PAUL Spring 2018

PAULThe
Review

THE PHILADELPHIA ART & URBAN LITERARY REVIEW

ISSUE NO. 6 SPRING 2018

FEATURED Linda Berry ON THE REEL WITH:
ARTISTS: Bernard Collins Marángeli Mejia Rabell
Chabane Djouder Director of
Jeanine Leclaire The Philadelphia
Leah Reynolds Latino Film Festival
Kathleen Spicer
Bryant Eugene Vazquez Cover Art: Jeanine Leclaire

 



Sheena Garcia Sheena Garcia, Multidisciplinary Artist,
Founder, Curator, Design Editor
The PAUL REVIEW

Welcome to the Philadelphia Art & Urban Literary Review!
PAUL Review was created out of the commitment to support artists,
demonstrating powerful messages throughout their works. PAUL
promotes the works of both established and up-and-coming, visual
artists and writers. The Philadelphia Art & Urban Literary Review
brings creative voices to diverse new audiences.

Artists Featured in This Issue:

Linda Berry Bernard Collins Chabane Djouder Marángeli Mejía Rabell

Jeanine Leclaire Leah Reynolds Kathleen Spicer Bryant Eugene
Vazquez

yrreB adniL

Kaleidoscope City Hall, Philadelphia
Watercolor: 16" X 20"

Penn's Landing at 2nd & Market, Philadelphia
Watercolor Painting: 20" X 16"

Chinatown, Philadelphia
Watercolor Painting: 20" X 16"

Cheese Steak Wars, Philadelphia
Watercolor Painting: 17" X 11"

Peace and Beauty at Christ Church, Philadelphia
Watercolor Painting: 17" X 11"

Life on the Bay, Avalon, New Jersey
Watercolor Painting: 10" X 8"

snilloC

dranreB

Her Thoughts
Watercolor,18" x 24"

The Vocalist
Watercolor,18" x 25"

We Out
Watercolor, 22" x 30"

BLM.
Acrylic, 48" x 36"

Kamau
Watercolor, 9" x 12"

She Stares Back
Acrylic, 9" x 12"

reduojD Face Vibration
Acrylic on canvas, 18" x 24"
enabahC

Histoire d'un Visage
Acrylic on canvas, 14" x 18"

Vibration of the City
Acrylic on canvas, 18"x 24"

Philadelphia Street
Acrylic on canvas, 18"x 24"

Fog in the City
Acrylic on canvas, 18" x 24"

Reflet de l'âme
Acrylic on canvas, 18" x 24"

erialceL eninaeJ We do What We Must
Acrylic on canvas, 40" x 30"

Jewel
Acrylic on wood, 24" x 32"

She Knows You're Watching
Acrylic on panel, 8" x 8"

Bath Time with Raccoon
Acrylic on wood, 23" x 23"

One Toothbrush Soon to be Three
Acrylic on wood, 24" x 32"

The Creator
Acrylic on canvas, 40" x 30"

Thinking of My Studio
Acrylic on wood, 14" x 24"

At Home Psychology
Ink and Acrylic on paper, 18" x 24"

PAUL O N
THE
REEL

with

Marángeli Mejía Rabell

Director of the Philadelphia Latino Film Festival

Sheena: Tell PAUL readers a bit about yourself and your role in the Philadelphia Latino Film Festival.

Marangeli: The Philadelphia Latino Film Festival started in March 2012. The festival founders were
Beatriz Vieira and David Acosta. I joined their effort as a collaborator in 2012 as a result of my work
through Afrotaino Productions. On April 13, 2012, there was a kick-off event at the International House
which featured a screening of a Brazilian film called Found Memories. The idea of the kick-off event was
to announce to the community that the Philadelphia Latino Film Festival was going to begin a 2013 edition
of the festival. Afrotaino Productions came in to do an after-party for the kick-off. We offered musical
entertainment for the event and continued this collaboration with PHLAFF during the 2013 festival.

Getting on board with the festival in 2013 was very difficult for me because I had lost my mother in 2012,
and at that time, I was still grieving. David and Beatriz were very sensitive and understanding of my loss.
In early 2014, Beatriz and I had a conversation. Beatriz expressed that she and David wanted to work with
me again and invited me to join the board of PHLAFF. The festival was board-lead and operated in every
sense. The board was the staff, volunteers, everything! So, I decided to join that year. My focus that year
was more on the open show elements, the receptions, the special events, working with the catering team
at the Kimmel Center - those sort of things. I helped promote the work on social media and connected with
press.

