VIVA CINEMA, Jacksonville’s own celebration of Latino Filmmaking, will take place October 15-18th with screenings, workshops, and parties.

The opening film is:

CRUDE – Ecuador/USA
Directed by Joe Berlinger, 104 min, Documentary
Thursday, October 15, 8pm @ The 5 Points Theatre
Q&A with Joe Berlinger (director)

Three years in the making, this cinema-verite feature from acclaimed filmmaker Joe Berlinger (Brother’s Keeper, Paradise Lost, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster) is the epic story of one of the largest and most controversial legal cases on the planet. An inside look at the infamous $27 billion “Amazon Chernobyl” case, Crude is a real-life high stakes legal drama set against a backdrop of the environmental movement, global politics, celebrity activism, human rights advocacy , the media, multinational corporate power, and rapidly-disappearing indigenous cultures. Presenting a complex situation from multiple viewpoints, the film subverts the conventions of advocacy filmmaking as it examines a complicated situation from all angles while bringing an important story of environmental peril and human suffering into focus.

This film will be followed by a special ceremony to honor filmmaker Joe Berlinger with the Jacksonville Film Events 2009 Shining Light Award for brilliance in bringing a humanitarian issue to the public’s attention through the art of filmmaking.
There is also a party at Cuba Libre on Friday night and workshops scheduled during the day on Saturday at MOCA. Then, Saturday night, join the crowd of festivalgoers for a glass of sangria at The Pearl!

For more information, visit the website.