Guest Director: Luis Mandoki

Guest Director: Luis Mandoki

Last Year, the SDLFF started a new tradition of inviting an acclaimed filmmaker to be our "Guest Director." This individual will curate a sidebar of three films that have influenced his/her career in a profound way. This year’s Guest Director is the acclaimed Mexican filmmaker, Luis Mandoki. Don’t miss this amazing opportunity to meet Luis Mandoki and see the classic films that he has chosen to screen at the 2005 San Diego Latino Film Festival.

Luis Mandoki will be present for the screening of
Voces Inocentes
Saturday, March 19, 7:00 pm

He'll also be present before and after the films he has curated:

• The Battle of Algiers
Screening: Sunday, March 20, 4:00 pm

• The Human Condition: No Greater Love
Screening: Saturday, March 19, 11:00 am

• Rocco and His Brothers (1960)
Screening: Friday, March 18, 4:00 pm

The Director’s Chair: Luis Mandoki

As one of the first Mexican directors of the current generation to break
into Hollywood in the late 80s, Luis Mandoki helped open the door for other
cineastes from south of the border to realize their visions in the US film
industry. His first film, Gaby: A True Story (1987), received nominatons for
both the Oscars and the Golden Globes. In the ensuing two decades, Luis
Mandoki has worked with such stars as Andy Garcia, Jennifer Lopez, Paul
Newman, Meg Ryan, Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, Kevin Bacon. James Spader
and Charlize Theron. His films include White Palace (1990), When a Man Loves
a Woman (1994), Message in a Bottle (1999), Angel Eyes (2001) and Trapped
(2002). His latest feature, the remarkable Voces Inocentes, is Mandoki’s
first Spanish-language film in more than 15 years. We were curious to know
which films influenced him. So we asked Luis Mandoki to select three films
which he felt changed his life and to tell us why. These are the three films
he chose. All three will be screened as part of the 2005 San Diego Latino
Film Festival.

Guest Director: Luis Mandoki

The Battle of Algiers (1965)
I saw Battle of Algiers first, and it was a movie that really impressed me,
because it was a true story, and it was just so real and it involves a child
as well. And so, for me it brought the same feeling of strength and
compassion and what people go through. And you’re thrown into a reality, in
the way it’s shot, in the way it’s done, and the absurdities of war that
they are all living in. And so it shook me, because I didn’t know about that
reality, and it brought me into it in a very human unhollywood way. I think
I was sixteen or seventeeen.

The Human Condition: No Greater Love (1958)
A few months later I saw The Human Condition, which is not about children,
but it’s about soldiers in the middle of a war, and what I loved about it is
that you see them also in the moments of battle, and you see them in the
moments in between the battles. And you see how war, which is an extreme
state of life, brings out the best and the worst of people. And so, in a way
makes you realize that when you’re not living in those extreme states we go
to sleep, and we forget what’s precious about life. And many times
comfortable life makes you go into a state of anaesthesia. I’m not saying we
should live in times of war to bring that out, but that we should always be
aware that death is around the corner, and so we should make the best out of
every moment.

Rocco and His Brothers (1960)
Italian neorealist classic about a young man and his brothers who move to
Milan from the country with their mother after the death of their father.
Considered one of Visconti's (Death in Venice, Ossessione, The Leopard) best
works, this film's masterful mix of realism and simmering melodrama
influenced such directors as Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola.
Featuring crisp black and white cinematography by Giuseppe Rotunno and a
great score by Nino Rota, this classic stars Alain Delon (Le Samurai),
Renato Salvatori (State of Siege) and Annie Girardot (The Piano Teacher).
This film is curated by guest director Luis Mandoki.