2014 was a year of transition for the festival, and at the end of 2014, David and Beatriz announced their
departures from PHLAFF. David transitioned out of the festival and Beatriz relocated to the West Coast. At
the time of these announcements, Beatriz and I then began a conversation about what happens with
PHLAFF.

a new chapter... Laiza Santos
Communications Director
Marangeli: Part of the potential idea was to merge PHLAFF and become a
track of another festival for two reasons: we had content and we had
operation dollars to execute a 2015 festival, but I was pretty adamant
about not doing that. My reasoning for that is because representation is
critical. It was also critical for us to be able to do our own thing. My two
cents to the board was... let's take some time to outline all of the tasks and
then we assess capacity and bandwidth. I thought then as I think now that,
it is vital to take some time to think things through when critical decisions
are in front of us. So, we decided to take some time to outline the tasks
and submit them at our next meeting.

Things didn't quite turn out as planned because two to three weeks later,
I got a call from Beatriz and she said, "Hey, we have an idea. What do you
think about taking over the festival as festival director?" And...
I immediately said, "yes!" All this talk about taking time to think and assess
went straight out the window. [Laughs] I just knew that this was what I was
called to do. This will be my fourth year directing the festival with a great
creative team, and I feel very blessed and honored.

Sheena: What changes have you made since becoming festival director?

Marangeli: Our name changed a little bit. it was FLAFF with an "F" based
on the word "Filadelfia" which is Philadelphia in Spanish. The festival
emerged as the Filadelfia Latin American Film Festival. To me, rebranding
the festival was critical. I was stepping into some big shoes and I wanted
to honor and celebrate all that Beatriz and David have done and at the
same time, make it a new chapter. Once I found out that the PHL mark
was a public access mark, we went with "PHLAFF".

Didier Garcia
Art Director, PHLAFF

Five board members transitioned, and four new members were recruited. The person who has always
been the art designer for the festival is Didier Garcia; he is phenomenal! He remained as art consultant
when the board was going through its process of transition and continued to offer excellent design ideas.
He understood that we wanted popping, modern Latino designs in this setting and I told him, "Excellent
bro! Do you!" And... he has blown my mind each and every time with his designs. He is now the Art
Director of PHLAFF and is responsible for our entire look. He then joined our creative team and the
ideas of the festival is managed through two additional directors. Laiza Santos as our Communications
Director and Didier Garcia as our Art Director.

Sheena: What is the process for filmmakers who are interested in submitting to PHLAFF and what kind of
content are you considering?

Marangeli: We are a submissions and selections festival. For the creative team, this is all volunteer work.
We all have loaded lives, and we want to be mindful of how we're building capacity. So, for the past three
years, we have been doing submissions for shorts. We have done what we call, The Short Film Pop-up
Contest. Melissa B. Skolnick was curating the contest for two years. For our third year, we currently have
Frances Valazquez who once served as a production assistant in Puerto Rico. Frances has relocated to
Philadelphia and has replaced Melissa in curating that component. We have grown! When we began, the
average film submissions for the contest was about 25; this year, we got 77.

Submissions started January 31, 2018. Early bird deadline was February 22 and closed April 2. We
notified filmmakers of our selections by April 30. We use FilmFreeway as our platform for submissions.
We have a number of categories: short film, narrative, film created by youth, documentary, animation,
experimental and full feature films. We want to showcase the efforts and the talents of Latin and Latino
American filmmakers who are presenting films that serve as a tool for social change. We look for films
that can present cross-cultural understanding and dialogue.

We also have something called the LOLA Award which honors cinematic achievement in filmmaking and
brings together all of the elements that make for a great film. Those elements include direction, acting,
cinematography, scriptwriting and storytelling. 2018 LOLA films must fall under the category of
documentary and must be 20 minutes or less. Films that receive the LOLA award are also screened at the
festival. Many people have submitted features for consideration of this award, and with much debate and
discussion last year, we ended up giving the award to a wonderful feature film called, Olancho from
Honduras. It was just too good of a story, and we just had to give the LOLA to that film. So... we stay open
to the process and what filmmakers bring to the table.

Sheena: Why do you think that there is a need for a festival such as this in Philadelphia?

Marangeli: Because it's critical to present the work. There is plenty of content. There is wonderful work
being created by Latin American/Latino directors. There's a need to have a venue to showcase that
work and for Latino directors to have that representation at a city-level. It was important to provide a
space where Latino directors could connect and build with one another. It's also a way to elevate the
market of what Philadelphia has to offer in terms of programming. The audiences are here, the
interests are here, the content is here, and we needed to create that space to showcase the work. For
me, part of this is also about building community. It is also important for our young people to be
involved and see themselves in that space so that those who are interested in making film can say,
'I can do this!'

Sheena: What opportunities are there for youth in this festival?

Marangeli: We have collaborated with Sannii Crespina-Flores who is a wonderful artist, poet, teaching
artist and filmmaker. She is the founder of the Do Remember Me Project which enables local youth to
collaborate on creative projects with youth across the world. We collaborated with Sannii to showcase
youth who are interested in filmmaking on some level, and we helped them develop their skills.

