The 31st Annual CineSol Film Festival will be held at eBridge Center in Brownsville on December 6th, 7th, and 8th. Sponsored by City of Brownsville, StudioVillage, Brownsville Border Film Commission, eBridge Center for Business and Commercialization, UT-RGV, Historic Cine El Rey Foundation, and Mitte Cultural District.
We will be screening 43 independent films over two days! The independent films are from all over the world including 1 from France, Bulgaria, Canada, Indonesia, Poland, Indonesia, Sweden, the UK, and 7 from Spain!
Sixteen films have Rio Grande Valley connections, such as filmed in the RGV or an actor is from the RGV.
Every event is $6 except for Saturday and Sunday evening screenings, which are $10. $25 for Saturday passes (Click here) $20 for Sunday passes (Click here). $40 for weekend passes (https://square.link/u/TKOdb5PS). For more information, call 956-778-7267.
Our special guest is Brownsville’s Bradley Freeman Jr. Bradley is the official performer of The Pigeon with Mo Willems Workshop. He is a principal performer on the Emmy-Award-Winning program Sesame Street, where he plays Tamir, Wes, Timmy Twiddlebug, and many others. Additionally, he is a supporting performer with the Disney Muppets. His work has been featured on shows including Sesame Street, The Muppets Mayhem, Helpsters, The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Michael Buble’s Christmas in the City, The Today Show, Good Morning America, The View, Sesame Street: 50 Years of Sunny Days, Elmo’s Mindfulness Spectacular, Tamir on the Street, The Pigeon Explains, and more.
Bradley Freeman, Jr has been a puppeteer since he was 5. From that time it was his dream to become a Muppet performer. After high school Bradley began creating, building, and performing original characters. In 2018 Sesame Street held a workshop to train young puppeteers from around the world. Out of over 400 international applicants, he was one of 30 selected to participate. This got him on the Sesame Streets radar, and several years later they held auditions for a new character named Wes. After a long audition process, he got the part, and since then his world has completely changed. You can now see him on Sesame Street as Tamir, Wes, Timmy Twiddlebug, and many others. You can also watch him as The Pigeon with Mo Willems on The Pigeon Explains on YouTube. His work has also been featured on shows like The View, Helpsters, Michael Bublé’s Christmas in the City, The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, The Muppets Mayhem and more.
Saturday, December 7, 2024
12:15 – 1:45pm. Shorts Block #1 – Documentaries. I Care About Your Mailbox. Boca Chica. Broken Wings. Surcos. Sangre Violenta/Sangre Violeta, Across. Room 133 Cameron. Click here for tickets.
12:30pm – 2:06pm. Resynator directed by Alison Tavel. This documentary begins when Alison rescues Don’s synthesizer prototype from her grandmother’s attic. What starts off as a curious resurrection project of her dad’s Resynator soon launches into a globe-trotting quest to untangle to unlock the deep secrets surrounding his life and invention. https://www.resynator.com/. https://www.facebook.com/resynator. Room 135 Hidalgo. Click here for tickets.
1:00pm – 2:23pm. Border Crossed Us directed by Loretta van der Horst. RGV. In La Joya, Texas, a small town on the Mexican border, police search on a daily basis for traces of human traffickers who help migrants and refugees cross the border to the United States. These hunts frequently result in perilous pursuits. But no matter how convinced they are of the importance of their mission to catch smugglers, doubts gradually seem to arise among them too. Theater. Click here for tickets.
1:00pm – 3:00pm. Bradley Freeman Jr & Puppeteering. In his presentation, Bradley takes you on a journey from growing up as a Muppet fan in Brownsville, to becoming one of Sesame Street’s principal performers. Not only will there be a live demonstration of the art of television puppetry, there will be an interactive portion, where you may get to perform a character. In addition, there will be a Q&A and signing after the presentation. Room 142 Hidalgo. Click here for tickets.
