Manolo Cardona and Cristian Mercado in Undertow/Contracorriente. Photo: Héctor Álvarez
After weeks of slacking, I’ve finally added content to the Film Calendar located under “Arts & Entertainment” on the menu bar up above. It will feature listings of films and film events of interest to the LGBTQ community and just cool movie stuff we think you might like. It’s the 273rd calendar we’ve added to the site, and it’s gonna take a lot of work to keep it updated, but we feel like the more information you can find on here, the better!
AND, coming soon, the “Hotel/Places to Stay” listing will be active, followed by Music and Restaurant calendars. Oh, and Gay Pride once we get closer to the date.
In other film news, the highly acclaimed and Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival award winning film, Undertow, (Contracorriente) returns to Seattle on Friday for a commercial run at The Varsity Theater in the U-District for at least a week. This is the third appearance in Seattle for the film, after two screenings at SIFF last summer, and the SLGFF screening in October. If you missed it either of those times, now is your chance to catch this award winning film, beautifully directed by Javier Fuentes-León and starring the very easy on the eyes, Manolo Cardona and Cristian Mercado. Here’s a synopsis of the story:
Miguel is a handsome, young and beloved fisherman in Cabo Blanco, a small fishing village in the Northern coast of Peru, where the community has deep-rooted religious traditions. Miguel is married to the beautiful Mariela, who is 7-months pregnant with their firstborn, but Miguel harbors a scandalous secret: He is having a love affair with another man, Santiago, a painter who is ostracized by the townsfolk for being agnostic and open about his sexuality.
When Santiago drowns accidentally in the ocean’s strong undertow, he cannot pass peacefully to the other side. He returns after his death to ask Miguel to look for his body and bury it according to the rituals of the town. Miguel must choose between sentencing Santiago to eternal torment or doing right by him and, in turn, revealing their relationship to Mariela and the entire village. Miguel is forced to deal with the consequences of his acts and to come to terms with who he really is, even if by doing so he stands the chance of losing the people he loves the most.
We very much encourage you to check this film out. It’s been tagged, “the Peruvian ‘Brokeback Mountain'” but it’s much more than that; this film deserves to be praised on its own values and intuitive charm.
We’re also hoping this film gets some love from the Academy Awards; it’s Peru’s official entry for this year’s Oscars.
It’s a must see “Check out”.
