MOLINA´¨S FEROZZ EN RAINDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2011

28 Sept - 9 Oct 2011

"The indie-est film festival this side of the Atlantic."
The Guardian

Raindance Film Festival is Europe’s leading independent film festival. Listed by Variety as one of the world's top 50 'unmissable film festivals', Raindance aims to nurture, support and promote independent films and filmmakers from the UK and around the world.
Over the years, the festival has hosted such guests and filmmakers as Christopher Nolan, Shane Meadows, Ken Loach, Marky Ramone, Iggy Pop, Anton Corbijn, Quentin Tarantino, Faye Dunaway and Lou Reed. Over the last few years our international Jury has included Lemmy, Charles Saatchi, Armando Iannucci and Tom Waits.












Film Title:Ferozz Wild Riding Hood
Screening:Wednesday 05 October 21:00 All Tickets £10.00
Runtime:72 mins
Industry Screening Only

Director: Jorge Molina
Country: Cuba, Costa Rica
Writer: Jorge Molina, Edgar Soberon Torchia, Alain Jimenez
Original Format: DVCam, MiniDV
Dir. of Photography: Yanelvis González Marín
Print Source: One Eyed Films
Producer: Candy Caramels, Jorge Molina
Cast: Dayana Legrá, Roberto Perdomo, Pancho García


Film Details
UK Premiere
Official Selection Feature

Short Synopsis:
Set on the outskirts of the Cuban jungle, this film is a bizarre and twisted take on the classic fairytale..

Review:
Ferozz_wild_riding_hood This shocking, disturbing and often funny film draws on all the darker elements of the familiar Red Riding Hood fairytale. With the lush setting of the Cuban jungle as its back-drop, it tells the story of mother and daughter Dolores and Miranda who are desperate to escape the oppressive yoke of the perverted and psychotic matriarch of the family Ms Zulma as well abusive father and husband Lucio.

During a traumatic night Ms Zulma encourages her son Lucio to rape his wife at the dinner table. When Lucio dies, Dolores and Miranda flee Ms Zulma for the protection of Dolores’ brother-in-law Inocencio. However, Inocencio is not as angelic as he seems, dabbling in black magic and unable to resist the pull of young Miranda’s sexual awakening. With a mysterious sub-plot about a werewolf called ‘the cagueiro’ this is a bizarre and mystifying film that is bound to stir up much controversy.

Boasting bright and striking visuals, it is also rich in symbolism and religious imagery. Through its twisted and grotesque filter, it cleverly draws out the tropes and themes of the fairytale archetype, building up to an unsettling and genuinely shocking finale. With strong sexual overtones throughout the film as well as some gruesome violence, this is extreme viewing, which really has to be seen to be believed.

Sami El-Hadi

All Tickets for This Screening - £10
Telephone Booking: call 0871 220 8000 and say "Operator' for a human being at the cinema.
Practical Information

Screenings at Apollo Cinema Piccadilly Circus
19 Lower Regent Street
SW1Y 4LR
London
www.appollocinemas.com

JUAN DE LOS MUERTOS SIGUE DANDO QUE HABLAR

Otra reseña del paso de Juan de los Muertos por el Fantastic Fest de Austin aparecida en: http://insidepulse.com/2011/09/24/fantastic-fest-11-juan-of-the-dead-review/

Fantastic Fest ’11: Juan of the Dead – Review
by Robert Saucedo - September 24, 2011


Cuban film gives life to the zombie genre

Nobody would blame a horror fan for going into Juan of the Dead full of negative preconceived notions. The zombie genre is so oversaturated right now, so full of terrible attempts to churn out a cheaply shot tribute to the works of George Romero without adding anything new to the genre, that many horror fans have come to dread any new film that features the undead. Add to that the fact that Juan of the Dead is a zombie comedy with a similar sounding name to Edgar Wright’s Shaun of the Dead and it would be completely understandable to dismiss Cuba’s first attempt at a zombie film as a cheap knockoff of other, better works. Easy to do but 100 percent wrong.

Juan of the Dead is a film that not only gives a new coat of paint to the zombie genre, it pimps it out with flames and a pair of fuzzy dice. Written and directed by Alejandro Brugués, Juan of the Dead, or Juan de los Muertos as it is known in its native Cuba, is a live-action Loony Tunes cartoon given a syringe shot of zombie action. Not afraid to play with the boundaries of reality or even take a break from the action to have a quiet scene that tugs at the heartstrings, the film blazes its own tone and attitude while still paying loving tribute to zombie films that have come before. It’s funny, smart and tender in all the right places. Juan of the Dead is the best zombie movie in a long, long time.

If Juan of the Dead is a Loony Tunes carton come to life, Alexis Díaz de Villegas is Bugs Bunny in a wife-beater. Perpetually nonplussed, Juan is a conman who has managed to get through the ups and downs of Cuban political upheaval thanks to his brain, his laziness and his ability to squeeze a coin out of any opportunity. When Cuba becomes overrun with zombies, Juan decides to stick it out in his homeland instead of hightailing it to Miami like so many of his countrymen. Along with a group of friends and family — including his lifelong friend and fellow troublemaker Lazaro (Jorge Molina), Juan actually manages to carve out a new business for himself in the zombie-overrun island. Juan de los Muertos is Juan’s zombie removal service. He and his friends — a group of misfits and miscreants — arm themselves with whatever is handy — be it a baseball bat or a machete — and take care of their neighbor’s zombie problems, for a cost of course.

What sets Juan of the Dead apart from so many other zombie comedies is the genuineness of its characters. Because Brugués took so many moments of the movie from his own life and family, the characters ring completely true. They have chemistry and a timbre to their banter that helps to sell the story whenever the movie pushes the edges of reality and ducktails into the ridiculous — which it does a lot. Juan of the Dead is a comedy first, a zombie movie second. It is not afraid to skirt the edges of plausibility if it means a laugh for the audience and for that the audience is grateful.

Brugués has an imagination and artist’s eye that gives the film a freshness that most zombie movies are sorely lacking. This isn’t a rehashing of the same horror movie clichés that fans are force-fed time and time again. Juan of the Dead is something new and exciting and — most important — culturally significant. The film represents one of Cuba’s first — if not their first — foray into the horror genre. From the traditional Cuban music used to score the film to the political satire that runs through the film’s veins, Juan of the Dead is 100 percent a Cuban film and its heritage is what helps to give it its identity. Juan of the Dead will bring a horror fan back from the brink of zombie weariness and for that alone it is an essential watch.

Más sobre Juan de los Muertos en:

http://www.slashfilm.com/juan-dead-review-fantastic-fest-2011/

http://www.brutalashell.com/2011/09/fantastic-fest-2011-review-juan-of-the-dead/

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Fantastic-Fest-Review-Juan-of-the-Dead-26950.html

http://twitchfilm.com/reviews/2011/09/fantastic-fest-2011-juan-of-the-dead-review.php

JUAN DE LOS MUERTOS EN AUSTIN FANTASTIC FEST

Aquí un breve correo electrónico de Alejandro Brugués sobre Juan de los Muertos en el Fantastic Fest de Austin

Breve:
PARTIMOS EL BATE EN AUSTIN!!!!

Adrian sin palabras, lloró viendo la peli, dice que eres lo mas grande del mundo, muy emocionado de verdad.

Adrian( se refiere a mi amigo Adrián García Bogliano, director argentino) dice que lloró con la peli, le encantó! Te citó en facebook como el Carnicero de Normandía!

Aqui te va la crítica de Harry Knowles de Aintitcool!

BESOS!

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/51329

Aquí les va la crítica en su idioma original, más adelante la traduzco.

Harry goes all light headed in love with JUAN OF THE DEAD - my fave indie horror comedy in ages!

Published at: Sep 24, 2011 2:36:49 AM CDT



“I will fuck your mother’s heart!”



JUAN DE LOS MUERTOS aka JUAN OF THE DEAD is a complete genre wetdream for me. It’s the sort of film that the second I left the theater I knew… this is a film I’ll probably see 100 times more before I die. At least it’s a goal. Not an idle one, but a hopeful one. I just love everything about it. From the opening scene on a triangular raft as Juan is relaxing before his best friend… …to the animated end credits – I was just hugging the screen with my eyes.



There’s just something about seeing JUAN OF THE DEAD and realizing that you’ve never in your life seen a ZOMBIE movie on the scale of this film… or that the film is consistently the funniest ZOMBIE movie I’ve seen… That everything is absolutely wonderful, from the dialogue, to the many classic scenes. There’s a “Waiting for Sunrise” sequence that may be amongst my very favorite best friends scenes in film history.



The politics of the film are just. Well, I’m not sure what CUBA is going to make of the film… personally I find it makes Cuba lovable, laughable & hard to leave. Something that I wouldn’t immediately think. The Cuban news’ take on the Zombie Apocalypse could very well be one of the funniest political satires I’ve seen in quite some time… I love how the Cubans have no knowledge of Zombies… instead they’re mainly referred to as being dissidents. I love that it is all… very suspicious… and sharp eyes will notice that Zombie #1 is in fact wearing remnants of a Guantanamo Bay Military uniform… so I’m pretty sure it is all our fault, but then proper Zombie Apocalypses have usually been the fault of the United States. And as a geek, I’m pretty proud of that fact. The zombie is of a floateresque look, a makeup job I later learned took 6 hours to apply, rendered the person blind, and was to originally be played by Alejandro. Until he realized it’d take 6 hours to apply and render him blind for his first day of shooting.



Juan is kinda like… THE MAN in Havana. He looks a bit as if Adrien Brody and Jeff Goldblum combined to have a Cuban kid. A kid that has fought in multiple wars and always survived. He’s a bit of a Don Juan it seems, using his rooftop telescope to find out if the ladies he woos are home alone or not. He drops in upon them from above. He’s a tall dark Bogart type of lovable scoundrel. He moves like a god and sometimes kills with the very deliberate emotion of Bruce Lee. The elevator in his building stops only half way upon a floor. He’s the kinda guy that would help the old lady up, while deliberately squeezing her keister – just so she’d take delight in chastising him. You just kinda of love this guy. His longtime best friend is a chronic peeper masturbator. Juan has a lovely daughter, whose mother fled to the U.S. His best friend, a handsome thieving Lothario. Juan wishes to be in his daughter’s life, she wants to follow her mother to Florida. Juan loves to complain about his homeland, but dearly loves it. At one point his friend proposes that he should go to America, but Juan simply answers, “But there, I’d have to get a job.” And everything about his life tells me… Juan has it right. He hangs with his friends, fucks beautiful women often and… He will fucking thrive in a Zombie Apocalypse. Like all great Zombie battlers – he has a signature weapon, one he wields so brilliantly that it does leave one with the impression that it could be a great one. AN OAR.



The film is so smart. So funny. So just effortlessly charming and wonderful to watch. I mean, the Zombie makeup and the kills are frankly amongst the best I’ve ever seen. There’s one Mass Zombie decapitation that clearly needs to be included in every driving Zombie video game from here on. Pure fucking EMPIRE STRIKES BACK! Wondrous.



Dialogue was applauded, actions were applauded. Zombie reveals applauded. There was one 7 minute continuous Zombie apocalypse steadicam in the street shot that was applauded. The hundreds in the water. The tens of thousands in the city streets shots… the casual mass destruction background scenes sometimes were beautiful in a Tatooine sunset level of audacity.



Around the time that Juan decides he’s going to wildly profit by becoming… literally JUAN OF THE DEAD, We will dispose of your beloved ones for you… He builds a Apocalypse survival rooftop training school – that he charges for. He has the most insanely fun Zombie street kill squads of all time. Just wondrous. There are literally 100s of perfectly subtle and fun film references, but not VERBATIM. Just in a way that smart movie fans will enjoy revisiting the film to try and document them all – and lovingly doing so.




Lines about Capitalism and The Empire are thrown about in a wonderfully hilarious love-hate manner. The character of Juan is not aggressively angry about Cuba’s government or the United States. Instead, there is a bemused acceptance of the way of things. This attitude carries over to the Apocalypse, which they fight through from a cheerful, let’s make the best of this kind of attitude, which was just so delightfully handled that some in the audience… like NORDLING… gave the film a spontaneous standing ovation when the end credits began… and then, realizing that the badass animated post film credits needed to be observed from a silent seated smiling, whispering “badass” under your breath and just shaking your head at the fucking marvelously entertaining and culturally revealing genre effort from a small country that has a very interesting presence in the world.



There is no news of the outside world during the apocalypse… and I love it that way. I want a Blu Ray of this movie IMMEDIATELY! As in. I can’t imagine not having it tomorrow. I just want to veg to this thing. It’s GREAT.



Distributors… Market this to the Spanish speaking Audience and the Indie Film audience as the 1st Independent film in the past 52 years of Cuban film history – and you’ll have a classic on your hands. Just a home run. LOVE THE FILM!

MOLINA´S FEROZZ EN EL ARIZONA UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL

Hoy sábado 17 de septiembre tiene su premier norteamericana Molina´s Ferozz en el Festival de Cine Underground de Arizona.



























FEROZZ: THE WILD RED RIDING HOOD

September 17th 11pm at The Screening Room 127 E. Congress

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

2010, CUBA, 72 Min
Fantasy/Horror
Directed by Jorge Molina
Cast: Dayana Legrá, Roberto Perdomo, Ana Silvia Machado, Francisco García

PART OF EXTREME UNDERGROUND CINEMA, NO ONE UNDER 18 ADMITTED

Ferozz Molina’s history has focused on a dysfunctional family living in isolation of the Cuban countryside. A young, attractive widow is protected from her vicious mother-in-law, by a male relative who practices Satanism, and lusts after the old woman’s sexy adolescent granddaughter. Depravity and insanity make this family break taboos of society, regardless of the consequences.

Director Jorge Molina is a Cuban director as well as a performer who has appeared in more than 10 feature length and 80 short films. He made quite a name for himself right out of the gate when his film school thesis, Molina’s Culpa, which won a cult status while simultaneously invoking the ire of the Catholic Church for it’s anti-religious content. Molina’s filmmaking is known for low budgets, extreme violence and sexuality and for taking on themes that most folks wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole. Molina also teaches directing in Havana.

“Molina’s talent is obvious… scenes are filled with symbolism and metaphors” – Best Horror Movies

“Its a tough, yet powerful film… easily a film worth recommending and watching” – Obscure Horror Reviews

Cinetic lleva 'Juan de los Muertos' a USA.

La película cubana de zombies se vende muy bien en Toronto

John Sloss y Bart Walker de Cinetic Media acaban de firmar los derechos de distribución para norteamérica a "Juan de los Muertos", pionera comedia cubana de zombies del director cubano Alejandro Brugues. Según destacara el productor por la parte española, Gervasio Iglesias, el acuerdo con Cinetic Media surgió justamente el mismo sábado, después de la primera presentación de la película. Sloss y Alfredo Calviño de Latinofusión cerraron el trato.
En otros acuerdos territoriales, PandaStorm Pics cerró para Alemania y Cinema Prestige tiene la distribución en Russia. Avalon ostenta los derechos en España y planea estrenar Juan de los muertos en Enero próximo.
Las negociaciones de los derechos para Japón y el Reino Unido están bastante avanzados; mientras que Latinofusion está recibiendo otras ofertas desde Francia, México, Brasil y Colombia.
El acuerdo favorece el status del filme en tanto constituye un estímulo para la producción independiente en Cuba. Producida por Iglesias a través de La Zanfoña Producciones radicada en Sevilla y por la parte cubana por Inti Herrera, con presupuesto total de 2,5 millones de euros –bastante alto para Cuba—la película no contó al principio con tal suma, pero si con la autorización y apoyo del gobierno cubano y el ICAIC, quien facilitó los permisos de rodaje. Juan de los muertos cuenta con el primer actor cubano Alexis Díaz de Villegas como Juan, un pillo de 40 años, quien se descubre que la gente se está manifestando de manera extraña y muy violenta resultando en una epidemia de zombies que inunda toda La Habana. Juan decide organizar una banda para enfrentarse a los zombies, pero mientras la epidemia sigue tomando todo el país, y la gente desesperada por abandonar la Isla, a Juan no le queda otra que concentrase en escapar y sobrevivir.
La película funciona como comedia pero al mismo tiempo es una especies de metáfora de los 50 años de la Revolución cubana.
Además de los llenos totales que han acompañado las tres exhibiciones públicas de Juan de los Muertos, la prensa oficial y extraoficial del Festival de Toronto aplaude la gracia e irreverencia de la película. Los periódicos Los Angeles Times y el canadiense The Globe and Mail apoyaron con calor el filme, y también le expresaron su total apoyo el director del festival internacional de Miami y decenas de blogs especializados en este tipo de cine, además del público local, que manifestó su entusiasmo en cada una de las proyecciones.
Por otra parte, se anuncia que Juan de los Muertos tendrá su esperado estreno en Festivales norteamericanos durante el Fantastic Fest de Austin (septiembre 22 -29), el mayor evento dedicado a filmes de este género en los Estados Unidos, y especializado en películas de horror, fantasía y ciencia ficción.
Los muertos vivientes, torpes y hambrientos caníbales, se enseñorean de este segundo largometraje escrito y dirigido por Alejandro Brugués, y que representa un cambio de registro respecto a su ópera prima, Personal Belongings, aunque el director ha declarado que «en realidad la película atípica en mis intereses es Personal Belongings, pues siempre he tirado más a los zombis que a los dramas, me pareció que llenar La Habana de zombis tenía que ser absurdo y divertido…».
De acendrada inspiración posmoderna, en cuanto a la consciente y múltiple asimilación de filmes anteriores, la nueva producción cubana se vale de referencias cinematográficas como las indispensables Night of the Living Dead y Dawn of the Dead, de George Romero o de la trilogía Evil Dead, de Sam Raimi —ha confesado con absoluta honestidad el director y guionista—, pero también asimila ciertas situaciones de las películas de artes marciales de Bruce Lee, o los western spaghetti de Sergio Leone, sin olvidar alguna señal, más o menos obvia, al cine de Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, creador de comedias en la vena de La muerte de un burócrata o Los sobrevivientes.

¡¡¡ESTRENO MUNDIAL DE JUAN DE LOS MUERTOS!!!!

Hoy sábado 10 de septiembre a las 10:15 p.m. en el Scotiabank Theatre ubicado en 259 Richmond Street West, Toronto, ON, Canadá, ‎‎Juan de los Muertos será estrenado internacionalmente durante la 36 edición del Festival Internacional de Cine de Toronto (TIFF), que se celebra en esa ciudad canadiense desde el 8 y hasta el 18 de septiembre . El Festival Internacional de Cine de Toronto es uno de los principales eventos cinematográficos de carácter público del mundo, pues anualmente exhibe más de 300 películas provenientes de más de 60 países. Dicho Festival, que no tiene carácter competitivo, es considerado una plataforma ideal para películas de estreno y la puerta de entrada a las salas comerciales norteamericanas, pues en él se reúnen numerosos periodistas, distribuidores, productores, compradores y estrellas del arte cinematográfico.

Juan of the Dead (Juan de los muertos)

‎1h 36min‎‎ - español‎
Director: Alejandro Brugués
Reparto: Alexis Días de Villegas, Jorge Molina, Andrea Duro, Andros Perugorría, Jazz Vila, Eliecer Ramírez

TORONTO SCREENINGS(Proyecciones en Toronto)

QUÉ RICO PASO E´PALMAR

Acabo de regresar de las vacaciones. Aunque no fueron tan divertidas para mí (no soy un tipo divertido,lo reconozco) pero sí lo fueron para mi familia, aproveché sobre todo para disfrutar con Marleny y las niñas, ya que hacía tiempo no pasábamos vacaciones juntos por yo estar enrredado en filmaciones y otros trabajos.
Estuve en Santiago de Cuba dándole una vuelta a mi mamá que se ha quedado sola en la ciudad héroe. Mi hermana Ileana que vivía allá también se fue de Cuba. Se sigue fragmentando la familia. Por esos días había una mega exposición del artista de la plástica Nelson Dominguez y me di una pasada por el teatro Heredia donde estaban las obras expuestas en compañía de mi amigo Abdala quien registró algunas instantáneas del suceso. Estuve en San Luis en la casa de Dayana, la actriz de Ferozz y compartí con ella, su mamá y su abuelita y demás miembros de la familia. Gente buena. Realmente la pasé bien.
Me fui a la provincia de las Tunas a encontrarme con mi familia y allí, en Chaparra, antes pueblo próspero con uno de los centrales azucareros más importantes del país, hoy pueblo fantasma al haberse demolido el central, me reencontré con mi padre, tíos, y por supuesto Marleny, que es de allí, y las niñas que sí la estaban pasando de maravilla, descalzas todo el tiempo y disfrutando de lo lindo entre el pueblo, la pequeña finca de mi suegro y algún que otro viaje a la Herradura, la playa más cercana. Nos movimos todo el tiempo entre el pueblito y el monte aledaño, comiendo puerco asado, carnero, tamales y demás delicias de la comida criolla. Me di un saltico a las Tunas, la ciudad capital y me arreglé un par de muelas que tenía malitas (hacía como veinte años que no visitaba un dentista) con mi amiga la doctora Diosmides, más amiga de Marleny que mía, pero amiga, persona muy dulce y fanática del septimo arte. Me encontré con el gran amigo tunero Juan Carlos y regresé a Chaparra a disfrutar del Mundial de Atletismo por la televisión. Esa fue la rutina, deportes y comedera y alguna que otra bebedera, aunque no soy muy bebedor que digamos, pero en esa zona es muy dificil no beber, algunos lo hacen para celebrar y disfrutar pero la gran mayoría lo hace para enajenarse. Hay mucha pobreza por esos lugares, de veras. A veces aparecen las cosas, pero lo que no les aparece por allí, es el dinero, se pierde, o sea que faltan los "cualtos", como diría un dominicano. Nada, qué rico "Paso e palmar" que así se llamaba antes el Vedado 3, lugar de donde es mi mujer, esa güajira natural que me acompaña hace ya dieciséis años. ¡¡Qué aguante!!