Marcus plans Hispanic film festival in April
April event to celebrate Latino film
Marcus Theatres will launch its inaugural CineLatino Milwaukee Film Festival next month, with at least a dozen movies designed to celebrate and connect Milwaukee’s Hispanic community.
The CineLatino festival, to be held April 27-30 at the Marcus South Shore Cinema, 7261 S. 13th St., Oak Creek, is designed to celebrate, educate and give back to the Hispanic community, Rolando Rodriguez, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Marcus Theatres, said at a press event unveiling the festival Wednesday. Fifty percent of the festival’s net proceeds will go to supporting health and education efforts in the Milwaukeearea Hispanic community, Rodriguez said.
Half the proceeds from CineLatino’s opening-night event, a VIP screening April 27 of the big-budget comedy “How to Be a Latin Lover,” will go to the Aurora Health Care Foundation, with some of the festival’s donations helping fund the Aurora Spanish Cancer Clinic at St. Luke’s Medical Center, said Cristy Garcia-Thomas, president of Aurora’s foundation.
Aurora Health Care is the presenting sponsor of the CineLatino festival.
The festival, Rodriguez said, is the result of a yearslong dialogue among Milwaukee’s Hispanic leaders about promoting the community’s culture across generations, and to other parts of the Milwaukee community. Hispanic community leaders were involved in the film selection process, he said.
The movies, ranging from sports documentaries to family friendly comedies, will be shown in Spanish with English subtitles. The final day of the festival, April 30, falls on Dia De Los Niños, and will include free kids’ activities and a screening in Spanish of last year’s animated hit “Sing.”
The opening-night movie centers on a middle-age gigolo who, kicked out by his older, wealthy wife, moves in with his sister and proceeds to teach her son the art of seduction. The comedy, due for nationwide release April 28, stars Eugenio Derbez (”Instructions Not Included”), Salma Hayek, Raquel Welch and Kristen Bell.
The 12 movies announced for the festival Wednesday — the lineup could grow, Rodriguez said — also include:
“Truman,” a festival-circuit drama about a man who makes a surprise visit to an old friend who has cancer, and winds up helping his friend find a home for his beloved dog, Truman.
“Por Mis Bigotes,” a comedy about a 9-year-old boy who wakes up one morning with a fully grown, bushy mustache, which causes problems and creates opportunities for him.
“Lowriders,” about a young graffiti artist caught between his recovering alcoholic father and his out-of-prison brother.
“Messi” and “Ronaldo,” documentaries about football/ soccer legends Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
In addition to single-movie tickets, ticket packages include a 10-movie festival pass for $60 and a family four-pack for $24. Tickets for the opening-night VIP event are $50.
Tickets are available at Marcus Theatres’ website, at the Marcus South Shore, and at El Rey grocery stores. For information, go to