SAFILM Picks
There are dozens of films screening at the San Antonio Film Festival this year, and ArtScene SA asked founder Adam Rocha to pick some of his favorites. Here’s the list.
Dream Carriers
Aug 3 — 12:30 p.m.
On a final ride through her neighborhood, a college-bound Chicana reflects on past generations of women through the telling of the migration of monarch butterflies.
Director: Esmeralda Hernandez / United States
Part of the Latino Showcase Shorts Block
Backstreet To The American Dream
Aug. 3 — 3:00 p.m.
Backstreet to the American Dream is a bilingual documentary that explores the modern-day American Dream. This deep dive into the birthplace of the food truck revolution – Los Angeles – juxtaposes the experiences of American entrepreneurs and Mexican immigrants in the industry, and looks at how street food fosters racial tolerance. Indeed, central to the story are two very distinct enterprises: El Pescadito – a seafood truck that’s been parking at the same swap meet in South L.A. since 1982, and Grill ‘Em All, the prestigious first-season winner of The Great Food Truck Race on The Food Network in 2010.
Director: Patricia Nazario / Los Angeles, CA
You’re Now Beyond Hope, Arizona
Aug 4 — 7:00 p.m.
When a viciously traumatized alcoholic is ordered to kill an AA sponsor whose gambling debts are worse than his own, he must learn the art of self-forgiveness or succumb to a perpetual cycle of moral decay.
Director: Nick Dugan / Los Angeles, CA
(Part of the “Brekaing Point” shorts block
The Pink Lagoon
Aug 5 — 7:00 p.m.
Two distant brothers, two different worlds. A journey of reconnection, questioning and valuing the different ways of seeing the world.
Directors: Juan Arce, Francisco Gallo / Mexico
The Assassination & Mrs. Paine
Aug 6 — 7:00 p.m.
85-year-old Ruth Paine lives quietly in a Quaker retirement home in northern California. But she will always be haunted by her connection to the JFK assassination. As a key witness and friend of Marina and Lee Harvey Oswald, Mrs. Paine has been a suspect in conspiracy research for nearly six decades.
Director: Max Good / Berkeley, CA
SAFILM takes place at the Radius Center, 106 Auditorium Circle #120, August 2-7. See the full schedule here.
Feature photo: The Pink Lagoon.