was elected president of Chile and committed himself to the socialist transformation of his country. Three years later, he was deposed by a right-wing coup led by Augusto Pinochet, and he committed suicide before being taken prisoner. His country faced two decades of military-led dictatorship, and his followers faced repression, exile, or death. “Salvador Allende marked my life,” says Guzmán in this heartfelt work. “I will never forget.”

Formed in 2005, Mambo Loco has become synonymous with classic music of Afro-Cuban and Puerto Rican origin. During the past several years the group has brought the best of “Old School” Latin and Latin Jazz music to the Long Island area. Lead vocalist and conguero Larry Belford has been performing since he was a child growing up on Long Island and has played with many of the best Latin groups in New York. His fiery drumming and vocals are the focal point of the band. Since joining the group full time in 2007, Alfredo Gonzalez (trombone, violin, percussion, and vocals) has added a certain Sabor Latino that reflects his Puerto Rican heritage. Bill Smith (piano, melodica, and vocals) and Wayne Burgess (bass and vocals), two Berklee College of Music alumni, complete the group. The performance will take place on the Museum’s covered terrace. Guests are invited to bring chairs or blankets and to enjoy food and drink from the Café by Art of Eating.

The Museum’s programs are made possible, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and the property taxpayers from the Southampton School District and the Tuckahoe Common School District.