S1: Welcome in San Diego , it's Jade Hindman. On today's show , we're celebrating Hispanic creatives , then giving you a preview of the Italian Film Festival. This is KPBS Midday Edition. Connecting our communities through conversation. For Hispanic Heritage Month , we're profiling some of the creative people who are paving new paths in San Diego's arts and culture scene. Teatro Los Hermanos is a theater group founded by a sister duo , and they do it all from playwriting to directing and even illustrating. A big part of their focus is uplifting stories from the borderlands and underrepresented communities in our region. Joining me live are two of the group's three co-founders Playwright Mabelle Reynoso and artist Zulema Reynoso. Mabelle. Zelena or Zulema ? Rather. Sorry. Welcome to the show you all.
S2: Thanks for having us. Glad to be here.
S1: So glad to have you all here in studio. So , okay , briefly , I'm wondering if you can tell us more about what Teatro Los Hermanos is and what your North Star is with the group. Mabelle , I'll start with you on that one. Yeah.
S2: Yeah. Thank you. So , Teatro Las Hermanas is a collective of theater artists , and we are in the spirit of the Chicano theatre movement. Theatre stars who had to , once upon a time , had to do everything right. They had to be the playwrights. They had to be the actors. They had to be the set designers. They had to be the costume designers , because no one was willing to put their stories on stage. So they had to do it themselves. They had to build their own table. And that is the the ethic. Our North Star is that we are building our own table , and we are inviting our community that is historically underrepresented in the arts and very specifically in theatre to. To amplify their stories and amplify the stories of our community. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. No. That's excellent.
S3: We are very invested in the relationships that we develop with the participants in our projects , and I think we felt that it was time to kind of organize a little more formally in such a way where we can , you know , really highlight our our practice of really connecting with the community because it's more than just amplifying the stories , but it's really about embodying them as creatives so that we do justice to the folks whose stories we're telling and then ultimately to to return those stories and that knowledge to the communities.
S1:
S2: But the thing that we are always guided by is this we are multidimensional , our communities are multi-dimensional. So it's not about one thing. So while a play might be billed as a story about environmental justice , it's never just about environmental justice. It's about social justice. It's about relationships. It's about seeing our community as as full of so many complications and challenges and layers and joy and celebration. Because the stories that we tell are not stories rooted in tragedy. They're rooted in resilience and hope and and a fight for representation that is always going to for us , always going to harken back to , to the the happiness and joy and resilience that we will continue pushing forward.
S1: Well , you know , we actually featured one of the plays , Shula Okeechobee , on one of our shows recently.
S2: But so Sollima and I were both both born in Tijuana , which is , you know , our neighbor. Um , we say that we grew up with one foot in this country and one foot in Mexico. And , um , the the play is about , uh , the Tijuana River estuary , but it's also the Kumeyaay creation story. And so while we say it's interesting because we talk about how death or Los Hermanas is about , uh , furthering , amplifying the stories of the borderlands , uh , the I don't recognize borders , right. And so , um , so we as not as Kumeyaay , but as , as listeners , as artists who really believe in cultural humility and also doing our due diligence and telling stories of others. Really sat and listened with the community , with the Kumeyaay community to make sure that we got the story right. But it is it is a a story that talks about environmental stewardship , that talks about the Kumeyaay creation story and talks about the relationship of the Kumeyaay to to the coastal communities.
S1: You know , you all have so many talents and you always find ways to combine them all. For example , the comic you drew from for Shilluk finds its way into the theater. I mean , how do you combine that specific medium ? You know , comics and illustrations with theater.
S2: So that's an interesting story. And it's it happened much more naturally than one realizes.
S3: Yeah , I , I think what the way that the comic medium came about is we folks were asking for more shows or more access to the plays that were being staged. And it seemed for me , as someone who's been working with comics for decades , and I'm a teacher and I'm an educator , and I've been working with comics in classrooms , I know the power of comics in terms of amplifying access to to everyone , for everyone. It's multimodal. And young folks , as all folks of all ages can access the the messages and the stories. And so it seemed like something that would make sense and to extend the stories to broader communities through this medium and especially to to appeal to younger audiences. I think that's one of the things that we we really like to center in the way in which we tell stories as we try to make it. Obviously , for all ages , mobile does a beautiful job writing scripts that appeal to all ages , but we really like to make a call to youth , to kind of take up interest in these issues and hopefully to take up action in the name of whatever the social justice story is that we're telling. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. Well , it speaks to why representation is so important. You know , the first time you saw one of your plays , Mabelle was also the first time you'd seen a piece of theater that centered a Latina.
S4:
S2: Thing that keeps me going. Theater is very hard.
S4: It's a very challenging.
S2: Uh , form of arts. Uh , it's very frustrating at times. But the mission that keeps me going is knowing that I am creating work. We are creating work that didn't exist when I was growing up. I didn't have exposure to theater when I was a kid. I thought that theater equaled Shakespeare , and I didn't have a connection to Shakespeare. I couldn't find my way into Shakespeare. And so when I finally got the opportunity to to write a play that was about me that centered. It was very it was autobiographical fiction , but it it I put a lot of myself into it. And and that was the first time that I saw Latina on stage as the , as the main character. And there was Pancho Villa in that play. And it was it was produced at the Old Globe. And I was a kid when that happened , and adults were taking it seriously. Um , that was very profound because it wasn't , um , it wasn't just like something I was doing with my friends. It was like it was. It was very , um. Yeah , it was the it was professional level theater , which is something that was so foreign to me. I grew up watching movies. I loved TV , you know , I saw I grew up with heavy media , no theater. And so now knowing that once I because once you , you , you know , you get bit by the bug , it's like , oh what is the power ? What can this do ? Theater is so powerful. It's it's not like movies and television because you're experiencing it communally. So the emotional relationship that happens between what's happening on stage and the audience is very , very profound , and it should not be limited to a certain type of people. It should be for everyone. And so that is the thing that drives me. And I'm so grateful to organizations like Playwrights Project , um , that , that was that gave me my first shot. And that's the they produce my play and they , you know , any organization that opens up theater to all communities is , is how what we want to model our death or loss after. So.
S4: So. Absolutely.
S1: Absolutely.
S3: So Mabelle mentioned Playwrights Project , we partnered with the Asian Foundation for colloquia , and we're looking forward to partnering with other organizations who are interested in having us , um , they're sharing their stories with us to create stage and comic , um , productions from them. So yeah , it's definitely something again , sort of a call to broader audiences to be able to access these amazing stories as much as it is about building the relationships , as I mentioned earlier. And those happen with the partnerships that we form with the communities in order to also tell stories that are , you know , even beyond the borderlands. Mhm.
S1: Mhm. Well , you know , you mentioned you're both daughters of Tijuana.
S2: It it's it seeps its way into everything that I do. And so I think it's it goes back to the roots , like , you know , our mother would always tell us , tell Vida donde beans. Don't ever forget where you came from. And I think that that is imprinted into our , our heart. The thing that drives us to make art. And so I think that's always that's always centered. It's always important to to think back. But it's like it's I think it's it's inescapable for us at this point. It's it's just a part of our artwork.
S3: Again , it's it's embodied in the images that I create and in what I conjure up in my head. As far as , you know , how I'm going to design a set or how I'm going to draw a particular street to capture the scenic mood to complement Mobile's writing these. These pictures are so embedded in our memory as well as our cultural memory that they , they , they naturally seep into our , our creative practice. And , and it's really a beautiful way to , to share and to , you know , amplify and make visible the spaces that folks might not otherwise be able to access.
S1: And , Zelma , I imagine it is fun to work with your sister so closely and on so many creative projects. I mean , talk a little bit about your creative relationship.
S3: Well , it started , uh , what , 13 months after I was born , uh , when Mabelle came into my life , um , we've been collaborating. I can honestly say since then , my mom tells us stories about how we just stare at her , and somehow we would communicate non-verbally. Uh , but ultimately , it's it's a really harmonious relationship. Mabelle is a writer , an incredible writer. And I make visible , uh , her ideas that she writes in multiple ways. Right ? Multimodal ways. So it's almost natural that we because we grew up so closely together , we shared a room for the greater part of our lives. And so we know exactly how we can finish each other's sentences. We know exactly how the other one thinks. And there's also this , this really neat privilege of directness that we can have with one another. It really saves time. We're often battling very aggressive timelines and deadlines , and so to just be able to communicate directly without having to navigate kind of , you know , formal niceties that you might need to have in order to model good , good work ethics. Not to say that mobile is not polite , but she is definitely very direct. And I'm direct to and , you know , it really is about like , what do we need to do , what needs to happen , and let's just get it done ? Yeah.
S1:
S2: I think yes , it's a very practical relationship I am everybody knows that. I'm very direct. I know what I want. Um , but but so because we we're so close and she understands the way that I work it , it's fine. It works. Okay. But I will give you an example of of the practicality of our relationship. So we did a play last year called Sumo Side. And part of the dream for that was to , to do a comic book for that , and we were trying to get it ready for Comic-Con because we knew we were going to present Comic-Con. But then there was an opportunity to present the play to the summer camp at Casa Famiglia , which is a wonderful organization in San Isidro. And they have they have a beautiful theater where we did some inside it , and they also had a summer camp , and we wanted to be able to give the kids the comic book. Um , as during the the performance. Now , the performance happened to be scheduled on the last day of summer camp. So we knew that if we didn't get them the comic book on that day , we were never going to see them again. And so it was the most ridiculously aggressive timeline. I think it took 36 hours. Non-stop.
S3: Non-stop.
S2: Non-stop for , uh , for Zulema. To.
S4: To.
S2: Do all.
S5: Of the artwork.
S2: I was I did the layout for it so she would do the drawings , um , send the illustrations over to me , email , and , uh , and I was doing the layout and , um , and it was like we went through like the , the multiple stages of grief. Yeah. Right. As we're like and and , uh , thinking , like , we're not going to make this deadline because , you know , once it's drawn , we still had to get it to the printer. So , uh , we were up at two , 3 a.m.. We have a picture , like , of of each other , but we're on the phone and we're able to , like , you know , send this over , cheer each other on. Um , give us give each other tough love when we need it , but also be , like , also the biggest advocates for each other's work , too.
S1: That's that's great.
S2: And art is such an important way to showcase Everybody's humanity.
S3: And I would share. My hope is that our communities can see themselves represented in material ways , visually , in the art that I create.
S1: All right. I've been speaking with Teatro Los Hermanas co-founders playwright Mabelle Reynoso and artist Zulema Reynoso. Thank you both so much for coming in.
S3: Thanks so much.
S1: Thank you. Coming up , a preview of the Italian Film Festival. KPBS Midday Edition is back after the break. Welcome back to midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman. We're heading into film festival season with the Italian , Filipino , international and Asian film festivals filling cinemas in October and November. First up is the San Diego Italian Film Festival that kicks off on October 1st. To discuss the festival , we are once again gathering our midday movies. Film critics Beth Accomando , who is KPBS resident cinema junkie , and Yazdi , who is one of the three movie Walls podcasters and critics. Welcome to you both.
S6: Thank you. Thank you.
S1: So , Beth , this is the 19th edition of the festival and you were there when it started. Remind us of how it began. Sure.
S7: Sure. This all started because of a wonderful man named Victor LaRussa , and he imagined this not just as a festival to showcase Italian films , but would he like to call an Italian perspective. And the other thing about the festival that really comes from him , and probably from being Italian as well , is that he loved to gather people around film and food and conversation , and he envisioned it as what he called a piazza , like a place where people could gather to enjoy all these things. He loved conversation , and he was one of those people who loved to spur arguments. And he kind of took delight in , like , just dropping a comment that would stir a disagreement among people. And but he did it in such a , like , sweet , sort of warm teddy bear sort of way. But one of the things about the festival I love is that it is a place for like , conversation. And now the driving force behind the festival is artistic director Antonio Anota. And each year the festival picks a theme to kind of color the films they choose. And this year the theme is courage , with the majority of the films tackling this idea in a variety of different ways.
S1: And Yazdi , you previewed a film rooted in history and Italian politics , Enrico Berlinguer. The grand ambition. Yes.
S6: Yes. So I am by no means an expert in Italian politics. So I watched this movie as an outsider. And even so , this is a smart , earnest biopic of Enrico Berlinguer , who was an important figure in Italian politics in the 70s. And he led the politically left PCI party that almost had a third of the support from voters in Italy at that time. This is a handsomely mounted production that kind of incorporates real life footage and follows a documentary like perspective , and kind of is a slice of life. Between 1973 and 1978 , when Berlinguer s party tried to open dialogue with the Christian Democratic Party , which was obviously their competitors , and the intent was to form a coalition that would lead to a more liberal anti-Stalinist ideology , and over the years , Italian politics , like the politics of any country , has deviated from the left to the right. And this kind of captures a , you know , a piece in time and does it beautifully as biopics go. And it does a terrific job , I think , in not just investigating his party , but also of this individual as a parent , as a husband , I think even those who don't know much about Italian politics at that time will enjoy it as a terrific documentation of what transpired during that time. And here is a clip from one of his more famous speeches.
S8: About oltre Ventimiglia di presents.
S1: And best Italian politics of the 1970s might sound off putting to some , but should it be.
S8: Fun ? De la solidarité ? No.
S5:
S7: And here are the two reasons why I think it shouldn't. I know we just heard this speech where you probably didn't understand the Italian , but you understood the emotion of it. So I think the thing that's important to remember about these films is that they're compelling and engaging. And although very specific to Italy and to a specific time , they're also very universal in terms of how they tackle this here , this theme of courage and in this case , a theme of hope. This whole moment in political time for Italy was a moment of potential. And that brings up the second point , which is Antonio Anota is always at all the films. He generally gives you some context before the movie starts to give you some sort of either political history , social history , or just a context for the themes. And then there are always conversations after. So if you feel something may not be exactly what you're looking for , I highly recommend checking out any film at the festival because you're going to get this kind of bigger picture. And Yazdi has been part of these discussions after the films. They're really wonderful.
S1: Yeah , well , speaking of context , give us a little bit more context as to what we just heard in that clip.
S7: Well , Berlinger was this political figure who rose up at a time when there was a lot of conflict in Italy , and he was someone who had that very difficult sort of task or idea of bringing two disparate sides together. And , as we know , trying to bridge gaps , as we look at current American politics right now is not something that's easy. And I think part of what the film tackles is this notion of courage , of somebody kind of looking beyond just himself and just beyond his political party.
S6: Yeah , I mean , he's credited even now for having tried to bring together this coalition , which at that time in world history would have created the largest left leaning government anywhere in the world. And it almost happened. But it did not. But the fact that he tried and pushed through to make it happen is pretty remarkable. And , you know , even though it said in the 70s , we realized not too far long ago people were a good portion of of the country at that time was convinced to outlaw divorces like things that , you know , we take for granted right now. So a lot of what we believe as being our rights , you know , we're up for questioning not too long ago. Wow.
S1: Wow. So a lot of parallels then to what we're experiencing now. Beth , you previewed a film that is also about the process of making films , the time it takes. Yes.
S7: Yes. So this is also rooted in a true story , as with the film that Yazdi spoke about , and this is a father daughter relationship between filmmaker Luigi Comencini and his daughter Francesca. And a lot of this film in the early part , takes place on movie sets.
S9: Disposition and motor action.
S7: So the story begins with Francesca as a young girl , and her father is working on an adaptation of Pinocchio. And there's a really wonderful scene in the beginning that shows their connection. And just like what a conscientious father he was , she's looking through the Book of Pinocchio and flips accidentally to the page of Monstro the Whale , and is terrified and throws the book down , and her father comes over and kind of says , like , you know , let's look at this together. So it's not so scary. And he tries to alleviate her fears by suggesting some music as they look through the book together.
S10: Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo dum dum dum Agenda item is. Dum dum dum dum dum dum. Boom boom boom boom. Boom. Such power.
S7: So the film really captures this relationship. And these early scenes are very wonderful. And he tries to impart to her kind of the not just the magic , but also the fakery involved in making movies. And it follows their relationship into her adulthood. And she does go through some difficult times , but ultimately it's their love of film , their love of cinema , their love of creating movies that keeps them together and keeps them both going. Wow.
S1: Wow. Well , now you both are part of this. The jury judging the awards.
S7: And this has been a passion project for Antonio Anota and the festival. And Yazdi and I have both been fortunate enough to be part of this jury. And we get to go through the finalists and choose some winners.
S1: All right.
S6: But it's always , always so polite and it's always very congenial. And , you know , it's never , ever been remotely hostile. And I love that we as a group can come together and put our differences aside and pick a winner. And I think I , you know , we should take pride in the fact that the jury has picked all kinds of movies for the top prize documentaries , Animated films. My favorite winner probably was way back from 20. 25 years ago when we picked the movie delete unnatural or Natural Crime ? That little short is about a girl whose best friend goes missing at school , and she goes about trying to find her , and that little short almost steps over into horror. But there is a generational understanding , and it's just put together so beautifully with wonderful pacing , and I think that one's going to stick with me for a long time.
S7: As with Yazdi , I mean , I love the discussions we have. I mean , the jury discussions are something that Victor would just be so happy with because we debate films. This year , we had a pretty intense debate about one of the movies that we were talking about , and it's great to be able to talk and pick apart , like the artistic merits , the themes , the ideas , and also like , what will the film's impact on the audience be , CP , and do we need to take that into account ? So I really love the fact that we get to have those deep film discussions , and we also get to see amazing films. And fortunately for the audience , they can see all the finalists. And these will be at the Digital Gems Cinema. The winners will be announced at the Festa , which is the Italian Film Festival gala , and that's on October 11th at the Museum of Photographic Arts. But I highly encourage people to go to a shorts showcase because with multiple movies , you are always going to get very different styles and themes , and chances are you are going to find one that you fall in love with.
S6: And that's not just true for the Italian Film Festival , but any film festival. If you're not sure if you want to invest two hours of your time in a particular movie that you know very little about , it's always safe for me to go see a collection of shorts , because amongst those 5 or 6 , they're going to show you you are going to love a few of those , at least.
S7: One of the short films that we watched is unique , because I think it was the only animated one this year , but it's called F2 , and this hit upon the theme of courage. It hit upon the theme of courage in a way you might not expect , because it's a story set 800 years ago , and it's about Frederick the Second. And so this short , like it's literally less than ten minutes long , packs in this entire history about Frederick the Second. And he was a controversial figure because he founded the first secular university in Europe , which was in Naples. And the short film basically was designed to celebrate this 800th anniversary. And here's a little clip from the animated film , and I think you can tell just in the voices , this is an argument that Frederick is having with a religious leader. And you can hear in the voices. And one of the cool things in the film is this is where the size of the characters change , as each one kind of dominates the conversation. Echoes.
S11: Echoes. Coronado.
S8: UN Cristiano de la mano. Non.
S11: Cuando le petit Ventura. La suprema pietra. Cuando mesa Peruzzi. Diavolo. Chevalier de la parola del signore Dover. Yeah.
S6: Yeah. And when we wonder at this point in time , what else is left to do in animation ? And this movie kind of shows that , I mean , they're not making any giant leaps in terms of the technicality of the animation , but just how cleverly , as Beth mentioned , scale is used , right ? And how there's this rotating perspective as people are arguing that just adds such a kinetic feeling to what might otherwise have been a rather drab interaction. So it's really very creative.
S1: Well , the festival sounds absolutely fascinating. I want to thank you both for for this preview for the 19th Annual San Diego Italian Film Festival. It kicks off October 1st at Digital Gem Cinema with a night of the short films , and then continues through October 11th at the Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park. I want to thank our midday movie critics , KPBS , Beth Accomando and movie Wallace podcaster Yazdi Puebla. You can find more information about the festival and its films on Beth's Cinema Junkie blog at KPBS. Org. Thank you both.
S7: Thank you so much.
S6: Thank you. Jade.
S1: That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.
