The 9th annual Festival de Cine Todos Santos will be taking place this year from Thursday, February 23 through Saturday, March 3, in Todos Santos and La Paz, BCS. Opening at the Teatro Manuel Márquez de León, on the plaza, on the 23rd, and will run until the 27th in Todos Santos, before continuing on to La Paz.

María Félix

CINE PARQUE February 19

Prior to the start of the festival will be Cine Parque at the Parque Los Pinos in Todos Santos on Sunday, February 19th at sundown. The entire town will have the opportunity  to enjoy “Enamorada” (Mexico, 1946) a classic film from the Golden Era of Mexican Cinema starring the Mexican diva of all time, María Félix, and Pedro Armendáriz Sr. In one scene, famed cinematographer, Gabriel Figueroa, focuses ever closer on María Félix ending with a shot of just her eyes—an iconic and beautiful image.

La Leccion de Pintura

OPENING NIGHT, February 23

The opening night film will be “La Lección de Pintura”/“The Painting Lesson” 2011 (Chile/Mexico) Director Pablo Perelman.

In 1960 Chile, a peasant son of a single, teenage mother, shows a prodigious talent for painting. He is discovered by a drugstore owner (Daniel Giménez Cacho) and amateur painter, who tries to make an artist out of the boy, like the artists he sees in his art books. Actor Daniel Giménez Cacho brilliant interpretation of this character, said, “it was nice to do a very tender interpretation of someone who creates his own little theater to live in it.”
From the memories of this old man, comes a story about someone who could have been an artistic genius—a story of the lost innocence that ends in 1973 at the time of the Pinochet coup d’état. The film is based on the novel by artist and writer Adolfo Couve and was awarded with the Audience Award at the 2011 Kerala Film Festival in India.

OSCAR COMES TO TODOS SANTOS!
Sunday, February 26

An after film Academy Awards gala party is this year’s fundraiser benefiting the “Youth in Video” Program. The Oscars will be televised at the event at the legendary Hotel California. Join in the Hollywood glamour, great food and drink, with awards for the best Hollywood costume, Oscar bet “Who are the 2012 Oscar winners?” 50/50 raffle and much more. Tickets are 150 pesos pre-sale / 200 pesos (cash only) at the door and are available at El Tecolote Bookstore and the Hotel California in Todos Santos.

For more information, see our Film Festival story. For complete film listings and additional information and program schedule, click on “Events” or visit www.todossantoscinefest.com