JUVENTUD/Austin Film Society

Last night we finished the Cine De Sur series with this delightful autobiographical film made by filmmaker Jaime Humberto Hermosillo.  He returned to his hometown of Aguascalientes (anything but "Hotwaters") and cast locals for this film.  And while he was there gave a workshop for 30 days to teach the craft he loves so much to a new generation of filmmakers.  At the following Q&A with Jaime we were introduced to his cinematographer, Jorge Lopez, whose photography of indoor scenes in the home and bakery of the lead characters is beautiful.  When the young man is sent off by everyone he loves to pursue writing in Mexico City the final shot at a railroad station is emotionally transforming (meaning I cried).  This is a film with a good mother:  she embraces her son's need to leave this provincial town but asks him to live with his godmother (I hope he didn't listen).  The women roles in this film are diverse and deeply textured:  the little sister Veronica is a yenta;  Paz, who marries into the family is a left wing generous sole who is everyone's catalyst; and the mother Pilar is played elegantly and with great wisdom.  Chale gave us 5+ pages of notes and reminded us AFS arranged for subtitles in English.  The Q&A brought us the rare window into a close relationship between men who love films and have great capacity for warmth and humor.