"In celebration of the International Decade for Afrodescendants, join ImageNation Cinema Foundation, the AfroLatin@ Project and the Afrolatino Festival of NY at Raw Space Culture Gallery, for a limited run of 'Pelo Malo' ('Bad Hair'), May 8th - May 10th, an exploration of race, homophobia and identity in Latin America. A Venezuelan boy's (Samuel Lange Zambrano) desire to straighten his curly hair leads to friction between himself and his overwhelmed single mother (Samantha Castillo)." Click here for ticket info. “Here in Venezuela, you could seem white, black or indigenous, but since we are all so mixed, we are prone to have ‘bad hair,’” says Venezuelan filmmaker...
- 5/1/2015
- by Vanessa Martinez
- ShadowAndAct
★★★☆☆ Winner of multiple awards on the 2013 festival circuit including the Golden Seashell in San Sebastian, Mariana Rondón's Pelo Malo (2013) distorts your typical coming-of-ager about gender confusion into a well-observed Polaroid snapshot of contemporary anxieties in Venezuela, as well as the country's deep social fissures economic and political disquiet. Set within the overpopulated housing projects of Caracas, Pelo Malo observes a young boy, Junior (Samuel Lange Zambrano), whose constant obsession with straightening his curly black hair elicits a torrent of irrepressible panic from his mother (Samantha Castillo) - who fears he might be gay.
- 1/28/2015
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
The Venezuelan drama "Bad Hair" (Pelo Malo), which has won several awards along its international film festival tour, will premiere stateside starting November 19 at NYC's Film Forum theater. The film, written and directed by Mariana Rondon (read our interview), made its festival debut the Toronto International Film Festival last September (read our review). Before it makes its way to NYC, "Bad Hair" will first screen at the Black Harvest Film Festival in Chicago on Sunday, August 17th and Monday, August 18th. The provocative and touching film follows Junior, played convincingly by Samuel Lange, a young boy who dances to his own tune. Junior is obsessed...
- 7/31/2014
- by Vanessa Martinez
- ShadowAndAct
So how do you deal with folks who just want to punch every homosexual man, woman, and other "gender-disabled" creature on the nose? Hold up a mirror so they can view their own obtuseness -- or teach their victims to be victors?
Gossipist Perez Hilton, whom many rifle-toting, Bible-thumping parents would not want near their tots, wrote a book not that long ago for ankle-biters entitled The Boy with Pink Hair. Vibrantly illustrated by Jen Hill, the tome is all about a young lad with coral locks born to loving parents who tell him to embrace his difference. He does exactly that and becomes a highly successful prepubescent cook whose recipes for pink goodies are gobbled up the globe over. Moral of the tale: "His difference did make a difference. Only his difference was not his pink hair -- not really. His difference was that he followed his own special...
Gossipist Perez Hilton, whom many rifle-toting, Bible-thumping parents would not want near their tots, wrote a book not that long ago for ankle-biters entitled The Boy with Pink Hair. Vibrantly illustrated by Jen Hill, the tome is all about a young lad with coral locks born to loving parents who tell him to embrace his difference. He does exactly that and becomes a highly successful prepubescent cook whose recipes for pink goodies are gobbled up the globe over. Moral of the tale: "His difference did make a difference. Only his difference was not his pink hair -- not really. His difference was that he followed his own special...
- 4/27/2014
- by Brandon Judell
- www.culturecatch.com
Pelo Malo
Written and Directed by Mariana Rondon
Venezuela/Peru/Argentina/Germany, 2013
The very worst thing about homophobia is that, because gender and sexuality are as much social constructs as biology, it can target anyone without the slightest shred of reason or truth. If you tolerate it aimed at someone else, the next target could be you. Such is the problem that Junior (Samuel Lange) faces in the Venezuelan import Pelo Malo.
At the beginning of the film, without any real cause or motivation, he is obsessed with straighting the unruly hair he inherited from his African-descended father. He would like to be a singer, and all of the singers on TV have straight hair. Their are bigger problems all around him in the massive slums of Caracas, but all he can think about is “pelo malo” (literally, “bad hair”). The homophobia comes from his family, especially mother Marta (Samantha Castillo...