We began to engage youth in what we call a Youth Salon which is now in its third year. We accepted
submissions from youth ages: 14 to 22. The goal of this program is to provide opportunities for youth to
share resources and build community. The deadline for youth submissions was May 15, 2018. Two
young people were also selected to be our youth ambassadors; they support us by documenting
events, by running tech and by learning how to review film. Youth also get the opportunity to join the
PHLAFF Creative Team in the final review process. Last year, we worked with Edison High School and
Taller Puertorriqueño. This year, Daniel De Jesus from Taller Puertoriqueno is the Youth Salon
Coordinator.

Sheena: How is the Latino Film Festival different from any other film festival in Philadelphia?

Marangeli: The Philadelphia Latino Film Festival offers a space where filmmakers, actors and producers
can meet with other artists, engage with audiences and present and discuss innovative work. This
Festival celebrates the richness and diversity of Latin American/Latino cultures and experiences. It
fosters cross-cultural understanding and dialogue. The festival showcases and nurtures established and
emerging, creative Latin American and Latino filmmakers. It's about offering a different experience or a
different look at a moment in history that the filmmaker is choosing to capture. It's about looking at
stories through a Latino lens.

2018 PHILADELPHIA LATINO FILM
FESTIVAL, GUIDE AT-A-GLANCE:

PHLAFF.org

JUNE 1-3, 2018
OPENING NIGHT: FRIDAY, JUNE 1
6:30PM—8:30PM FREE!
La Perla After Maria FRIDAY, JUNE 1, 6:30PM— 8:30PM
Ser Grande, Puerto Rico, 2018, LOLA AWARD Winner
Conexiones, Los Cenzontles in Cuba, LOLA AWARD honorable mention
What Happens to a Dream Deferred, LOLA AWARD honorable mention

SATURDAY, JUNE 2

Ser Grande, LOLA AWARD WINNER: SATURDAY, JUNE 2, 3:00PM: FREE
Conexiones, Los Cenzontles In Cuba: FREE
Filiberto SATURDAY, JUNE 2, 6:00PM: GET TICKETS at PHLAFF.org
Nuyorican Básquet, SATURDAY, JUNE 2, 8:00PM: GET TICKETS at PHLAFF.org

SUNDAY, JUNE 3: GET TICKETS FOR THESE SCREENINGS AT: PHLAFF.org

When the Spirits Dance Mambo, SUNDAY, JUNE 3, 1:00PM
El Amparo, SUNDAY, JUNE 3, 3:00PM
Cocote, SUNDAY, JUNE 3, 5:00PM
What Happens to a Dream Deferred, SUNDAY, JUNE 3, 7:00PM
Ruben Blades is Not My Name, SUNDAY, JUNE 3, 7:30PM

sdlonyeR HAEL t

The Combustibility of Hay and Farmers Lung 2010
fabric, acrylic, deer netting, 18 x 24 ft.

Brolo Farm, Schuylkill Center Imagery derived from
aspergillus fumigatus, a fungus that grows in baled hay

and may cause spontaneous combustion.
(The farm chiefly produced hay.) This particular fungus may
also cause a respiratory disease known as Farmers Lung.LR11.

Honey 2013
fabric, chicken wire, deer netting, zip ties, rubber, plaster, 18 x 17 x 5 ft.

Fleisher Art Memorial
commission for Founders Day

Trap 2015
fabric, rabbit skin glue, plastic straws, wooden dowels,

binder clips, zip ties, 40 x 40 x 40 in.

Orgone Ball 2015
fabric, rabbit skin glue, acrylic, plastic straws,

metal, light, 60 x 60 x 60 in.

Bee Life (Hive) 2011
fabric, rabbit skin, glue, deer netting, 5 x 5 x 5 ft.

detail from larger installation

Under the Bridge 2016
fabric, acrylic, 6 x40 ft.
Art in the Open on the Schuylkill Banks:
work in progress during three-day installation

Untitled Panel l 2017
Fabric coated with rabbit skin glue, acrylic, 7x12ft

Untitled Panel II 2017
Fabric coated with rabbit skin glue, acrylic,

7x12ft

recipS Rise
Relief Painting, wood
neelhtaK

Come Together
Relief Painting, wood

Pilgrimage
Relief Painting, wood

Stella
Relief Painting, wood

Garden Party
Wall Sculpture, wood

Heirloom Varieties
Wall Sculpture, wood

ZEUQZAV Self Portrait
Insomniac
eneguE tnayrB Charcoal, pastel on paper, 17" x 14"

Portrait Study of Nana Minda
Oil, China marker, pastel in cardboard, 12" x 16"

Mujeres Garcia
Oil on canvas, 28" x 22"