The Circuit

by Jonny Leahan
The 4th annual Vallarta Film Festival wrapped this past weekend, after 5 days of screenings and special events - with plenty of time to spare for margaritas on the beach and a few late fiestas.  Destination festivals are by definition less about celebrity-driven red carpet premieres and more about what the geography and culture itself have to offer - in this case Puerto Vallarta and Nuevo Vallarta - with their gorgeous beaches, amazing restaurants, and perfect summer weather in December.

But back to the movies for a moment.  The festival kicked off with a screening of Zak Penn's "The Grand", which initially premiered at Tribeca and is set for a US release next month.  The ensemble cast, which includes Woody Harrelson and Cheryl Hines, do a fine job improvising a loose comedic script that includes a real poker game with some very high stakes.

In addition to special screenings, there were several interesting sections to the festival, most notably the "Environmental" category, which was especially relevant given the rampant growth of tourism in the region.  The DiCaprio-narrated "The 11th Hour" led the series with an exploration of the state of our planet's ecosystem and some possible solutions offered by leaders in the field.  It's no "Inconvenient Truth", but it's all about the message.

The section also included the entire "Planet Earth" series, Leila Conners Petersen's "The Unforeseen", and the critically acclaimed "Manufactured Landscapes", an exploration of the photographs of Edward Burtynsky and his depictions of the industrial impact humans have on the earth.  The film breathes added dimension into Burtynsky's often brutal work, finding surprising beauty in the cold factories and mines littering our planet, while exposing the arrogance of some of the people who run them on a daily basis

Among the selections in the Latin American section were a couple stand-outs from Mexico, including Ernesto Contreras' "Blue Eyelids", a story about a woman who wins a trip for two to an exotic paradise and invites a stranger to join her, and David Siqueiros' "One Long Night", a US/Mexico co-production about a Mexican-American businessman who has to head South of the border (where he's never been) just days before his wedding.  After being kidnapped, the story takes a wild turn as he's rescued by drag queens and is ultimately forced to confront his own heritage.  Yes - he was rescued by drag queens.

Other sections offered a slate of Hollywood pictures and Canadian films, but the University Section featured more local fare, with two Mexican works from Altavista Films: Simon Bross' "Bad Habits" and Enrique Begne's "Two Embraces".  In "Habits", a clever storyline exposes a family's dirty secrets by revealing their various eating disorders, including that of a nun who believes her mystic fasting will bring an end to the coming flood. 

In "Two Embraces", there's family drama of a more serious sort as a young boy from a broken home struggles to find his way in Mexico City, while an angry taxi driver is forced to deal with a man having a stroke in his cab.  The end result is a meditation on human isolation and coping with life in a big city.  In addition, the students from the University of Nayarit got the chance to experience seminars from the directors of the two films, along with veteran cinematographer John Bailey and legendary editor Carol Littleton.

And then there were the parties.  With open bars and buffet tables seemingly everywhere, the relaxed atmosphere of the festival events was a welcome respite from the upcoming frenzy that Sundance and others have become.  This may not yet be a "serious" festival in a resort town, when compared to the likes of Cannes, but in Puerto Vallarta they are serious about living life at an easy pace, and enjoying the sea and sand along the way.  Paris Hilton be damned.


Photos: Puerto Vallarta beach by Jonny Leahan.  Helen Hunt accepts the award for best film for "Then She Found Me" with Paul Rodriguez and Maria Conchita Alonso; by David Diaz.