Written and Directed by Mariana Rondon
Venezuela/Peru/Argentina/Germany, 2013
The very worst thing about homophobia is that, because gender and sexuality are as much social constructs as biology, it can target anyone without the slightest shred of reason or truth. If you tolerate it aimed at someone else, the next target could be you. Such is the problem that Junior (Samuel Lange) faces in the Venezuelan import Pelo Malo.
At the beginning of the film, without any real cause or motivation, he is obsessed with straighting the unruly hair he inherited from his African-descended father. He would like to be a singer, and all of the singers on TV have straight hair. Their are bigger problems all around him in the massive slums of Caracas, but all he can think about is “pelo malo” (literally, “bad hair”). The homophobia comes from his family, especially mother Marta (Samantha Castillo...
- 4/17/2014
- by Mark Young
- SoundOnSight
By the looks of it, the Tribeca Film Festival might finally be growing out of their awkward teenage phase and moving into a new era where the nab more than just Sundance and SXSW festival rejects. Artistic Director Frederic Boyer has managed to nab some noteworthy American indie projects such as Lou Howe’s Gabriel (see pic above), Keith Miller’s Five Star, Adam Rapp’s Loitering with Intent, and Tristan Patterson’s Electric Slide.
On the docu front, we’ve got the latest from the likes of notable documentarians Marshall Curry and Jessica Yu. Think Ewan McGregor’s Long Way Round meets child solider movie for Curry’s awesomely titled Point and Shoot — where the Libyan rebel army take hold of Curry’s subject. Yu moves from water shortage in Last Call at the Oasis (read our review) to the biggest pandemic of all; Misconception looks at the consequences...
On the docu front, we’ve got the latest from the likes of notable documentarians Marshall Curry and Jessica Yu. Think Ewan McGregor’s Long Way Round meets child solider movie for Curry’s awesomely titled Point and Shoot — where the Libyan rebel army take hold of Curry’s subject. Yu moves from water shortage in Last Call at the Oasis (read our review) to the biggest pandemic of all; Misconception looks at the consequences...
- 3/4/2014
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
The 13th Tribeca Film Festival has announced half its slate for next month’s New York celebration, which runs April 16-27. Culled from more than 6,000 submissions, Tribeca 2014 includes 55 world premieres, 37 first-time filmmakers, and 22 female directors. “Variously inspired by individual interests and experience and driven by an intense sensibility of style, the array of new filmmaking voices in this year’s competition is especially impressive and I think memorable,” said Frederic Boyer, Tribeca’s artistic director. “The range of American subcultures and international genres represented here are both eclectic and wide reaching.”
On April 17, Gabriel will open the World Narrative competition,...
On April 17, Gabriel will open the World Narrative competition,...
- 3/4/2014
- by Jeff Labrecque
- EW - Inside Movies
‘Bad Hair’ day at San Sebastian Film Festival: Venezuelan film wins Golden Shell (photo: Samuel Lange Zambrano in ‘Bad Hair’) Mariana Rondón’s Bad Hair / Pelo malo won the Golden Shell at the 2013 San Sebastian Film Festival, which wrapped up today, September 28, in northern Spain’s coastal city also known as Donostia (in Basque). The Venezuelan / Peruvian / German co-production tells the story of a nine-year-old boy (Samuel Lange Zambrano) with "bad hair," who decides to have his unruly curls molded pop-singer style (Justin Bieber’s?) for his yearbook picture. His mother (Samantha Castillo), however, is against it — the boy’s new hairdo is just not manly enough. Family conflicts ensue. The San Sebastian Film Festival’s Special Jury Prize went to newcomer Fernando Franco’s Wounded / La herida, a Spanish drama about a 30-year-old ambulance driver whose life falls to pieces as a consequence of her undiagnosed Borderline Personality Disorder.
- 9/28/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
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