{"id":8841,"date":"2015-11-14T08:29:38","date_gmt":"2015-11-14T15:29:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.loscabosguide.com\/blog\/?p=8841"},"modified":"2015-11-14T08:29:38","modified_gmt":"2015-11-14T15:29:38","slug":"whats-happening-at-the-los-cabos-international-film-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.loscabosguide.com\/blog\/2015\/11\/whats-happening-at-the-los-cabos-international-film-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s Happening at the Los Cabos International Film Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three days in, it\u2019s hard to view the 4th annual Los Cabos International Film Festival<\/a> as anything but a rousing success. At the very least, it\u2019s the most ambitious and professionally managed event since the inaugural outing in 2012.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s international star power<\/a>\u2013from Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor to Jared Leto, Ian McShane and Cyndi Lauper\u2013compares favorably with 2012, when Edward Norton, Matt Dillon and Virginia Madsen were the biggest draws.<\/p>\n

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The 4th edition of the Los Cabos International Film Festival has offered a winning mix of red carpet glamor, internationally representative screenings, and industry meetings promoting collaboration between North America\u2019s film communities.<\/p><\/div>\n

The quality of the screenings is at an all-time high, thanks to some big budget Mexican and Latin American premieres, and the inclusion of standout films from earlier festivals in Cannes, Sundance, Venice, Berlin, Telluride and Toronto. And the addition of a new platform, Cabos TV, shines a light on some of the most creative work currently being done for networks, cable channels and online content providers like Netflix.<\/p>\n

Over $480,000 U.S. in competition prizes and film services are being awarded this year, the highest amount in the short history of the event. Much of the money will be earmarked for projects in-development. The Cabos in Progress program, for example, helps films in the production stage, while the Gabriel Figueroa Film Fund supports Mexicans filmmakers during both the early and post-production stages of their projects.<\/p>\n

Perhaps most importantly, industry participation\u2013the festival\u2019s primary purpose is to promote collaboration between the U.S., Canadian and Mexican film communities\u2013is also at an all-time high.<\/p>\n

A who\u2019s who of international production companies and festivals sent representatives to Los Cabos this year, including Crosscreek Productions (USA), Management 360 (USA), Blackbear Pictures (USA), Participant Media (USA), The Weinstein Company (USA), Sundance TV (USA), Paramount Pictures (USA), Fox Searchlight (USA), HBO (USA), Miramax (USA), A24 (USA), Seville International (Canada), Serendipity Point Films (Canada), F\u00e1brica de Cine (Mexico), Semaine de la Critique du Festival de Cannes (France), Quinzaine des R\u00e9alisateurs (France), Telluride Film Festival (USA), Tribeca Film Festival (USA), SXSW (USA), Qu\u00e9bec Cin\u00e9ma (Canada\/Quebec), and Sarajevo Film Festival (Bosnia-Herzegovina).<\/p>\n

Given this influx of high-profile visitors, it should come as no surprise that the festival is also doing a very good job in promoting the area as a world-class travel destination. Short commercials touting the charms of Cabo San Lucas<\/a> and San Jos\u00e9 del Cabo are being shown before every film screening, and VIP attendees are seeing plenty of local sights, as well as being wined and dined at some of the best area restaurants. Some lucky jury members, for instance, enjoyed breakfast in front of El Arco on a private luxury yacht, while Mexican Tourism Board members feasted on traditional specialties at Los Tres Gallos, the superb downtown restaurant named for three great stars of M\u00e9xico\u2019s Golden Age of Cinema.<\/p>\n

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Los Cabos itself has been one of the stars of the festival, as evidenced by this breakfast outing of jury members aboard a local luxury yacht.<\/p><\/div>\n

The only real criticism that can be levied is at the condition of the primary sites. The Pabell\u00f3n Cultural de la Rep\u00fablica is in bad shape following flooding from last year\u2019s monster storm, Hurricane Odile, and only limited areas of the facility have been opened to the public for galas and screenings. And Puerto Para\u00edso\u2019s wide-ranging array of repairs and renovations has been underway for the better part of two years. The Marina entrance to Cinemex theaters remains completely shut off. Visitors may only enter via inside escalators\u2013apparently repaired solely for this event\u2013and the stairs and elevator located near the ground floor bathrooms. And the elevator has already had technical issues.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s a very impressive achievement overall, and festival director Alonso Aguilar-Castillo deserves plenty of credit for the stellar line-up of stars, films and affiliated events.<\/p>\n

