Mora Releases Eclectic New Album “Estrella”

Mora is shining bright…

The 27-year-old Puerto Rican singer-songwriter has released his new album Estrella.

MoraThe 14-track set may be Mora’s most eclectic yet, both sonically and thematically.

Estrella finds Mora dabbling in reggaetón, perreo, trap and electronic, featuring a star-studded roster of collaborators — with OGs and newcomers alike, including Arcángel, Yandel, RaiNao, Alvaro Diaz and Dei V.

Whether you’re in love, overcoming heartbreak or just want some good escapism music, there’s something for everyone in the album: From the intergalactic romantic opening track “MEDIA LUNA” to the slowed down reflective “DONDE SE APRENDE A QUERER?” and the fast-paced, club-ready “LAGUNA” with Arcángel.

Putting Mora’s versatility at the forefront, the artist assembled an A-star team of producers for the LP, such as Ovy on the Drums, Sky Rompiendo and MAG.

“I would define the album as a combination of all I can musically contribute,” Mora says about Estrella.

Media Luna to Launch Caridad-Montero’s “3 Beauties” Onto the Global Market

It could be a beauty-full year for Carlos Caridad-Montero

German sales company Media Luna is launching onto the international market the 47-year-old Venezuelan film director, scriptwriter and journalist’s dark comedy 3 Beauties.

Carlos Caridad-Montero

Caridad-Montero’s satire explores the Venezuelan dream: Beauty, especially of the female kind. The country boasts 600 beauty contests, near two a day, including Miss Tanguita, for under-10s.

Caridad-Montero’s first feature, 3 Beauties turns on a single mother, Perla, hell-bent on turning one of her two daughters into a beauty queen. Meanwhile, she ignores her only son. Her obsession leaves all manner of hostages to fortune when her children grow up.

3 Bellezas

Satisfying her own frustrations, and teaching her daughters to vomit after meals, Perla lays it down pretty hard: “A plastic flower never withers,” Perla says, when one confronts a breast and butt job. “A Miss has no friends” is another Perla maxim.

Caridad-Montero, now in post on his second feature Beyond Silicon Valley, calls 3 Beauties an unsettling dark comedy.

“The film raises many questions about how healthy it is for society to be so obsessed with this type of ideal of beauty, and how it affects women, especially the ones that use this kind of contest to improve their social status or even as a way out of poverty,” Media Luna’s Mariel Macia said to Variety.

Having a Miss in the family boosts social status and is a form of social climbing, ” Caridad-Montero told CNN.

“The successful participation of Venezuela in beauty contests, has earned this small country the reputation as ‘the land of beautiful women,’ he added.

“It has spread the idea that there is no more beautiful women than Venezuelans. The media have ensured that this vision is rooted in the Venezuelan psyche of 3 Beauties doesn’t seek to be a pamphlet against this obsession but to provoke discussion.”

Ruizpalacios’ “Güeros” Wins the Main Competition Section at the Los Cabos International Film Festival

Alonso Ruizpalacios continues his winning ways…

The Mexican director and screenwriter’s latest film Güeros won the main competition section at the third edition of the Los Cabos International Film Festival.

Güeros

Güeros, a road movie revolving around a trio of Mexican slackers, has found success on the festival circuit with wins in Berlin, Tribeca and most recently at Mexico’s Morelia festival.

In Los Cabos’ Mexico First section, the jury prize went to Arturo Gonzalez‘s Llevate Mis Amores, a portrait of Mexican women who provide food to U.S.-bound Central American migrants.

Special guests at the festival included Rosario Dawson (The Captive); Mexican directors Diego Luna (Chavez) and Guillermo Arriaga (The Burning Plain); and actors Ellar Coltrane and Lorelei Linklater, who were on hand for the closer Boyhood.

Among the deals announced in Los Cabos, director Mark Kassen (Puncture) will be helming Criminal Enterprise for Dummies. As for acquisitions, Cine Tren picked up Latin American distribution for Justin Benson‘s Spring and Germany’s Media Luna grabbed world rights to Internet Junkie.

The five-day event often turned political as actors and filmmakers used the stage to demand justice for the violent disappearance of 43 students in the southern state of Guerrero.

Los Cabos ran from Nov. 12-16. The annual event brings together industry people from the U.S., Canada and Mexico.