ABOUT US



 




MISSION


Cinema Tropical is a 501(c)(3) non-profit media arts organization dedicated to the distribution, programming and promotion of Latin American Cinema in the United States. 


Since its creation in 2001, Cinema Tropical has become the country's premier purveyor of Latin American films by establishing screening programs in 12 venues in North America, having built a library of over 35 titles, and providing marketing and promotional campaigns for various film releases, programs and festivals in the U.S.



 


 

HISTORY

 

  

   

  

  

Cinema Tropical –the brainchild of Carlos A Gutiérrez and Monika Wagenberg, was officially launched on February 19, 2001, with a special screening of Martín Rejtman’s Silvia Prieto at the (now-extinct) Two Boots Pioneer Theater in New York’s East Village with the attendance of the Argentine filmmaker.

  

  


  

Shortly after, Cinema Tropical held a special sneak preview of the Mexican film Amores Perros with director Alejandro González Iñárritu and actor Gael García Bernal in attendance followed by a reception. The organization got a start as a cineclub organizing film series with weekly screenings at the Pioneer Theater. The Cinema Tropical Series showed retrospectives on directors such as Carlos Diegues and Leonardo Favio, and in conjunction with the Guggenheim Museum organized the series “Acción! Mexican Cinema Now” which included the New York Premiere of Alfonso Cuarón’s Y Tu Mamá También.


Incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in 2002, the organization soon expanded to create a non-theatrical circuit that would also held regular screenings in 13 of the most important cinematheques around North America including Facets Cinémathèque in Chicago, the NW Film Center in Portland and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, among others.

 

It was in 2003, that Cinema Tropical launched Israel Adrián Caetano's film Bolivia as its first theatrical release at Film Forum, and to date the organization has done 16 releases, more than any other film distributor in the country.

 

 

Since its creation over eight years ago, Cinema Tropical has produced numerous projects including “Cine Móvil,” a traveling open-air film festival; ‘David Bowie Presents 10 Latin American & Spanish Films from the Last 100 Years’ film series, in association with the H&M High Line Festival; and ‘Cinema Chile’ at the Quad Cinema, in partnership with ProChile.


 

Today Cinema Tropical is thriving as dynamic and groundbreaking media arts organization experimenting in creating better and more effective platforms for the distribution and exhibition of foreign cinema in this country, introducing American audiences to the rich and diverse tradition of Latin American cinema, as well as advocating inside and outside the film community for a more inclusive take on world cinema.


 

   

 


      


Foto de...      


Clockwise from top left: Cinema Tropical's Co-founding Director Carlos A. Gutiérrez with filmmakers Fernando Eimbcke (Duck Season; Lake Tahoe) and Alfonso Cuarón (Y Tu Mamá También; Children of Men); Brazilian filmmakers Fernando Meireles (City of God; The Constant Gardener) and Paulo Morelli at the NY premiere of City of Men presented as part of Cinema Tropical's "Janeiro in New York" festival; Actor Gael García Bernal and director Alejandro González Iñárritu at the NY premiere of Amores Perros in the spring of 2002; director Chico Teixera, Rachel Greenstein from Havaianas and Cinema Tropical's Mary Jane Marcasiano at a sneak preview of Teixera film Alice's House. Photos by José Luis Ramírez.


 

 


 

DISTRIBUTION


Theatrical


Cinema Tropical has become the largest theatrical distributor of Latin American cinema in the U.S., having released 16 films since 2002 (more than any other U.S. distributor). The organization acquires the top Latin American films and assures the directors and producers a wide exposure to be showcased in the most prestigious art-house theaters, institutions and film festivals. 


