(Festival de Cine Mexicano)
y
ar
world cinema
document
y
contemporar
Crossing (Cruzando)
The Duke of the Bachata (El duque de la bachata)
USA
Manuel – a man-child whose pregnant wife is as much a mother to him
USA / DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Filmmaker Adam Taub (La Quinceañera) follows Joan Soriano, a bachata
Directors: Mando Alvarado, as she soon will be to their baby – decides to cross the Mexican border Director: Adam Taub musician, as he strives to make a success of his career and improve the
Michael Ray Escamilla
into Texas to be present at his father’s execution in this picaresque curio Producer: Adam Taub, lives of the extended family he leaves behind in the rural Dominican
Producer: Liza Rodriguez
from Mexico.
Marsha Taub-Edwards
Republic.
Screenwriters: Mando Alvarado,
Making a living cleaning peep-show booths at a strip club, Manuel
Cinematographer: Adam Taub
Michael Ray Escamilla
takes refuge in memories of his youth, when his father was still around.
Editor: Adam Taub Bachata is a Dominican musical genre that emerged in the wake of the
MS: A to Z
Cinematographer: Bo Bilstrup
Misery and disappointment are constantly palpable in the goofy, per-
repressive Trujillo dictatorship. Recorded for the first time in 1961, its
MS: A to Z
2009 / color / 53 min.
il Editor: Dan Marks
manent frown and self-pitying inflections of our likable but lightweight
sound was demonized as vulgar and only began to receive recognition
il
Cast: Mando Alvarado,
protagonist – whose ill-conceived trek thus begins at a run despite his
after many of its practicioners made the switch to electric instruments in
E F
Michael Escamilla, David Barrera,
the 1990s. Bachata is guitar-based: a typical band features three guitars
E F
h
Gerardo Rodriguez, Maria Helan
wife’s protestations, as if he were being chased north by the news of his aDaM TauB
h
T
father. Accompanied by his video cam–equipped friend Diego, Manuel
A Colorado native, Adam Taub
and two percussion instruments. Soriano, for his part, has enriched the
T
2009 / color / 95 min.
takes several quirky turns through the unforgiving desert borderland
graduated from University of Colorado standard repertoire by drawing on traditions from Africa, Europe, Latin
– Boulder with a degree in cultural
between his Mexican home and the States; as he also explores the
America, and the Caribbean, adding elements of merengue, salsa, and
anthropology. While at CU, Taub made
unusual features of the human landscape, we realize his true journey is
the percussive Afro-Dominican genres known as salve and palo. But
two short documentaries, Don Angelo
ManDo aLVaraDo one of self-discovery about his own impending fatherhood.
even at age 35, this boyish charmer must still take a backseat to the
and La Quinceañera, in addition to
Originally from Pharr, Texas, Mando spending a year in the Dominican
legends of the tradition, whether in concert or in recording sessions for
Alvarado is a graduate of the North
This offbeat yet intimate seriocomedy strikes a tone that is, to say the
Republic, where the idea for The Duke
the established likes of Joe Veras and Zacarias Ferreira. Journeying to
Carolina School of the Arts. With a least, novel in the growing body of work around the topic of illegal of Bachata began to take shape. He
New York and Chicago in pursuit of stardom, Soriano is aware that the
background in theatre, Alvarado has
immigration. Crossing was cowritten and codirected by native Texans
currently resides in Boulder.
price of his ambition will be the pain of separation from his family. But
written many touring plays as well as a
and childhood friends Mando Alvarado and Michael Ray Escamilla,
he also knows it may be worth paying, as a music producer promises to
play that is used the curriculum in New
who also play Diego and Manuel, respectively. They have said that
York City schools. As an actor, he has
record a CD of his work.
appeared in episodes of The Sopranos
working as actors in New York for 10 years helped them appreciate the
and Law and Order: SVU and Criminal
distinctive culture along the Texas border – the sharp portrayal of which
Taub became interested in bachata during a year-abroad program in
Intent.
is enhanced by the fact that many of the cast’s day players appear as
college. When he decided to make a documentary about it, he searched
themselves.
for a musician who, like bachata itself, had roots in the backwoods
Sponsored by:
and barrios of the Dominican Republic. Though he had a long list of
MiChaEL raY ESCaMiLLa
candidates to begin with, upon meeting Soriano, Taub knew he’d found
Based in New York City, Michael Ray
his subject.
Escamilla has acted in Broadway and
off-Broadway productions as well as
in recurring roles on several television
Preceded by:
series. Along with Mando Alvarado,
Escamilla is the co–creative director for
The 8th Samurai
Those Guys and That Girl Films, based in
Director: Justin Ambrosino
Texas.
USA / 2009 / 29 min.
It cannot be eight – it has to be seven samurai!
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