PELHAM, NY — From Tuesday, June 13th through Thursday, June 15th, The Picture House Regional Film Center (TPH) will host the third annual edition of the Ecuadorian Film Festival in New York (EFFNY) at its iconic 1921 theater in Pelham. One of seven theaters acting as venues for the festival, TPH will screen three of the juried, Sin muertos no hay carnaval (Such Is Life in the Tropics) on June 13th, Alba on June 14th, and Translúcido (Translucid) on June 15th. All films will be shown at 7:30 p.m.
The competitive film festival — the first of its kind in the world dedicated to showcasing and celebrating the burgeoning cinema of Ecuador — will take place June 9th through 17th throughout the New York metropolitan region. In addition to The Picture House, films will be screened at Village East Cinemas in Manhattan, Queens Museum, Syndicated Bar Theater Kitchen in Brooklyn, the Plaza Art Center in Patchogue, Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington, and Ramapo Art and Cultural Center in Spring Valley.
This year’s festival will present ten feature-length and eight short films in their U.S. or New York premieres. The festival will open with the North American premiere of the documentary feature My Aunt Toty / Mi tía Toty by León Felipe Troya, a portrait of Toty Rodríguez, the Ecuadorian actress who made her career in France in the 1960s and who became an icon of the women’s rights movement in the country.
Other festival highlights include the Rotterdam Film Festival favorite Alba, the promising debut feature by Ana Cristina Barragán, and the Ecuadorian candidate to the 88th Academy Awards, Such Is Life in the Tropics / Sin muertos no hay carnaval by Sebastián Cordero.
A jury of renowned film professionals including film programmer and documentary filmmaker María Campaña, Tribeca Film Festival’s Lorren Hammonds, and film academic Marguerita Tortora, founder and director of the Latino and Iberian Film Festival at Yale, will present the Award for Best Film while the public attending the screenings will vote for the Audience Award.
Tickets to the EEFNY screenings at The Picture House are $12/general admission, $10/students, seniors, and members and are available at www.thepicturehouse.org or at the box office, 175 Wolfs Lane, Pelham, NY 10803.
