Sneak Preview: MISS BALA (Gerardo Naranjo, 2011)
Event Date: January 10, 2012 - 7:30pm
Location: The James Bridges Theater, Melnitz Hall 1409, UCLA
MISS BALA, Mexico's submission in the Best Foreign Film category of the upcoming 2012 Academy Awards, tells the story of Laura, a young woman whose aspirations of becoming a beauty queen turn against her, delivering her into the hands of a gang that's terrorizing northern Mexico. Although Laura succeeds in winning the beauty queen crown, her experiences as an unwilling participant in Mexico's violent war leaves her shaken and transformed.
Co-Presented by the Latin American Institute
and the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
Q&A to follow moderated by Samuel B. Prime, featuring writer/director Geraldo Naranjo, producer Pablo Cruz, and executiver producer Diego Luna!
Official Selection, Cannes International Film Festival
Official Selection, Toronto International Film Festival
Official Selection, New York International Film Festival
Horizontes Award, San Sebastián International Film Festival
Official Selection, Vancouver International Film Festival
Official Selection, Helsinki International Film Festival
Official Selection, London International Film Festival
Official Selection, Chicago International Film Fesetival
Official Selection, Mill Valley International Film Festival
"With the blistering firecracker that is 'Miss Bala,' next-gen Mexican director and AFI grad Gerardo Naranjo delivers on the promise of such well-respected early pics as 'Drama/Mex' and 'I'm Gonna Explode,' revealing them as dry runs for this 'Scarface'-scary depiction of south-of-the-border crime run amok." -Peter Debruge, Variety
"Fast and dangerous, Miss Bala is a hair-raising actioner...Matyas Erdely’s cinematography is rigorous and essential." -Deborah Young, Hollywood Reporter
"Naranjo keeps the action tense but understated; instead of allowing explosions and shootouts to pile up, he rations them in taut doses." -Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com
DIRECTOR: Gerardo Naranjo
WRITERS: Mauricio Katz, Gerardo Naranjo
STARRING: Stephanie Sigman, Noe Hernandez, Irene Azuela, Jose Yenque, James Russo, Miguel Couturier, Gabriel Heads
LD Distribution/20th Century Fox Film Corp.
35mm, 113 min.
Miss Bala Trailer Reloaded English from Miss Bala on Vimeo.