Cinema Tropical has released its films in the following theaters in New York City:

  • Film Forum 
  • IFC Center 
  • The Quad Cinema
  • Cinema Village
  • Anthology Film Archives
  • The Pioneer Theater



Non-Theatrical


Cinema Tropical has built a strong library of acclaimed and award-winning Latin American films for the non-theatrical market. Featuring works by acclaimed directors such as Lucrecia Martel, Fernando Meirelles, Natalia Almada, Martín Rejtman, Andrés Wood, Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, “The Cinema Tropical Collection” offers films for rental and purchase for the non-theatrical/educational market. Our clients include universities and colleges, cinematheques, libraries, film festivals, film societies, and museums.
 
The Cinema Tropical Collection catalog  



PROGRAMMING


Cinema Tropical carefully selects the best available films and serves as a curator of special series and retrospectives to match the needs of a diverse array of theaters, institutions and film festivals.

Our organization has co-presented special film screenings and events with some of the country’s finest cultural institutions including:

  • The Museum of Modern Art 
  • The Kennedy Arts Center, Washington D.C. 
  • The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
  • BAMcinématek / Brooklyn Academy of Music
  • The Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, NM
  • The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
  • Miami Art Central, Miami, FL.


Cinema Tropical has created numerous film series and programs showcasing the diversity and richness of Latin American cinema. The organization has established some ongoing programs such as:

  • TropiChat
  • Cinema Tropical’s Music + Film Series
  • Janeiro in New York
  • The Cinema Tropical Premiere Series


Among many other special programs, Cinema Tropical has produced or worked in the production of the following events:

  • ‘Acción! Mexican Cinema Now’ and ‘In the Air: Projections of Mexico’ film series at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.
  • ‘Cinema Chile’ at the Quad Cinema, in partnership with ProChile.
  • ‘Film Chile Miami’ at the Colony Theater, Miami Beach Cinematheque and The Wolfsonian Museum, in partnership with ProChile.
  • ‘David Bowie Presents 10 Latin American & Spanish Films from the Last 100 Years’ film series, in association with the H&M High Line Festival.




PUBLICITY


Cinema Tropical has successfully attracted a dedicated audience from among its members and tailors its marketing efforts to effectively target new audiences, maximize attendance to screenings and increase awareness of Latin American cinema.


Cinema Tropical has proven to be a successful and efficient source for publicizing and marketing Latin American films. With customized campaigns and grassroots marketing, Cinema Tropical has designed and implement creative strategy to reach diverse audiences. We offer our professional services to distribution companies, cultural organizations and individual producers create a strategy to promote theatrically-released feature films or film festivals and series.

Promotional Services and Past Clients
 


 

 


 
STAFF


Carlos A. Gutiérrez, Co-founding Director. Carlos A. Gutiérrez is a film/video programmer, cultural promoter and arts consultant based in New York City. As a guest curator, he has presented several film/video series at different cultural institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, BAMcinématek, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (San Francisco, CA) and Museo Rufino Tamayo (Mexico City). Along with Mahen Bonetti, he curated the 53rd edition of the Robert Flaherty Film Seminar. He is a contributing editor to BOMB magazine and has served as a member of the jury and the selection committees for various film festivals including the Morelia Film Festival, SANFIC - Santiago Film Festival, The Hamptons International Film Festival, The Asian American International Film Festival and New Fest: The New York Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, among others. He has served as both expert nominator and panelist for the Rockefeller Fellowship Program for Mexican Film & Media Arts and for The Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, as well as a screening panelist for the Oscars' Academy Awards for film students. He holds MA in Cinema Studies from New York University and a BA in Communications from Universidad Iberoamericana (Mexico City).
 
Monika Wagenberg, Co-founding Director.  After studying literature and economics at the University of Pennsylvania, Wagenberg received her master’s degree in cinema studies from New York University.  She co-founded Cinema Tropical and has worked in numerous film festivals including New York Film Festival, The Museum of Modern Art and Film Society of Lincoln Center’s New Directors/New Films and the New York International Latino Film Festival. Currently, Monika is also the Festival Director of Latin Wave, the annual Latin American Film Festival at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Senior Programmer of the Ibero-American Section of the Miami International Film Festival, Programmer for the Cartagena International Film Festival and the Latin American delegate for the Zurich International Film Festival. 

