Diliana Alexander, producer, independent filmmaker, and the executive director of FilmGate, is challenging film studies students in her Magic Realism in Eastern European Cinema class. The students are enthusiastic and have been able to approach her with the ideas they have for making films and other projects.
Professor Diliana Alexander
FilmGate is a nonprofit organization that supports independent filmmakers and actors in Florida. They’re holding a creative conference in February that explores how new technology influences the future of storytelling like virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality, and mixed media.
A vigorous discussion followed the screening of Ixcanul (2015, Guatemala and France) this past Wednesday at the Coral Gables Art Cinema. A diverse crowd, including community members, faculty, and students of local universities, and even a friend of the film’s director turned out for the latest in the “Talkback” series, a co-venture of the Cinema and the FIU Film Studies program.
CGAC’s Ben Delgado joins Andrew Strycharski during discussion
Join us for a screening and discussion of Ixcanul at the Coral Gables Art Cinema on Wednesday, September 14 at 6:45 PM. Dr. Andrew Strycharski, FIU director of Film Studies, will lead a conversation about the film to the audience.
In his debut feature, Guatemalan director Jayro Bustamante tells the hypnotic story about Maria, a young Mayan woman who lives and works on a coffee plantation with her parents right beside an active Volcano in Guatemala. A marriage to a plantation overseer has been arranged for Maria, although she is not sure if she wants to abide by her family’s traditions any longer, and believes that a brighter future awaits her somewhere else. She sees that possibility in Pepe, a coffee cutter who plans on migrating to the US.
