CORTOCIRCUITO VIRTUAL CINEMA PRESENTS SHORT FILMS FROM SPAIN, LATIN AMERICA, THE COLOMBIAN PACIFIC AND LATINOS FROM THE US UNDER THE THEME OF EMPATHY = IN THE PLACE OF THE OTHER

●Virtual screening room in the Tri-State Area (NY, NJ, and CT), Texas, and Cali,Colombia.
●Registration was free of charge through ​www.cortocircuito.us
●Award-winning short films from festivals around the world

New York and Cali, October 2020- . The 17th edition of Corto Circuito New York and the 6th edition of Cali opened their virtual screening room Corto Circuito: Home Edition November 10-13, 2020, presenting award-winning short films from international festivals and continuing its mission of promoting emerging talent from the regions it represents. This year’s festival was presented by the programmer Diana Vargas, NYU’s King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center and Havana Film Festival in New York ; Agencia IPB, Quijote Comunicación Estratégica, Fundación MAVI, Museo La Tertulia, newspaper El País , and Marca Valle Invencible - Gobernación del Valle in Cali; and Hispanet Biz Solutions in Texas. And the support of Puro Corazón por Cali, Alcaldía de Cali.

For the first time, CortoCircuito Latino ShortFest and CortoCircuito Cali took place at the same time in digital form, streaming simultaneously in four US states (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Texas) and in the department Valle del Cauca in Colombia. In an environment of healthy social distancing, viewers were able to access films unavailable on other platforms and conversations that sought to build bridges of understanding and inclusion by registering for free at www.cortocircuito.us.

“ During these years the two festivals have brought films of interest to the NY and Colombian publics in their fundamental mission of creating spaces that connect stories and their viewers through a dialogue that promotes coexistence, recognition of the other, and inclusion. In this version, termed Corto Circuito: Home Edition , the goal is to present moving stories of high quality emblematic of the motto Empathy: in the place of the other,” said Diana Vargas, director and co-founder of CortoCircuito.

Corto Circuito wanted to pay tribute to Cuban director Diana Montero , who recently passed away, with the special presentation of her award-winning documentary Abecé.

The festival opened on Tuesday, November 10th at 7pm with the program And the Winner is… , a collection of short films from Latin America, Spain, and Latinos in the U.S., produced in the last two years and awarded at some of the most important film festivals in the world, such as Cannes, Berlin, Guadalajara, Cartagena, and San Sebastian. Among these are Carne (Brazil), La capa azul (Puerto Rico), Suc de Síndria (Spain), El tamaño de las cosas (Colombia), Infinite While it Lasts (Brazil), Victoria (Honduras).

The panel The Joys and Difficulties of Making a Short Film will took place on Wednesday, November 11th, at 4pm , in which experts from different areas of film production discussed the secrets and tricks filmmakers face while making a short film. The panelists included Alex Lora (Spain), who has won at festivals like Guadalajara and Berlin, and a Goya and Guadí award, and Alberto Ferreras (Spain/Venezuela), who has won at festivals including OutFest, Seattle and is the creator of the series Habla on HBO.

On Wednesday, November 11th, 7pm the festival continued with The Peculiar Side of Life, short films guided by ideas of migration and belonging, and the knowledge that each of us has a story worth seeing. Films shown talked about recognition of the other, their values and their differences. In Colombia and Valle del Cauca, a new cultural and social phenomenon is being experienced- that of massive immigration. People are arriving from different social and geographical spaces who go on to occupy a place in Valle del Cauca society, altering the everyday relationships of its cities and inhabitants. These are some of the films shown: Insilios (Argentina), Ayataki (Peru), Estas allí? (España), La Cachera (Colombia), Ruido (Chile), Amnestia (Brasil)

Thursday, November 12th, 10am and 4pm, the festival continued with We, the others… family, diversity, coexistence, a program for the whole family focused on finding concepts of empathy and inclusion through stories. Empathy comes from the Greek words that translate to “inside him” and “what he feels”, although its real meaning is the primordial ability to put oneself in the place of the other. This program put on with the participation of entities such Instituto Nacional Penitenciario y Carcelario (INPEC), the Prison Complex of Jamundí and the Agustín Nieto Caballero public school, among others. The program includes the films: Todo lo que necesito es un balón (España), 11:40 (Argentina), Zapatos y la mágica aventura de su creación (Colombia), Calvario (España), La Cachera (Colombia).

At 6pm on Thursday, November 12th the short films in FeminiStories sought to address the different views of women from a perspective of gender as a cross-sectional element that pushes for both men and women to take action to achieve universal equality. The idea of this program was to open an inclusive dialogue regarding themes that are of interest to not only women- these films aren’t simply made by women or about women, but rather deal with achieving inclusion from a feminine perspective. Some of the movies that were seen are: La abuela del año (Mexico), Baile (Brazil), La vendedora de Lirios (Argentina), Yun (Chile), Track (España). FeminiStories was realized with the participation of the Political School for the Journey of Peace and Gender Equity, and concluded with Is there a female cinema? Stories of women or for women? , a panel discussion at 8pm with renowned Argentine filmmaker and actress Ana Katz, Mexican author Carmen Boullosa, and Mexican director and winner of prizes at Havana and Guadalajara Olivia Luengas .

On Friday, November 13th at 6:30 pm (NY) and 7:30 pm (Cali) the festival closed with two programs: Latinos in the House and Pacífico en Movimiento , aimed at giving visibility to the works of local directors from New York and the Colombian Pacific (Valle del Cauca, Cauca, Nariño, Chocó); and, as is tradition, the programs closed with a discussion with the filmmakers. These were the movies selected: Algo en que creer (U.S.), WTNY (Spain-U.S), Today You, Tomorrow Me (U.S.), Panadero (Republica Dominicana-U.S.), Quedé a la orilla (PanAmerican), Ombligada (Tumaco), Poetisas del Perdón (Buenaventura), Miguel el pegajoso (Cali), Totalmente yo (Cali).

Where and how can I watch these programs? The films were available free of charge for viewers who registered at www.cortocircuito.us , and who were located in the US states NY, NJ, CT, and TX, and the Valle del Cauca department in Colombia. All foreign-language films were subtitled in English and Spanish. Each function had a viewing window of two hours and were restricted according to geographical location. In addition to the streaming of films, an event narrative was woven through the festival’s social media accounts (Facebook and Instagram) in the days leading up to and during with details of the programming, interviews, news, curious facts about the films and their directors, and forums that invite viewers to give their opinion.