“It's confirmation that movies are worth making when people around the world tell me they identify with a character in my film.”
—Debra Granik, FILM FORWARD Filmmaker
Destinations Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

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  • Where: San Juan, Caguas
    When: September 19-22, 2012

    Attending Filmmakers
    Jasmila Zbanic Alysa Nahmias
    Grbavica Unfinished Spaces

    FILM FORWARD joins forces for the second year with the esteemed Puerto Rico Film Society, returning to the capital of San Juan and traveling to Caguas in the center of the island for the first time. This is the first FILM FORWARD program for both Alysa Nahmias and Jasmila Zbanic. Unfinished Spaces features intimate footage of Fidel Castro, showing his devotion to creating a worldwide showcase for art, and it also documents the struggle and passion of three revolutionary artists whose inspiration and ideals could ultimately destroy them. Grbavica removes the veil from the ultimate taboo of the war in Balkans: the use of rape as a weapon of war. It also reveals that the post-war denial of this war crime is as devastating as the crime itself. Alysa Nahmias will travel from New York City and Jasmila Zbanic will travel all the way from Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.  Both filmmakers will participate in post-screening Q&As as well as workshops and discussion panels.

    In addition to Unfinished Spaces and Grbavica, the program will consist of four additional films from the FILM FORWARD slate: Somewhere Between, On the Ice, Bran Nue Dae, and The Green Wave. All events are free and open to the public, with special emphasis on local filmmakers and artists, rural youth, architecture and film students, women’s groups, and the retired communities of Puerto Rico.  

    Schedule Of Events

    All events and free and open to the public.
     
    Wednesday September 19, 2012
    San Juan

    Opening Night
    6:00pm: UNFINISHED SPACES (86 mins) 
    Q&A with Alysa Nahmias (co-director/producer Unfinished Spaces) and panelists Warren James, Architect and Carmen Oquendo Villar, Filmaker and Scholar
    Moderator: Francisco Javier Rodríguez, Dean, School of Architecture, University of Puerto Rico
    Venue: University of Puerto Rico, School of Architecture

    8:30pm: Opening Cocktail Reception
    In collaboration with the Colegio de Arquitectos of Puerto Rico
    Venue: University of Puerto Rico, School of Architecture

    Thursday September 20, 2012
    San Juan

    9:00am: SOMEWHERE BETWEEN (94 mins)
    In collaboration with APPA (Adoptive Parents Association of Puerto Rico)
    Venue: Library Madre María Teresa Guevara, Sacred Heart University

    11:00am: UNFINISHED SPACES (86 mins) 
    Venue: School of Fine Arts in Old San Juan

    1:00pm: Discussion on Arts Education in the Caribbean with Alysa Nahmias (co-director/producer Unfinished Spaces)
    Moderators: 
    Lilliana Ramos Collado, Museum of Modern Art (MAC), Chief Curator and Professor of Theory and History of Architecture, University of Puerto Rico
    Maria Isabel Oliver, Professor of Theory and Design at the School of Architecture, Universidad Politecnica
    Venue: School of Fine Arts in Old San Juan

    8:00pm: GRBAVICA (90 mins)
    Discussion on Anti-War Art and Cinema with Jasmila Zbanic (writer/director Grbavica)
    In Collaboration with Mothers Against War 
    Moderator: Prof. Charles Juhasz-Alvarado. 
    Venue: Contrafuerte Old San Juan

    Friday September 21, 2012
    San Juan

    3:00-6:00pm: Panel: Storytelling in Fiction and Documentary with Jasmila Zbanic (writer/director Grbavica) and Alysa Nahmias (co-director/producer Unfinished Spaces)

    Panel Description: Tell Me Something! Story development for documentaries and fictional films
    One of the main challenges for filmmakers in Puerto Rico and many other countries is to develop appealing and economically viable stories for wide, complex and diverse audiences. In this seminar, directors Alysa Nahmias and Jasmila Žbanić will share their knowledge about story development and narrative for documentaries and fictional films with Alfredo Nieves Moreno. The conversation will focus on the creative and personal journeys of Nahmias and Žbanić in filmmaking. It will also address questions like: How can I identify a worthy story to develop as a documentary or a fictional film? What’s the difference between a fiction movie script and a script for a documentary? If I find a “real life story” or an interesting book, which criteria I should use to decide whether to translate it into a fiction movie or a documentary? What is the process to get the rights for a “real life story” or a book? How can I distinguish the right audiences for my stories? How important is research and characterization in documentaries and fictional films? I have an original idea, should I develop it as a fictional film or a documentary?  
    Moderators:
    Alfredo Nieves-Moreno, Associate Dean, Department of Communications at the UMET
    Ilyse McKimmie, Labs Director, Feature Film Program, Sundance Institute
    Venue:  Museum of Contemporary Art (MAC)

    7:00pm: THE GREEN WAVE (80 mins)
    Venue: Museum of Contemporary Art (MAC)
    In collaboration with  Asociación de Documentalistas de Puerto Rico (AdocPR) (Documentary Filmmakers Association of Puerto Rico)

    Saturday September 22, 2012
    Caguas

    1:00-4:00pm: Roundtable Discussion on International Film and Storytelling with Jasmila Zbanic (writer/director Grbavica) and Alysa Nahmias (co-director/producer Unfinished Spaces) and  local filmmakers. An exchange of stories and film experiences from Puerto Rico, US and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
    Venue: Universidad del Turabo; Laboratorio de Comunicaciones 

    5:00pm: ON THE ICE  (96 mins)
    Venue: Museo y Centro de Estudios Humanísticos, Dra. Josefina Camacho de la Nuez

    Closing Night
    7:30pm: GRBAVICA (90 mins)
    Q&A with writer/director Jasmila Zbanic, moderated by Ilyse McKimmie, Labs Director, Feature Film Program, Sundance Institute
    In collaboration with the Universidad del Turabo 
    Venue: Museo y Centro de Estudios Humanísticos, Dra. Josefina Camacho de la Nuez

    9:30pm: Closing Cocktail Reception
    Hosted by the Universidad del Turabo
    Venue: Universidad del Turabo: Museo y Centro de Estudios Humanísticos, Dra. Josefina Camacho de la Nuez

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    In The News

  • Program Collaborators

    Puerto Rico Film Society
    The Puerto Rico Film Society is a bridge to underserved communities that do not have immediate exposure to independent films. The Society has partnered with museums, educational institutions and local organizations which provides access to free monthly screenings. Our mission is to encourage and build conversation through independent and international cinema, that brings Puerto Rican audiences together to unite, educate and create dialog around contemporary, cultural and current issues.

    Venues

    Museo y Centro de Estudios Humanísticos, Universidad del Turabo

    Madre María Teresa Guevara Library, Universidad del Sagrado Corazón

    Thank you to our Cultural Partners:

    Pimienta

    Universidad de Puerto Rico, Escuela de Arquitectura

    Universidad Metropolitana

    CJA/Contrafuertes

    Mothers Against the War

    ASOCIACION PUERTORRIQUEÑA DE PADRES ADOPTIVOSAPPA (Adoptive Parents Association of Puerto Rico)

    Universidad del Turabo

    Museum of Contemporary Art

    Universidad del Sagrado Corazón

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