The 20th annual Chicago Latino Film Festival, presented by the International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago, continues Friday through Thursday, April 23 through 29. Film and video screenings will be at the Biograph; Chicago State Univ., 9501 S. King Dr.; Dominican Univ., 7900 W. Division, River Forest; Facets Cinema-theque; Morton College, 3801 S. Central, Cicero; North Park Univ., 3225 W. Foster; Pulaski Park, 1419 W. Blackhawk; Richard J. Daley College, 7500 S. Pulaski; 3 Penny; and Univ. of Illinois at Chicago Lecture Center B2, 803 S. Morgan. Additional screenings in Aurora can be found at www.latinoculturalcenter.org/Filmfest/Locations/Partners.htm. Unless otherwise noted, all films are in Spanish with subtitles. Tickets are $10; $9 for students, senior citizens, and disabled persons; $8 for members of ILCC and the Illinois Arts Alliance. Festival passes, good for ten screenings, not including special events, are $80, $70 for ILCC members. For more information call 312-409-1757. Films marked with an asterisk (*) are highly recommended.
Finally, the Sea
A pushcart vendor pursues the American dream on the streets of Oakland, California, in this 2003 documentary by Pepe Urquijo. 62 min. Admission is free. (Pulaski Park, 6:00)
Breaking Up
A brother and sister living in Paris watch their father’s video testament detailing his participation in key historical events in a number of South American countries. Juan Martin Cueva directed this 2002 drama. 54 min. (Facets Cinematheque, 7:00)
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The lure of the sea unites a crew of colorful eccentrics in this gently comedic road movie (2003) from Uruguay. A stranger turns up in the sleepy burg of Minas and immediately finds himself an object of curiosity to a surly grave digger, a slightly dim street sweeper, and an aged lottery ticket vendor; they in turn prove so entertaining to him that he impulsively tags along when they embark on a trip with a trucker and the town drunk. As the six men wend their way through the spectacular countryside, they swap tales, test each other, and bond. Amid the exquisite landscapes and simple pleasures a certain melancholy pervades, best summed up by the truck driver, who observes, “All the driver sees is what’s ahead, but the real journey is what’s behind you.” Guillermo Casanova directed, ably. 80 min. (Andrea Gronvall) (Biograph, 7:00)
Love in Concrete
