Mobile Cinema: Nuestro Durham (Outdoor Event at The Scrap Exchange)

[Rain Date: In case of rain or inclement weather on April 15, this event will be rescheduled for Saturday, April 22. Check this website for updates.]

Celebrate and honor Durham’s Latinx community with an evening of dance, film, and conversation in Mobile Cinema: Nuestro Durham, a free outdoor screening from Duke Cinematic Arts and Duke Arts at The Scrap Exchange. This vibrant exploration will begin with a live performance by a local Danza Azteca (Aztec Dance) group, before screening seven short documentaries – all with a local Durham or North Carolina focus. After the screening, filmmakers and subjects will convene for a public panel discussion. Films are in Spanish with English subtitles and/or in English.

Event Schedule:

7:30pm: Performance by local Danza Azteca (Aztec Dance) group.
8:00pm: Screening of short documentary films
9:20pm: Joint Q&A with filmmakers and collaborators

Food and drinks will be available for purchase on-site.

Important Event Information: Lawn chairs or thick picnic blankets are encouraged (most seating areas are concrete or gravel, so plan for comfort). Pets are not allowed. Food and drinks will be available for purchase on site. The seating area will open at least 30 minutes prior to the start of the event. Free parking is available in the lot adjacent to the Scrap Exchange.

This event is free and open to the public.   (Leer el anuncio en español.)
 

Film Program:

Mictlán de mi Corazón
(Iximché Media, 2023/in-progress, 9.5 minutes, Durham, NC)
The story of activist and cultural organizer, Yolanda Zavala, is a portal that takes us deep into a community in North Carolina that’s organizing through Danza Azteca (traditional Mexican Aztec dance) to honor their ancestors and preserve their culture and traditions for future generations in the face of harsh immigration enforcement and the pressure of assimilation and economic injustice. Roderico Yool-Díaz in attendance.

The Virgin Appears in La Maldita Vecindad
(Elva E. Bishop, Altha J. Cravey, and Javier Garcia Méndez, 2008, 33 min, Durham, NC)
The Virgin Appears in La Maldita Vecindad is a documentary about the Virgen of Guadalupe and the celebrations that occur on December 11th and 12th in her honor. These celebrations occur outside an apartment complex knows as “la Maldita Vecindad” in Durham, North Carolina which is composed of immigrants mainly from Mexico and Central America. This documentary also explores Latin American immigrants in the United States. Altha J. Cravey and Elva E. Bishop in attendance.

El Centro Hispano
(directed/produced by Wil Weldon, with production and editorial assistance from Alex Junho Kim and Miguel Rojas-Sotelo; 2010, 6 min, Durham, NC)
Produced in 2010, this video shows and describes the various components of El Centro Hispano in Durham, NC and the ways in which it has grown from its humble beginnings in 1990. Celebrating its 20th anniversary, the organization enjoys its accomplishments. Wil Weldon in attendance.

This is real: a Latino family fights for its right to access healthcare
(Raúl Ávila, Victoria Bouloubasis & Andrea Patiño Contreras; 2020, 3.5 min, USA)
The entire Murillo family contracted COVID-19, but Saul got the worst of it. When his son, Keny, took his father to the emergency room, a nurse called to discharge him an hour later. But Keny and Saul knew he was too sick to go home. They demanded that the hospital take care of him. In this video, the Honduran father and son describe how they advocated for themselves — and how other Latinos can, too. Keny Murillo in attendance. 

Heroes of the Pandemic: “When the world is burning, I feel I must help put out the fire”
(Andrea Patiño Contreras and Victoria Bouloubasis, 2021, 15.5 min, Durham, NC)
At the peak of the pandemic, nearly half of positive COVID-19 cases in North Carolina were among Latinos, despite just being 9.6% of the population. In the absence of adequate state or federal support, a group of Latina doctors and activists is taking the community’s health into their own hands.

Put on Your Spurs / Ponte las Espuelas
(Rodrigo Dorfman/Center for the Nuevo South, 2022, 7 min, Durham, NC)
A lyrical documentary short based on a love letter written by an immigrant bull rider to his wife back home in Mexico. Rodrigo Dorfman in attendance.

Making Waves: The Cocoa Cinnamon Story
(Victoria Bouloubasis and Pilar Timpane, 2022, 7.5min, Durham, NC)
In 2011, Areli and Leon moved to Durham and started a coffee business out of a bike cart. Now they have three thriving shops and a roastery, leading to winning a national recognition as 2022 Microroaster of the Year. Areli’s roots in Mexico and Leon’s love of history and spices culminate as Cocoa Cinnamon, a gem at the heart of our Durham community. 

TRT: 83 min.
 

About Mobile Cinema:

This event is the first of four community-focused outdoor film screenings planned for 2023, all free to the public, and held in various Durham locations. Mobile Cinema screenings began during the pandemic, when Screen/Society, the Duke Cinematic Arts screening series, moved outdoors with support from Duke Arts. As we reemerge and reengage with the social side of the cinematic experience, MOBILE CINEMA is designed to serve as an affirmation of the community-building function of art and a demonstration of how images and stories are vitally interwoven with everyday life and history.

[PDF flyer][8.5"x11" bilingual poster (PDF)][Facebook Event]