The San Diego Latino Film Festival

Ace movie reviewer and e493 denizen Courtney Yip went to the film festival last week and just checked in to file her report!

aloha brilliant students!

this past tuesday night, i had the wonderful experience of attending a film at the latino film festival. the movie (which i randomly chose based on timingcoordination alone) was AMANDO A MARADONA, or LOVING MARADONA. entering the hazard theatres was a great experience on its own. hidden beneath the at&t sign-up booths and the creepy casting call guy asking for models, were an array of art pieces for sale by mexican and south american artists. once inside the cinema, the energy didn't stop. every attendee was talking loudly, laughing, and hanging out, it was like a bar without the good stuff (dancing and booze). argentinian and maradona jerseys adorned the empty dark room, it was a great change from the regular theatre visit.

this dynamic documentary on the life of diego maradona certainly has many ties to what we're studying in eng493. talk about obscene! director javier martin vazquez along with co-writer nicolas avruj focused most of the content on two things: maradona's rise to fame, and his affect on the latino people. a main string that linked the film together visually were interviews with fans that had tattoos of either maradona's face, body, or jersey number with "DIOS" illuminating the background. it was hilarious and sad at the same time... the audience did not know how to react except awkwardly laugh at these obsessive fans. it got even crazier when the "maradonians" came into play... yes you guessed it, "maradonian", as in a religion dedicated to diego as a god. they had a procession with little statuettes of him on an altar, and sang hymns with lines such as "praise maradona" .. i forget the exact songs they sang, but you get the idea.

this man's life became such a huge explosion into the culture of "football" and argentinian (and cuban) life, that i can barely fathom how he must feel about all of this. he repeated in the interviews that he felt honored and humbled, and he only did it for his daughters, but you've got to think, this man must be able to really suppress his ego to not get caught up in this crazy cult following. maybe he really is superhuman.

and then you glance down at diego's own shoulder, tattooed with an image of che guevara.

football, politics, money, freedom, life ... all for one?

or one for all...

check it out if you can.
'til next time.
courtney.