La Cocina
Based on the 1957 stage play The Kitchen by Arnold Wesker, filmmaker Alonso Ruizpalacios brings LA COCINA to the big screen. This exquisite drama follows the staff at a restaurant in Times Square and the coordinated (and uncoordinated) chaos behind the scenes. It is a beautiful character study that will punch you in the gut.
The black and white cinematography from Juan Pablo Ramirez screams stage play in all the best ways. Mixed with intimate closeups and follow shots, it is an intricately choreographed dance boasting framing that will linger long after the credits roll.
The opening monologue sets the scene for the city’s chaotic reality. The dialogue is funny, authentic, and brutal. Performances are top-notch across the board. The delicious ensemble cast nails every beat.
Motell Foster plays dessert chef, Nonzo. His philosophical kindness makes him something like the Gandolf of the kitchen. Foster is magnificent. Oded Fehr plays The Grill’s owner with an overbearing swagger that slowly spoils as the plot thickens. Fehr delivers the irony of the American Dream.
Laura Gómez lives in her role as a waitress on her first day. Gómez’s intensity is transformative. Anna Diaz gives Estela the wide-eyed, tentative nature that represents the inner voice of the entire staff.
Rooney Mara plays Julia with a fiery sass and life-weathered exhaustion. Raúl Briones delivers humor and depth as Pedro. His cheeky personality is a facade for unresolved trauma. Mara and Briones have a fierce chemistry akin to Beatrice and Benedick in Shakespeare‘s Much Ado About Nothing. But it is Raúl Briones who owns the heart of this brilliant film. This performance is nothing short of award-worthy.
LA COCINA confronts racism and socioeconomic privilege head-on. The script challenges cultural boundaries. The characters are a melting pot that perfectly captures the true essence of the city and, quite frankly, America. Any real New Yorker will tell you that at any given moment, LA COCINA is happening in real time. It’s an unforgettable emotional rollercoaster
A Film by Alonso Ruizpalacios
Starring Rooney Mara and Raúl Briones
October 25 / Angelika, NY
November 1 / Laemmle Monica, LA
followed by a national theatrical release
SYNOPSIS: It’s the lunch rush at The Grill in Manhattan, and money has gone missing from the till. All the undocumented cooks are being investigated, and Pedro (Briones) is the prime suspect. He’s a dreamer and a troublemaker, and in love with Julia (Mara), an American waitress who cannot commit to a relationship. Rashid, The Grill´s owner, has promised to help Pedro with his papers so he can “become legal”. But a shocking revelation about Julia compels Pedro to spiral into an act that will stop the production line of one of the city’s busiest kitchens once and for all.
La Cocina is a tragic and comic tribute to the invisible people who keep our restaurants running and our stomachs full, whilst chasing a perhaps unreachable version of the American dream.
WRITER & DIRECTOR: Alonso Ruizpalacios, based on the play “The Kitchen”, by Arnold Wesker
PRODUCERS: Ramiro Ruiz, Gerardo Gatica, Alonso Ruizpalacios, Lauren Mann, Ivan Orlic
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Juan Pablo Ramírez
CAST: Raúl Briones, Rooney Mara, Anna Diaz, Motell Foster, Oded Fehr, Eduardo Olmos
U.S. Distributor: Willa
Mexico, U.S. / English and Spanish / 139min
I NEED YOUR LOVE
The film features members of CAMP SAY community. Juliana, now graduating from the program uses singing to boost her confidence. Malcolm’s stutter was triggered after witnessing a violent act. His passion is baseball. This is his first year at camp. Sarah and Emily are best friends at CAMP SAY. They explain how important it is to be able to connect with someone who can genuinely relate and to finally realize that they’re not alone. Travis is one of the counselors at camp. He also uses music to feel uninhibited by his stutter. Will features his college entrance essay. The gorgeous, astute, poetic writing in that essay undoubtedly wowed any essay reader. My Beautiful Stutter brings together footage from home, camp, and beyond to immerse you into a world where communication is a double-edged sword.
One of the greatest days at camp happens when an older camper is paired with a younger one and they answer questions like, “What’s your favorite subject in school?” or “Something I’ve always wanted to try but haven’t had a chance to yet…” Watching these kids grow is profound. The amount of sadness they carry with them every single day will stay with you. As a former teacher and current parent of a child on the spectrum, it was disheartening to hear that these kids all recall their teachers not understanding how their stutter affects them emotionally. The stories of constantly being cut off by others must be ceaselessly frustrating. Frankly, they all feel exhausted.
Suleiman’s whimsical, yet thoughtful film IT MUST BE HEAVEN will be the Opening Night presentation Friday, October 25 at the DGA New York Theater. The film features the beloved filmmaker observing the goings-on around him in Nazareth, Paris, and France. Through his eyes, we see moments, and fragments of life and human interaction that can surprise and delight one moment, and be very familiar the next.
A 40th Anniversary screening of King Hu’s RAINING IN THE MOUNTAIN will be presented on Friday, November 1 at AMC Lincoln Square as the CineCine Film Festival’s Centerpiece Screening. Voted as one of the “100 Greatest Chinese Films” by the Hong Kong Film Awards. Beautifully photographed, the film is set in a Buddhist monastery during the Ming Dynasty in turmoil over who will be appointed as the next abbot. And tensions only get worse when someone steals a venerated sutra from the Buddhist scriptures.
Maoz’s LEBANON won numerous awards during it’s release ten years ago, including the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. The claustrophobic and bitingly tense drama places us with an Israeli army unit in a tank during a mission to Lebanon. With a POV relegated to what can be seen from the perspective of the cramped soldiers in the tank, the atrocities of war mix with a veritable stew of humanity inside the tank itself. The film will serve as the Closing Night selection when it screens Sunday, November 3 at French Institute Alliance Française.
Two North American premieres head the main slate selection of films. Takahisa Zeze’s THE CHRYSANTHEMUM AND THE GUILLOTINE follows two female sumo wrestlers trying to escape the abuses of their past, while two other women – members of an anarchist group start to watch their wrestling matches.
Lu Zhang’s FUKUOKA looks at two old schoolmates reconnecting, a mysterious woman who enters the picture and the love triangle that ensues. Zhang is set to attend the screening on Friday, November 1 at AMC Lincoln Square.
Other highlights include Lisa Zi Xiang’s award-winning A DOG BARKING AT THE MOON, about a Chinese family saga, commencing with the wife’s discovery of her husband’s homosexuality. The film was a winner at Berlin, aGLIFF, and Inside Out, among other film festivals.
Rounding out the Special Screenings, Halloween will also feature a 30th Anniversary presentation of John Woo’s influential classic THE KILLER. Chow Yun-Fat’s disillusioned assassin accepts one last hit in hopes of using his earnings to restore vision to a singer he accidentally blinded, only to be double-crossed by his boss.
Naoko Yamada’s A SILENT VOICE will be screened as a special Tribute to Kyoto Animation. In the film, a young man loses friends after he bullies a deaf girl so much she moves away. As an adult, he decides he must make amends. The CineCina Film Festival will donate all proceeds from the screening to assist in the reconstruction of Kyoto Animation, which recently suffered a disastrous fire to their production offices in Japan.
Serif Gören and Yilmaz Güney’s YOL (1982) will also be the subject of a special screening which will mark the U.S. premiere of a newly-restored digital print of the film. YOL is about five Turkish prisoner who face oppression from everyone during a one-week leave, won the Palme d’Or at Cannes as well as an award from the National Board of Review.
In NYC, the homeless are a huge problem. If we’re being honest, most of us ignore them or wave them off and go about our lives. Paying $5 for a cup of coffee but turning our noses up at giving spare change to a person in need. It’s a cultural problem. It’s an epidemic that we have to face rather than pretend doesn’t exist. In Paul Bettany‘s brilliant directorial debut, SHELTER, we are brought into the lives of two homeless people who could not seem more different on the surface. 
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