FACETS CINÉMATHÈQUE

August 2010

The Facets Cinémathèque is located at 1517 W. Fullerton Ave. in Chicago. For more information on films playing in the Cinémathèque, please call 773-281-4114. To order advance tickets online, visit the TicketWeb website by clicking here.

Chicago Premiere

Spoken Word

"Kinetic and emotionally resonant"
-Variety

"Strongly acted and beautifully photographed"
-New York Times

"Unpretentious and heartfelt... [Victor] Nuñez is a sensitive director with currents of empathy for his characters and a talent for extracting earnest ardor from the smallest of details"
-New York Observer

"The director's painterly eye renders the Southwestern landscape lovely, and he pulls moving performances from his cast"
-LA Weekly

"Victor Nuñez is a leading American filmmaker who has always worked with stories deeply embedded in American regions... He knows his places and the people who live in them"
-Roger Ebert

-Chicago Tribune

The hero of Victor Nuñez's drama about family, art, and self-determination is Cruz Montoya (Kuno Becker), a rising star of the West Coast slam poetry circuit who returns to his rural New Mexico when he learns that his father (Rubén Blades) is gravely ill. But once he gets home, he falls in with bad company left over from the old days, and he yields to the temptations of late-night revelry and easy drug money. As a result, he very nearly loses his poetic voice as well as his artistic identity.

Inspired by the real-life struggles of Santa Fe spoken-word artist Joe Ray Sandoval, writer/producer William T. Conway and producer Karen Koch wrote a screenplay that filmmaker Victor Nuñez (Ruby in Paradise, Ulee's Gold) wanted to direct because "I'm always interested in stories about people finding their place in the world – or finding their way back to the world."

Filmed on locations in Santa Fe, Chimayo, Espanola, and Truchas, New Mexico, Spoken Word gives off the authentic heat of the Southwest as it explores, in the words of leading man Becker, the "roller-coaster of emotions," as Cruz attempts to heal his volatile relationships with his family, his community, and himself.

Directed by Victor Nuñez, U.S.A., 2009, 115 mins.

Official site Variety New York Times TimeOut NY New York Observer

Roger Ebert Chicago Tribune NPR: Ruben Blades

Showtimes:
Fri., Aug. 6 at 6:30 & 8:45 pm
Sat.-Sun., Aug. 7-8 at 2, 4:15, 6:30 & 8:45 pm
Mon.-Thurs., Aug. 9-12 at 6:30 & 8:45 pm

Tickets:

$9 general admission
FREE for Facets Members!

For all Cinémathèque inquiries, contact Charles Coleman at 773.281.9075 or charles@facets.org

Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences