A Program of Shorts and a conversation with Filmmaker Hugo
*Featuring the Hudson Valley Premiere of SEED, which filmed in Ulster County in 2009

Independent Filmmaker Hugo Perez will share his experiences producing documentaries in Cuba, making the transition from non-fiction to fiction filmmaking, and his experiences as a Latino filmmaker who’s been described as a ‘Latino Almodovar.’ 

Four of his critically acclaimed short films will be screened and followed with a conversation and Q&A with the audience, He will discuss how he straddles the line between fiction film and non-fiction film as well as Latino and non-Latino subject matter.

THE OLD MAN AND HEMINGWAY
Produced, written, and directed by Hugo Perez
2004, 8 minutes

A portrait of 100 year old Gregorio Fuentes, Ernest Hemingway’s boat captain in Cuba, as he talks about his twenty year friendship with Hemingway. The film was named an Outstanding Short Film for 2004/2005 by the Museum of Modern Art.

HUGO PEREZ – FILMMAKER BIO

Hugo Perez is a filmmaker and writer whose work often focuses on his Cuban heritage. He is the recipient of the 2009 Estela Award for Documentary Filmmaking presented by NALIP – the National Association of Latino Independent Producers. In 2008, he was the recipient of the prestigious Rockefeller Foundation/Tribeca Film Institute Emerging Artist Fellowship in support of his feature screenplay IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. Perez’ short film BETTY LA FLACA was the winner of the 2006 HBO/NYILFF Short Film Award and was broadcast on the HBO networks through Fall 2008. Perez previous short film JULIETA Y RAMON was broadcast as part of the 2005 Showtime Latino Filmmaker Showcase, which spotlights the work of emerging Latino directors, and was recently re-broadcast on the PBS series REEL NEW YORK. Perez has studied writing with Gabriel Garcia Marquez, collaborated with Pulitzer prize-winning novelist William Kennedy, and served as a guest artist for acclaimed theater director and artist Robert Wilson. His writing has been featured in the New York Times Magazine and Salon, and his films have screened at venues such as MoMA and the Smithsonian.

Perez is Producer and Director of NEITHER MEMORY NOR MAGIC a feature documentary that explores the life, work, and legacy of the Hungarian poet Miklos Radnoti who died in 1944 during the Holocaust. The film is narrated by the Academy-Award Nominated® Patricia Clarkson and edited by Academy Award Nominated® filmmakers Francisco Bello and Tim Sternberg. Perez is also the Producer and Director of the ITVS funded documentary SUMMER SUN WINTER MOON that follows quirky composer and conductor Rob Kapilow and Blackfeet poet Darrell Kipp through the process of creating a symphony about the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1803 from the point of view of American Indians today. SUMMER SUN WINTER MOON had its national PBS broadcast in November 2009. Currently, Perez is currently developing his feature film directorial debut, IMMACULATE CONCEPTION a Spanish language dark comedy that re-imagines the Virgin Mary story in Miami’s Little Havana.