Mercedes Sosa Biopic Opens TAFFNY Film Festival

Four-day festival, June 2 – 5, led by CCNY’s Division of Interdisciplinary Studies, shares culture, language and stories of the Americas through film

Rodrigo H. Vila’s documentary “Mercedes Sosa: The Voice of Latin America” (“Mercedes Sosa: La voz de Latinoamérica”), will be the opening film for the inaugural The Americas Film Festival of New York (TAFFNY). The event, a cultural project of The City College of New York’s Division of Interdisciplinary Studies at the Center for Worker Education (CWE), runs June 2 – 5. 

TAFFNY will present feature-length films, documentaries and shorts and animations that represent the rich diversity of cultures, languages and stories of the Americas. Besides the films, the festival will offer workshops, debates and lectures. It will also host The Americas Short Film Competition, exclusively dedicated to the promotion and exhibition of short-length audiovisual works by emerging filmmakers.

The four-day festival will showcase nine feature films. Full-length and short films from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Guadeloupe, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Trinidad & Tobago and the United States will be exhibited.

Screenings will take place at: the Center for Worker Education, 25 Broadway; the Shirley Fiterman Art Center at Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC), 81 Barclay St., Instituto Cervantes New York, 211 E. 49th St., and the New York branch of the National Museum of the American Indian, One Bowling Green.

“One of our main goals is to create a dynamic exchange between the academic community and New Yorkers through the arts,” said Dr. Juan Carlos Mercado, dean of the Division of Interdisciplinary Studies. “Thanks to the collaboration of the participating cultural institutions, TAFFNY will become the event students and the general population of Lower Manhattan will look at to start a summer full of cultural discoveries.”

Mr. Vila’s film reveals Ms. Sosa’s early life and her rise to worldwide stardom, exploring the impact she had on the musical, social and political leaders and people of Latin America and beyond. Fabian Matus, Mercedes Sosa's son, will attend the screening, 6:30 p.m. Monday, June 2, at Instituto Cervantes New York, to be followed by a cocktail reception.

TAFFNY is a cultural project of the Division of Interdisciplinary Studies, in collaboration with the National Museum of the American Indian, Instituto Cervantes New York, BMCC, the City College Division of Humanities and the Arts, and the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership. TAFFNY is made possible with the generous support of its partners and sponsors Telemundo and “Queens Latino.”

Detailed listings for TAFFNY’s program are available at www.taffny.com. For screeners, interviews with directors and photos in high resolution please contact Elena Romero, 212-925-6625, x258, eromero@ccny.cuny.edu  or Diana Vargas, 917-658-7735,  press@dianavargas.com .

Program Schedule  

Monday, June 2

6:30 pm Opening Ceremony/Screening/Reception: “Mercedes Sosa: The Voice of Latin America” (“Mercedes Sosa: La voz de Latinoamérica”), Instituto Cervantes

Tuesday, June 3

10:30 a.m. “Le Bonheur D’Elza /Elza,” CWE  

12:30 p.m. “Songs of Redemption,” CWE  

2:30 p.m. “Sonó Sonó Tite Curet,” CWE

6 p.m. Panel Discussion: “The Cinemas of the Afro-Americas,” Shirley Fiterman Art Center, BMCC

7:30 p.m. “La Playa DC,” BMCC  

Wednesday, June 4

10:30 a.m. “Truck,” CWE

12:30 p.m. “Thesis on a Homicide,” CWE

2:30 p.m. Short films, CWE

6:30 p.m. “Guadalupe No Passport Needed,” CWE

Thursday, June 5

10:30 a.m. Short films, CWE

6 p.m. The Americas Short Films Competition Awards Ceremony and New York premiere of “Winter in the Blood,” National Museum of the American Indian.

About The City College of New York
Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided low-cost, high-quality education for New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. More than 16,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in: the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; the Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture; the School of Education; the Grove School of Engineering; the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education, and the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership. U.S. News, Princeton Review and Forbes all rank City College among the best colleges and universities in the United States.

About the Division of Interdisciplinary Studies at the Center for Worker Education
The City College Division of Interdisciplinary Studies at the Center for Worker Education (CWE) provides an excellent education in Lower Manhattan to working adults from New York City and surrounding regions. CWE offers an interdisciplinary bachelor of arts degree, a bachelor of science degree in early childhood education, a master of arts degree in the Study of the Americas and several certificate programs. Its courses and educational programs are specifically designed for students whose access to higher education may have been limited or interrupted due to financial limitations, work responsibilities or family obligations.