Real
Women’ examplifies latin cinema
By Karl Peterson
On-line Forty-Niner
The film, “Real Women Have Curves,” which
opens in limited release at theaters Oct
18, is about the trials of a Latin American
woman, Ana, who after graduation from high
school is faced with pressure to work and
support her family instead of furthering
her education.
The Film and Electronic Arts Department,
Latin American Studies Program, and the
Odyssey Program sponsored a screening of
the film Thursday at the University Theatre
at Cal State Long Beach.
“It’s about her [Ana] trying to find poise
in society,” Jose Sanchez, CSULB Latin American
cinema professor, said.
The film, a drama with many moments of comic
relief, was well received by a crowd of
about 75 people at the University Theatre,
which included many loud outbursts of laughter
among the relatively small crowd.
“It sounded interesting, and it was credit
for my women’s studies class senior business
major Joanna Ransom said “I thought it was
great.”
Set in Los Angeles,the film was enjoyed
by men and women from various cultures alike
at the screening.
“There were a couple of cheesy parts, but
I’ve been to many of the places in the movie
and that made it seem very real to me,”
senior neuroscience major Todd Huffman said.
“I really liked it.”
The movie stars America Ferrera, Lupe Ontiveros
and Ingrid Oliu and was directed by Patricia
Cardoso. This was the first commercial
film directed by Cardoso after great success
as a student filmmaker at UCLA including
receiving an Academy Award for directing
the film, “The Water Carrier.”
Cardoso immigrated to the United States
from Colombia in 1987 and became a Fulbright
Scholar at UCLA, receiving degrees in anthropology
and archeology.
The movie has received critical acclaim
even prior to release, winning the Dramatic
Audience Award at the 2002 Sundance Film
Festival and America Ferrara and Lupe Ontiveros
won the Special Jury Prize for acting at
the festival. The screening of the film
is part of a program designed to expose
CSULB students to Latin American commercial
films each semester.
“There are not many Latin American films
so we want the students to have access to
these films, every semester.” Sanchez said.
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