The five day film f\u00eate concludes on Sunday, so locals looking to catch at least one screening during this year\u2019s edition have only two days left to do so.<\/p>\n

There are still plenty of great options. Two films with Baja ties are showing today, Nov. 14, at Cinemex in Puerto Para\u00edso: Baja Taste<\/em>, a documentary about Baja Med cuisine and the Tijuana culinary scene, screens from 12:30 to 1:40 p.m. in Theater 5; and El Ganzo<\/em>, a feature film about two travelers who forge a connection while staying at Hotel El Ganzo in Puerto Los Cabos, begins at 4 p.m. in Theater 6.<\/p>\n

Some highly anticipated big budget offerings are also on today\u2019s docket. Black Mass<\/em>, which showcases Johnny Depp as legendary Boston gangster Whitey Bulger, screens at 1:30 (it precedes El Ganzo<\/em> in Theater 6, and thus offers excellent double feature potential). And Steve Jobs<\/em>, the Danny Boyle directed biopic of the visionary Apple co-founder, follows the final red carpet gala, with the curtain scheduled to go up at 9 p.m. at the Pabell\u00f3n Cultural de la Rep\u00fablica.<\/p>\n

Ewan McGregor will provide a last burst of star power, when he accepts the Protagonist Award before the closing gala and Steve Jobs<\/em> screening. The award comes with a statuette (look out Oscar!) designed by Mexican artist Gabriel Macotela, the creator of the evocative oversized cross that overlooks the Puerto Los Cabos development just outside San Jos\u00e9 del Cabo.<\/p>\n

The Scottish actor\u2013best known for his star turns in Trainspotting<\/em>, Moulin Rouge<\/em>, and Episodes I, II and III of the Star Wars Sag<\/em>a \u2013will also be present for the screening of his latest film, Last Days in the Desert<\/em>, in which he plays both Jesus and Satan. His director, M\u00e9xico\u2019s own Rodrigo Garc\u00eda, will also be on hand to introduce the film, which will be shown at 4 p.m. in Cinemex Theater 5.<\/p>\n

The big event tomorrow is a free outdoor screening of Baja Taste<\/em> at 7 p.m. in San Jos\u00e9 del Cabo\u2019<\/a>s Plaza Mijares. Given the Baja focus and the fact that this will be the final film shown at this year\u2019s festival, this promises to be a very special viewing experience in one of Los Cabos\u2019 most beautiful and historically important locations.<\/p>\n

For more information about tickets, screenings and scheduling, visit\u00a0cabosfilmfestival.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three days in, it\u2019s hard to view the 4th annual Los Cabos International Film Festival as anything but a rousing success. At the very least, it\u2019s the most ambitious and professionally managed event since the inaugural outing in 2012. This year\u2019s international star power\u2013from Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor to Jared Leto, Ian McShane and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":8843,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[21,1441,267,416,1437,1443,783,1418,42,1025,633,1421,855,1444,769,1430,112],"class_list":["post-8841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","tag-cabo-san-lucas","tag-cinemex","tag-competition","tag-development","tag-ewan-mcgregor","tag-free","tag-galas","tag-liam-neeson","tag-los-cabos","tag-los-cabos-international-film-festival","tag-movie-stars","tag-outdoor-screenings","tag-pabellon-cultural-de-la-republica","tag-prizes","tag-puerto-paraiso","tag-red-carpet","tag-san-jose-del-cabo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.loscabosguide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.loscabosguide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.loscabosguide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.loscabosguide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.loscabosguide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8841"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.loscabosguide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8841\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8848,"href":"https:\/\/www.loscabosguide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8841\/revisions\/8848"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.loscabosguide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.loscabosguide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.loscabosguide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.loscabosguide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}