Press Release: Announcing Angelica's Dreams

For Immediate Release                                                                 
July 20, 2009                                                                                  

Contact: Dee Grano
704-333-9755

THE LIGHT FACTORY SCREENS FIRST LATINO INDIE FEATURE FILM MADE IN N.C.
Museum Seeks Involvement from Hispanic Community for Aug. 13 Screening

Charlotte, NC – The Light Factory Contemporary Museum of Photography and Film will screen “Los Sueños de Angélica” (Angélica's Dreams) by Rodrigo Dorfman on Thursday, Aug. 13 at 7:00 p.m. in the Knight Gallery, for which the museum seeks involvement from the Latino community.  “Angélica's Dreams” is the first Latino feature-length independent film made in North Carolina.  The director will attend this event, which will feature refreshments, discussion and Q&A with the Director.  The screening is free and open to the public.  For more information, log onto www.lightfactory.org; to be involved it the screening, call Director of Film and Video, Wendy Fishman at 704-333-9755.

“Los Sueños de Angélica” is the moving story of an immigrant couple from Latin America, Angélica and Roberto, who are discussing whether to return to their home country or stay in the United States. With an unexpected event, everything changes and the couple is faced with the difficult realization that one of them will have to sacrifice their dream for the other. Boldly mixing documentary and fiction, telenovela and comedy, director/producer Rodrigo Dorfman shot the film entirely on location in Durham, North Carolina, plunging his main characters deep into the daily life of one of the most vibrant new Latino communities in the United States.

“Angélica's Dreams” takes you into butcher shops, construction sites, churches, music festivals, bars and real estate offices.   The life experience depicted is free of guns, drug dealers, gang members, gratuitous violence or foul language, only the turbulent, unexpectedly humorous lives of everyday people struggling to enter the mainstream of American society.

“Angélica's Dreams” is the film version of Latino Community Credit Union's three-part dramatic mini series dedicated to financial education. The primary purpose of the video is to show community members, and the general population, the process of buying a home. The film is part of LCCU's groundbreaking Home Buyer Education (HBE) program.

Born in Santiago, Chile, in 1967, Rodrigo Dorfman is a freelance photographer, writer, video artist and multimedia journalist who currently resides in Durham, NC. Rodrigo Dorfman has lived in Argentina, Paris and Amsterdam.

Dorfman spun this opportunity from LCCU into a multilayered feature-length film with an aesthetic inspired by filmmakers as varied as John Cassavetes and Pedro Almodóvar. All but four actors in the cast play themselves, and at least one-third of the dialogue is improvised.  "The experience of making ‘Angélica's Dreams’ has been exhilarating and I hope it can serve as a model to anyone interested in the possibility of creating socially relevant low budget/high quality grassroots film from within a Latino community," says director Dorfman. 

As film director, Rodrigo’s first short film, “My House is on Fire,”  was screened at some of the top Film Festival’s in the world Edinburgh International Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, The Latino International Film Festival in Los Angeles and The Sao Paolo International Short Film Festival among others.

The Light Factory is seeking involvement from the Latino community; interested parties should call Director of Film and Video, Wendy Fishman at 704-333-9755.

The Light Factory is supported by Basic Operating Grants from the Arts and Science Council of Charlotte-Mecklenburg and North Carolina Arts Council. Films-specific programming is supported by the North Carolina Film Office and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Light Factory is one of only for museums in the United States that promote the power of image through photography and film. For more than 30 years, The Light Factory has served students, artists and the public at large by offering film screenings, photography exhibits, classes and outreach programs that promote media literacy and self expression using the most powerful mediums of our time. The Light Factory is a 501c3,non-profit organization. To find out more about The Light Factory or make a donation visit www.lightfactory.org. 

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