OLAFEST 2008 Speakers & Guests
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Jacobo Morales
Jacobo Morales has been called 'the most influential Puerto Rican
filmmaker'. His career started in radio and theater when he was only 14 years old.
He started in television at its inception in 1954 working as an actor, writer and
director. Mr. Morales also starred in the popular political satire and comedy group Los
Rayos Gamma. The group still performs at theaters occasionally, and in the 80s and 90s
had several shows on TV. In theatre, he has starred in over 30 plays, and he has written
and directed five. His Hollywood career includes working in Woody Allen's Bananas
and Up the Sandbox with Barbra Streisand. His first directing work was the film Dios
los cría in 1980. The film was an important event in the Puerto Rican film history
and received several awards. It was also selected as one of the 25 most significant films
of Latin America. He followed it with Nicolás y los demás in which he also had
the starring role. For this performance he received the Best Actor Award at the Cartagena
de Indias Festival in Colombia, 1986. His third film, Lo que le Pasó a Santiago,
was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1990. In 1994, he
followed it with Linda Sara which starred singer Chayanne and former Miss Universe
Dayanara Torres. The film received the Award for Best Artistic Contribution at the Latin
American Film Festival from Trieste, Italy; the People's Choice Award at the Mar del Plata
Festival in Argentina; and the Best Script and Best Music Award at the Latin American Film
Festival in New York. In 2004, Morales directed the sequel to his first film, Dios
los cría II, which was exhibited through WIPR-TV in Puerto Rico. In 2007, Angel,
his latest full-length feature film was released to much critical praise and becoming a
leading nominee to represent Puerto Rico at the Academy Awards. |
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Mark Anielski
Mark Anielski is the author of The Economics of Happiness:
Building Genuine Wealth, which was published in June 2007. Mark is a well-being
economist, entrepreneur, professor and president of his family-owned corporation, Anielski
Management Inc.
which specializes in measuring quality of life and sustainable well-being. In the 2004, Adbusters
magazine recognized Mark as a “rising star” amongst international progressive
economists. He has pioneered natural capital accounting in Canada and alternative measures
of economic progress, including the US Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) and the Alberta
GPI Sustainable Well-being measurement system. For 14 years he served as senior economic
policy advisor to the Alberta Government. He is currently advising the Chinese government
on greening GDP accounting. Mark teaches corporate social responsibility at the School of
Business, University of Alberta and has taught ecological economics at the Bainbridge
Graduate Institute near Seattle. Mark is the past-President of the Canadian Society for
Ecological Economics and a Senior Fellow with the Oakland-based economic think-tank
Redefining Progress. |
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Diana Vargas
Diana Vargas works in publicity and promotion of cultural
events in New York City, especializing in film and music festivals. She is part of
the Cinema Tropical team, an organization dedicated to distributing and promoting Latino
films in the United States and is also a member of the Latino Artists Round Table (LART).
She is also an integral member of the selection and programming committees for the Havana
Film Festival in New York and Corto Circuito/Short Cuts Latin American Short Film
Festival. Diana Vargas has also been recognized for her production work in the
documentary series "Rostros y Rastros". As a journalist she writes for a
number of publications including Hoy of New York City and La Opinion of
Los Angeles. |
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Miguel Silveira
Miguel Silveira is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago and
an award winning independent filmmaker. His films have been screened at the 2007 Cannes
Film Festival and the Chicago International Film Festival. Among his works are Carnaval
Blues, and a new film currently in production called Cannikins Wake.
Mr. Silveira also teaches Film Production at Columbia College Chicago. |
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Christina Soto
Christina Soto is a filmmaker/playwright/photographer born and
raised in New York City. Her photography has been in numerous juried and group shows
throughout the region and in New Mexico, and has won awards from the Perkins Center for
the Arts in Moorestown, N J., and the Old Church Cultural Center Gallery, Demarest,
N.J. In 2007, Christina wrote and produced Muñeca, a feature
film/play. She has worked on more than 15 independent Latino films since 1993 with very
talented directors. She was previously educated in Behavioral Science at John Jay College
of Criminal Justice, New York and the Film Video Arts, in New York City. Prior to making
films, Christina worked as an Official Interpreter for the Bronx District Attorney's
Office, Grand Jury, the basis for several of her screenplays. |
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Chaz Mena
Chaz Mena earned an MFA in Drama from Carnegie-Mellon University and
a BA in English Literature from Barry University in South Florida. His one-man play, “Charla”
A Chat with José Martí, having received a grant from the Florida Humanities
Council to develop, will tour the country this summer and fall. He is a hard-working actor
having played in many theatres of national repute, off-Broadway, dozens of films and T.V.
shows, and commercials. His most recent role was “Tevya” at the Arizona Jewish
Theatre Company’s 25-year anniversary production in Phoenix. Along with his beloved
wife, Ileana Margarita Musa de Mena, he lives in Harlem, NYC. |
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Frances Lozada
Frances Lozada is an actor, writer, and dancer, whose works include
film, television, and stage productions. Although primarily an actor, Ms. Lozada has
excelled in other fields such as dancing mambo as the opening act to renowned jazz
musician Wynton Marsalis and writing and directing a short film titled "Just Say
No". She comes to OLAFEST after completion of her most recent film project Surrender
where she played a female gang member trying to change her ways. Ms. Lozada, a
graduate of the New York's HB Studio, won Best Actress in at the 2007 Fanclubx Film
Festival for her role in Raul Sebazco's short film "Promised Moon" in which she
starred with her husband Franf Gonzalez. Frances co-stars with Chaz Mena in the film Muñeca,
in which she plays the life-sized doll which comes to life. Frances was born and
raised in Queens, NY. |
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Eddy Rimada
Eddy Rimada is a stage and film actor whose credits include
the 'Conan O'Brien Show'. Eddy studied his craft at The Lee Strasberg Theatre
Institute in New York City. He recently joined an actor collective group at INTAR Theatre
who just finished a run of Suzan-Lori Parks "365 days 365 plays" which ended
with a sold out performance at The Public Theater. He performed as Joey in Requiem For
a Life, which was one of the finalists at the Strawberry One-Act Festival. |
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Bruno
Irizarry
Bruno Irizarry is an actor, screenwriter and director. The comedy Shut Up and Do it! screened
at the ‘Chicago Latino Film Festival” and “ New York International Film Festival”
marks his debut as a film director. The film will also be seen at the ‘Providence Latin
American Film Festival’ this September. Bruno also worked as a director for the ‘Kismet
Theatre’ company located in New Jersey where he directed the play Chewing Mother’s
Bones. As an actor, his career has been very extensive and varied. He has performed in
regional and Off-Broadway theatres. Some of his credits are: Anna In The Tropics (Portland
Center Stage); Love, Valour and Compassion! (Seattle Repertory Theatre); Who
Killed Hector Lavoe? (47 Street Theatre, NY / Centro de Bellas Artes, P.R.); West
Side Story (Opera Illinois); La Gringa and Blood Wedding (Spanish
Repertory Theatre, NY). On television Bruno has appeared in New York Undercover and
Guiding Light. In the movies, he had the pleasure to meet and be directed by Robert
De Niro in the film The Good Shepherd.The
search for new experiences takes him to create 222 Productions LLC, with offices in
New Jersey and Puerto Rico. The goals of the production company are to produce and develop
feature films with independent financing. His next project, the romantic comedy 200
Letters will begin production in December 2007.
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Monica
Steuer
Monica Steuer has had extensive experience in theatre, film and television, both in the
USA and Mexico. Some of her TV and film credits include: NBC’s Law & Order:SVU,
Total Recall, Empire, Destiny Has No Favorites (which has been seen in festivals
around the world including the acclaimed Cannes Film Festival in France and Chile’s
Viña Del Mar International Film Festival where Monica received the “Golden Paoa
Award” for Best Actress), Therapy, Shut Up and Do It!, One Night Stand and the
upcoming The Ministers where Monica had the pleasure of working with Harvey Keitel.Her theatre credits include: Queen Isabella in
Edward II; Rosaura in Life Is A Dream; Yerma in Yerma; Angustias in
The House of Bernarda Alba; Evangelina Chi in Te Juro Juana Que Tengo Ganas; Hortensia
in Los Soles Truncos; Cristina 2 in Un Busto Al Cuerpo (HOLA Award);; La
Madre de las Solteronas in Doña Rosita- La Soltera (ACE Award); Angustias in
The Last Of Bernarda (HOLA Award), and most recently Bertha Gardes in Gardel-The
Musical (ACE Award) and La Marquesa de ‘Ah’ in Zanahorias/Carrots for which
Monica won the Premios Sin Límite Award and an HOLA Award. Monica is also a trilingual
voice-over artist with over 15 years of experience.
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Trina
Harmon
Trina Harmon was born in Logan, Kansas. She is now a singer/songwriter and producer, who
lives in LA. She also does private life coaching for guiding others. Trina graduated from
Full Sail Real World Education in 1991. Her first publishing deal was out of Nashville.
Splitting her time between Los Angeles, New York, and Nashville, Trina has had numerous
songs recorded by major recording artists in pop, country, R&B, & CCM formats as
well as TV & film soundtracks. Other artists who have written with and recorded Trina’s
songs include Nick Lachey, Jesse McCartney, Amy Grant, Vince Gill, Hillary Duff, Tina
Arena, She Daisy, Jennifer Paige, Edens Crush, Plus One, Jessica Andrews, Natalie Grant,
as well as several others worldwide. |
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Dr. Rosalie Bertell
Dr. Rosalie Bertell was born in 1929 and received her doctorate in
Biometrics in 1966 at the Catholic University of America. She has been working in the
field of environmental health since 1970. Bertell has been involved in the founding of
several organisations: the Ministry of Concern for Public Health in Buffalo, New York, in
1978; the International Institute of Concern for Public Health (IICPH), in Toronto,
Canada, 1984; the International Commission of Health Professionals, Geneva, 1985; and
International Associates for Community Health in Orkney, Scotland, 1986. She served as
President for the IICPH until retiring in 1996, and she has been a member of a religious
congregation, the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart, since 1958, prior to which she was also
for six years a member of a contemplative Carmelite monastery. Bertell is also
editor-in-chief of International Perspectives in Public Health, and author of No
Immediate Danger: Prognosis for a Radioactive Earth (Women's Press, London, 1985).
Dr. Bertell apears in the film Poison Dust as an expert on the subject of depleted uranium
and also makes an appearance in Miguel Silveira's film Cannikins Wake which is still in
production.. |
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Bill Darnell
Bill Darnell is a father, educator, environmental/social activist,
carpenter, and artist. He was an organizer and crewmember of the first Greenpeace
voyage and also is the person who came up with the name “Greenpeace”. Bill has
lived his adult life in British Columbia where he has been active in environmental
organizing, labour unions and civic politics. As an educator, Bill has taught in
alternate high schools, trades schools and has facilitated popular education with social
justice groups. Recently retired from teaching, he and his wife live in the interior
of British Columbia where Bill brings an artist’s perception to the local impacts of
global changes and watches with hope and optimism the lives of their children’s
generation. |
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