Presented by Sayulitabeach.com, the first annual Festival Sayulita is coming soon! An adventurous blend of film festival and tequila tasting parties, Festival Sayulita will debut January 16-19, 2014, at selected venues around town and on the beach. Given the concept—only in Sayulita, perhaps, would movies and tequila make time together in this way–we’re sure this will be the first of many such Festivals. We urge all residents and visitors to get your tickets and get in on what promises to be a great series of films to watch, tequilas to taste, and parties to attend. Go to the website, festivalsayulita.com, and check it out. Between the scheduled events, live music performances going on at the same time, and, of course, the Sayulita waves waiting to be ridden, this is shaping up to be a great big bash.
Storm Richardson recently re-opened his Sayulita Public House for the new season, and on opening night celebrated by throwing a party for all the people involved in producing the festival. The new chef at the Public House, Chad Landis, put together a feast; accompanied by beer, several fine tequilas, and plenty of wine, the festival crew had their much-deserved party. They’ve been working hard getting this thing off the ground. If this introductory meal was any indication, the Public House kitchen, under Chad’s direction, will be serving many a fine dinner this upcoming high season. Go and try one when you’re in town. You won’t be sorry.
Sayulitabeach.com has agreed to present the festival, and will be hosting select events during the three day run. We believe the Festival Sayulita will further energize the already-lively town of Sayulita, culturally speaking, and so we’ve signed on as the main presenter. We’re looking forward to working with the founders and creators of Festival Sayulita. This crew, listed here along with their “official responsibilities,” includes: Gabriel Villarrubia, Tequila and Design; Nick Sherman, Marketing and Design; Lina Weismann, Sponsors, Volunteers, and Public Relations; Storm Richardson, Submissions, Website, and Merchandise; Damien Porter, Community Relations and Red Tape, and Jack Jones, Event Support. A talented local bunch including Jess Edmondson, Cheryl Orr, Risa Mara Machuca, and Andrea Villarrubia, among others too numerous to list here, provide creative and technical back-up.
There are also a number of local business sponsors, and festival organizers are hoping more of these local businesses will follow the lead of Sayulitabeach.com and sign up to help put on the show. After all, this event promises to raise Sayulita’s already high profile as a destination to an even higher plane.
Perfect weather? Check. Fun surf? Check. Great bars and restaurants? Check. Colorful, friendly people, locals and visitors both? Check. Upscale houses and low-cost hotel rooms, hostels, and campground space available for rent? Check. A film and tequila festival? Yes! Check. One more thing the Sayulita community can be proud of.
But what about the movies? Putting together a film festival is more than just making a three or four day party happen. You’ve got to get some good films, hopefully discover some fresh talent, and give your audience something to cheer for or argue about. So let’s have a look at a few of the offerings on the Festival Sayulita schedule, and get some background.
As a local writer and friend to all the organizers, I would like to claim, along with my wife, Donna Day, credit for bringing in at least one of the cinematic entries. That would be the documentary film entitled “Leonora Carrington: The Surrealist Game” by Javier Dominguez. Javier is an old friend of Donna’s and mine, from New York City years ago. In New York, he was a reporter for Radio Spain. He went on to a distinguished career in Spain, writing for newspapers, broadcasting television news, serving as the director of the Seville International Film Festival, and making several fine documentaries himself. When we heard about Festival Sayulita, we sent Javier an email, and he submitted this film.
The film is about a fascinating woman artist, Leonora Carrington: born English upper class, she ran off to France, fell in with Max Ernst and the Surrealists, fled Hitler, ended up in Mexico. Where she had a long and distinguished career, made a family, and made a life. This film is the story of that life, and it is a compelling one.
Another film, about the very first original pre-Ramones, pre-Sex Pistols punk band, A Band Called Death, was floating around online, and got discovered by Storm and Gabbi from the festival management team. They contacted people about bringing it to the show—and it turned out that the producers were friends of Gabbi’s. Needless to say, it’s on the menu.
I know that every film submitted has an equally interesting pedigree, and I look forward to immersing myself in a whole lotta cinema, when mid-January rolls around.
In addition to the two films described above, the schedule offers a mixed bag of lively, unusual movies, with everything from a documentary about the successful battle to legalize marijuana in Washington State, “Evergreen,” to another documentary called “El Abuelo de Macando.” This is the story of Virgilio Alvarez, a 105-year old Cuban who rises each day to walk around the whole town of Baracoa. Surf dramas, circus stories, a number of features by new directors, and several intriguing documentaries are on the schedule, which should turn Sayulita’s mid-January party into an even bigger party than it already is, right smack in the middle of the high season. Come on down to Sayulitabeach, and go to the movies!
