This long-standing community event is a collaboration of College of the Redwoods Humanities Department and Humboldt State University’s Department of World Languages & Cultures. Students and the general public are invited to view three outstanding films relating to the theme “LGBTQ Experience in the Spanish-Speaking World”: Rara (Pepa San Martín, 2016); Santa y Andrés (Carlos Lechuga, 2016), and Una mujer fantástica (Sebastián Lelio, 2017). All films will be shown in Spanish with English subtitles.
The festival is free to students enrolled in SPAN/ HIST/ ES 396 and SPAN 9 courses. Admission is $5 for non-enrolled students and the general public.
The special guest speaker for this year’s festival is David Tenorio, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Spanish in the Department of Hispanic Languages and Literatures at the University of Pittsburg. Each evening, Tenorio will introduce the films and provide insight into the content and key social issues portrayed in the films. Following the screening, CR and HSU professors will share their impressions of the films, and together with Tenorio they will engage the audience in a panel discussion in English. For academic credit, enrolled students will write an additional paper.
Tenorio’s research is situated at the intersection of sexuality and gender studies, Latin American and Caribbean cultural studies, and Global South epistemologies. His current book project, entitled Sex After the Revolution: Queer Utopias, Sexual Politics and the Performance of Hope in Cuba and Mexico, examines the aesthetic strategies through which queer cultural production challenges patriarchal vision of time, futurity, and radical change, while presenting alternatives to a more inclusive sense of belonging, intimacy, and citizenship. Moreover, Tenorio has been involved in various digital humanities projects (sexualidadescampesinas.ucdavis.edu; queerutopias.org) and currently serves as an Editorial Board member for the University of California, Davis’ Interdisciplinary Journal on Latin American Studies, Brújula. He has been the recipient of various grants and awards, including the Bejel-Gibbs Graduate Award, the Humanities Program Fellowship, the Humanities Arts & Cultural Studies Dean’s Fellowship, the University of California CUBA Initiative Research Grant, the Mellon Public Scholar Fellowship, the Professors for the Future Fellowship, the University of California Institute for Mexico and the United States Research Grant, and the University of Miami’s Cuban Heritage Collection Conference Award. Currently, he serves as an Editorial Team Member for the Newsletter of the Caribbean Studies Association.
The films and panelists for this year’s festival will appear in the following order:
Tuesday, March 5, 6 p.m.: Rara (Pepa San Martín, 2016)
Sara, a 13-year-old girl, faces challenges with school, boys, hiding a secret from her best friend,
and her parents quarreling. She has no problems with her mother living with another woman, even if her father does not agree.
Panelists will include keynote speaker David Tenorio, Assistant Professor of Spanish in the Department of Hispanic Languages and Literatures at the University of Pittsburg; Nancy Pérez, HSU Professor of Critical Race, Gender & Sexuality Studies; and Gabrielle Gopinath, CR Professor of History of Cinema and Art. The moderator will be Ryder Dschida, CR Professor of History.
Wednesday, March 6, 6 p.m.: Santa y Andrés (Carlos Lechuga, 2016)
In 1983 Cuba, Andrés, a dissident gay novelist is placed under house arrest for his sexual and
ideological orientation. Santa, a local peasant woman working on a state farm is assigned to keep a close watch on him for three consecutive days, keeping him from disrupting a political event and gaining the attention of foreign journalists. An unlikely friendship forms between the two as they both realize that they have a lot in common.
Panelists will include keynote speaker David Tenorio, Assistant Professor of Spanish in the Department of Hispanic Languages and Literatures at the University of Pittsburg; Suzanne Pazstor, HSU Professor of History; and Cameron Johnson, CR Professor of History. The moderator will be Montel Vander Horck III, CR Professor of Digital Media.
*Thursday, March 7, 6 p.m.”: Una mujer fantástica (Sebastián Lelio , 2017)
Marina (Daniela Vega), a transgender nightclub singer, comes under suspicion when her much
older lover Orlando (Francisco Reyes) dies suddenly. After being harassed and threatened by her late boyfriend’s vengeful relatives and the police, she must defend her rights as both Orlando’s partner and as a human being.
Panelists will include keynote speaker David Tenorio, Assistant Professor of Spanish in the Department of Hispanic Languages and Literatures at the University of Pittsburg; Loren Cannon, HSU Professor of Critical Race, Gender & Sexuality Studies; and Natalia Margulis, CR Professor of Art. The moderator will be Fernando Paz, HSU Coordinator of the Latinx Center for Academic Excellence.
For more information on this event, please call the Humboldt State World Languages & Cultures Department at 707.826.3226.