(E-149) September 17, 2004

CELEBRATING HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH, OAS WELCOMES THE
7th ANNUAL LATIN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL
SEPTEMBER 22 – OCTOBER 3

OAS to host September 22 Press Conference and a Reception September 23

The Organization of American States (OAS) will host the 7th annual LATIN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL September 22 through October 3, presenting the best new internationally-recognized films from across Latin America at two locations—the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, Maryland and the AFI National Film Theater at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

The Festival will for the first time honor participating filmmakers with five DC Latin American Film Festival Awards: Best Feature, Best Short, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress. A first-ever award ceremony will be held at AFI Silver on Saturday, October 2 at 6:30 p.m.

Organized by the OAS, the American Film Institute (AFI) and the Association of Ibero-American Cultural Attachés and sponsored by Delta Air Lines, WMATA-Metro Opens Doors, Rumba Café, La Nación USA, Hilton, and other private donors. This year’s Festival presentation of 32 features and 19 shorts fulfils the Festival’s targeted expansion from 36 presentations in 2003 to more than 50 new films from a broader Latin American base, this year adding Nicaragua to its list of 15 participating countries, including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Presenting some of the most acclaimed and popular recent Latin American films to Washington, DC audiences for the first time—the 2004 Latin American Film Festival includes Chile’s 2003 all-time box office topper, SEX WITH LOVE [Sexo con amor], plus international award-winners STRANGE [Extraño] from Argentina; SEXUAL DEPENDENCY [Dependencia sexual] from Boliva; MAN OF THE YEAR [O homen do ano] from Brazil; MASTER, A BUILDING IN COPACABANA [Edificio Master] and DURVAL RECORDS [Durval discos] from (Brazil; SUBTERRA, B-HAPPY and THE FIRST NIGHT [La primera noche] from Chile; SIN AMPARO from Colombia; and THE MYSTERY OF THE TRINIDAD [El misterio del Trinidad] and VERA from Mexico, among others.

Filmmakers and talent scheduled to present and discuss their films at the Festival’s 16 live on-stage appearances include: Argentinean actor Boy Olmi (BLUE SKY, BLACK SKY); Brazilian actors Joaquim de Almeida (THE XANGO OF BAKER STREET/A SAMBA FOR SHERLOCK) and Lázaro Ramos (THE MAN WHO COPIED) and director Anna Muylaert (DURVAL RECORDS); Chilean directors Joaquin Eyzaguirre (THREE NIGHTS ON A SATURDAY), Boris Quercia (SEX WITH LOVE) and actress Manuela Martelli (B-HAPPY); Colombian director Luis Alberto Restrepo (THE FIRST NIGHT); Costa Rican director Mauricio de Mendiola (MARASMUS); Ecuadorian actress Marilú Vaca (HEADS OR TAILS); Guatemalan director Elias Jimenez (THE HOUSE ACROSS THE STREET); Mexican director Francisco Athié (VERA); Nicaraguan director Pierre Pierson (METAL AND GLASS/short); Peruvian director Alberto Durant (THE CON GAME), Uruguayan director Gerardo Stawsky (DESPITE TREBLINKA); and Venezuelan director Luis Armando Roche (YOTAMA FLIES AWAY).

The OAS, located at 17th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W., will host two special Festival events in its Washington, DC office:

• September 22, 11:30 a.m. press conference to introduce Latin American filmmakers to the Washington, DC press corps. The press conference will be at OAS headquarters (17th and Constituion Ave. N.W.-Washington, D.C. - Guerrero Room, 2nd Floor). Interpreters will be provided and a light lunch will follow.

• September 23, 7:00 p.m. opening reception for invited guests and credentialed press in the Hall of the Americas of the OAS building, (17th and Constitution Ave. N.W., Washington,D.C.)

Program Information: 202.785.4600, Ticket Info: 202.833.AFIT

For more information about the 2004 LATIN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL, go to www.AFI.com/Silver or www.oas.org/filmfestival

Tickets for the LATIN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL’s AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center screenings will be available online at www.AFI.com/Silver or at the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center box office during normal box office hours (4:30 weekdays, noon weekends). Recorded programming information is available at 301.495.6700; general theater information at 301.495.6720.

Tickets for the AFI National Film Theater at the Kennedy Center are available at the Kennedy Center Hall of States box office one half hour before the first day’s screening. Program information, 202.785.4600; general information, 202.833.AFIT.