2:15pm – 3:41pm. Shorts Block #2. Lack, Dias de Luz y Penumbra, I Love You Too Many Times, The American Alien, The Nest, Anonymous, The Premiere, World’s Shortest War. Room 133 Cameron. Click here for tickets.
2:30pm – 3:55pm. The Strike directed by JoeBill Munoz and Lucas Gullkey. The story of a generation of California men who endured decades of solitary confinement and, against all odds, launched the largest hunger strike in U.S. history. Room 135. Hidalgo. Click here for tickets.
3:00pm – 4:22pm. The Forest Hills directed by Scott Goldberg. Rico descends in the Catskill Mountains after being haunted by nightmares. Starring Chiko Mendez, Edward Furlong, Dee Wallace, and Shelley Duvall. Theater. Click here for tickets.
4:00pm – 5:27pm. Shorts Block #3 – Horror. Transylvanie, Invader, Devourer, Rejected, Incubacion, Dream Creep. Room 133. Cameron. Click here for tickets.
4:30pm – 5:57pm. Unlikely Allies directed by Anthony Pedone. In 2003, a low-level cannabis case would end Weldon Angelos’ budding and promising career in the music industry. But it would also give birth to a national movement to reform our country’s criminal justice system. Room 135. Hidalgo. Click here for tickets.
6:30pm – Doors Open.
7:00pm – 8:44pm. Bloody & Bruised: The Untold Story of the Back Room directed by J. Budro Partida. RGV. The untold story of the most infamous heavy metal club to live and die in Austin, Texas, as told by the people who survived it. Theater. Click here for Saturday night tickets.
Sunday, December 8, 2024
12:15pm – 1:43pm. Shorts Block #4. A Monstrous Cure, Serial Killers Anonymous (The Repentant), Titty Boy, Forsaken Heart, What Are You Doing With Your Life?, The Folly of Paris, Search and Destroy, Dad Died Crying. Room 133. Cameron. Click here for tickets.
12:30pm – 1:52pm. The In Between directed by Robie Flores. Following the death of her brother, filmmaker Robie Flores returns to her hometown Eagle Pass wanting to turn back time. What emerges is a playful dance between a personal and collective coming-of-age portrait of kids on the border and Robie herself as she rediscovers the possibilities of joy in the aftermath of grief. Room 135. Hidalgo. Click here for tickets.
1:00pm – 2:44pm. Bloody & Bruised: The Untold Story of the Back Room directed by J. Budro Partida. RGV. The untold story of the most infamous heavy metal club to live and die in Austin, Texas, as told by the people who survived it. Theater. Click here for Sunday tickets.
1:00pm – 3:00pm. Understanding the Hollywood Script Formula workshop by JoJo Henrickson. A look at the history, impact, and importance of the Hollywood script formula. Room 142 Hidalgo. Click here for tickets.
2:00pm – 3:28pm. Shorts Block #5. Kapitan, 3am The Graveyard Shift, The Turk, Candy and Firecrackers, Men of Silence, Knot, I Was Here. Room 133. Cameron. Click here for tickets.
2:30pm – 4:06pm. Plastic People directed by Ben Addelman and Ziya Tong. Documentary. 90 minutes. Canada. Almost every bit of plastic ends up ground down into “microplastics”. These microscopic particles drift in the air, float in the water and sit in the soil. And now, leading scientists are finding them in our bodies, our organs, our blood, and even the placentas of new mothers. What is the impact of these invisible invaders on our health? https://plasticpeopledoc.com. https://www.facebook.com/plasticpeopledoc/. Room 135. Hidalgo. Click here for tickets.
3:30pm – 4:05pm. The Song of the Mad God directed by Roman Madrigal. Short. 35 minutes. RGV. Haunted by the memory of his wife’s murder, a fallen lord turns to forbidden magic for answers which will either redeem him or damn him forever. Theater. Click here for tickets.
Doors open. 4:30pm.
5:00pm – 8:00pm. 18th Annual 36 Hour Film Race Screening and Awards Ceremony. Theater. Click here for Awards Ceremony tickets.