 

Mary Jane Marcasiano, Director of Development and Special Projects. Mary Jane Marcasiano is the president of her eponymous design company in New York City and actively involved in the arts and non-profit community. She is a graduate of Parsons School of Design/The New School and the recipient of the Cartier, DuPont, Cutty Sark and Wool Knit Awards. Marcasiano has designed costumes for DanceBrazil, the New York City Ballet, RythMEK at Jacob’s Pillow and Cleo Parker Robinson as well as a short film in Brazil. For three years she served as the President of the Board of Directors of DanceBrazil, a non-profit foundation dedicated to cultural exchange between Brazil and the United States. In 2004 she produced a documentary film about Capoeira with director Gustavo Moraes. Drawing on her background in non-profit, Marcasiano recently launched "Made With Love in Brazil" in conjunction with "Fashion With a Heart," a groundbreaking program dedicated to producing and selling socially-responsible fashion that benefits NGO's in Brazil and the US.
 
Andrew Vargas Stehney, Assistant Director. Andrew Vargas Stehney graduated with a B.A. in Art History and Film Studies from Haverford College in Haverford, PA and is currently pursuing a Certificate in Film Production from CUNY Brooklyn College. His undergraduate thesis focused on the cinematic output of Puerto Rico’s Division of Community Education, the cultural wing of the broad modernization campaign known as Operation Bootstrap. Previously, he worked as a research assistant for the multimedia exhibition “Framing Photographs: Contexts and Transpositions”, held at Haverford College’s Magill Library, and spent several years on the staff of the Hurford Humanities Center in Haverford, PA. He has lived and studied in Ecuador, Bolivia, Puerto Rico and Mexico City.

Mara Behrens, Art Director. Mara Behrens was born and raised in Venezuela. In 1991, she moved to Mexico City where she completed a BA in Design at Universidad Iberoamericana. She lived in Paris, where she took Fine Art courses at George Pompidou Center. Between 1996 and 1999, she worked as Art Director in Editorial Televisa in Mexico City, where she was in charge of the design supervision of Harper's Bazaar. In 1999 she moved to New York City where she worked as Senior Art Director at the advertising agency Reynardus & Moya and as Creative Director at Venaca.com, a digital design firm.




BOARD OF DIRECTORS


- Bob Stam, film scholar

- Debbie Zimmerman, Women Make Movies

- Josh Siegel, The Museum of Modern Art

- Margarita de la Vega, film scholar 




CONTACT US


CINEMA TROPICAL
611 Broadway Suite 836
New York, NY 10012

Tel. +1 (212) 254-5474

Email us

 

 



PRESS
indieWIRE
- Cinema Tropical's Top Ten Latin American Films of the Past Decade

- Emerging Spectators: Cultivating the Art-House Audience in a Post-Auteur Culture
- Viva El Cine: Will Mexico and Spain Spur a Spanish-Language Revival? 
- Latin Invasion Lull: Where is the Year’s Latin American Breakout?
 
Film Journal
Tropical Zone, page 1 / page 2

Time Out New York
Latin Lovers
 
El Diario / La Prensa
Latinoamérica en la Pantalla Grande

Loft Magazine

Cinema Tropical


Periódico Reforma (Mexico)

Abanderan en EU al Cine Latinoamericano

 

Periódico El Universal (Venezuela)

Oscar de Pocos Latinos




 


FAQ


[Coming Soon]




Some of Cinema Tropical programs are made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State agency, and from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Additional support provided by The Experimental Television Center’s Media Arts Technical Assistance Fund, supported in part by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts.

 

     

 

 

© Copyright Cinema Tropical Inc. All Rights Reserved.










 

Cinema Tropical is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the programming, distributions and promotion of Latin American cinema in the U.S.

 

¡Join the Tropical Revolution!

 

© Copyright Cinema Tropical Inc.

All Rights Reserved.