“Cambia por que se te va, se te va la vida.” Her first short film "Fuego" is currently screening at American Black Film Festival World Showcase with smoldering Cuban music straight out of Montréal, Québec... Yes, you read that right. Lonely, isolated, and disconnected from his roots, Manolo is an Afro-Cuban man who has reached a low point in his life. But he'll find new hope after a chance meeting in the community center where he works. A short film set in Montreal, Canada, in English, French, and Spanish.
Fuego was born out of Black Wealth Media's Black Ink Mentorship program which was designed to give voice to Afro-descended creators. Christine Rodriguez, who wrote, directed, and produced the short film, explains, “I wanted to bring attention to the crossroads between blackness and latinidad, something sorely missing on our screens.” Fuego stars the versatile Danny Blanco-Hall (Dark Phoenix, Riddick), a veteran of TV and film, and features local Cuban ex-pats, with the theme song written by Cuban-Canadian virtuoso Giovany Arteaga Valdes. The film shines a light on immigration and rebirth. Christine is currently working on a feature version of Fuego as part of the WarnerMedia Access x Canadian Academy Writers Program.
Keep a sharp eye on Christine Rodriguez. It's clear this young artist understands how to visually tell a story.
Rodriguez is of mixed race, of French-Canadian and Afro-Trinidadian heritage, and is inspired by her multicultural environment. She is the award-winning playwright of Dreaming in Autism and was recently selected for the Rogers-BSO Development Fund to work on Nina’s 80s, her TV concept about Montreal’s Black community, and rollerskating in the 1980s. Fuego is her first film.
The gifted storyteller and producer is already working on her second short, "A Dios", a narrative fiction about the last days of a forgotten Montreal jazz diva that stars jazz singer and actor Ranee Lee. Christine has a Certificate of Professional Screenwriting from UCLA and an MBA from McGill University. She’s also working on obtaining a Major in Hispanic Studies from the Université de Montréal.
#Music #Cuban #ABFF #Montréal #ABFF
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