By DAVID PAUL APPELL
Posted: 3:15 am
October 14, 2008
WHO doesn't love an underground film festival?
Hobnobbing with scruffy artistic types, catching screenings of edgy, transgressive celluloid that'd have Donald Wildmon and his ilk in a twist (the good kind) . . . it's standard stuff for SoHo - or SoMa, for that matter. But Playa del Carmen? That town near Cancun where you get the ferry to Cozumel, y'mean?
Yes. These days, Playacar and Cancun and other enclaves of margarita-powered beaching, shopping, and partying are showing more depth and sophistication in lots of areas - culture notable among them. Though you've already missed the underground films this year (it starts tomorrow), if you don't want to wait until next October you can pop down here to catch a bevy of other quality events that are a helluva lot classier than, say, the "Miss Hawaiian Bikini Model Search" at Daddy'O disco. Here are four examples between now and the end of '08.
Riviera Maya Underground Film Festival Oct. 15-19
In this lineup of shorts on sometimes-tough subjects, the first three years saw entries from a dozen countries, some as far afield as Russia, Australia and New Zealand. This year's highlights include US/Cuba-based Estela Bravo's look at the children of the "disappeared" from Argentina's "dirty war" in the 1970s and an appearance by Mexican film-score composer Leonardo Heiblum ("Maria Full of Grace").
Info: rmuff.com
Xcaret Life and Death Traditions Festival Oct. 30-Nov. 2
How about something un poco differente for Halloween? You could call Xcaret an "eco-cultural theme park," and in that vein, this year it's launching a new festival centered on the Day of the Dead and All Saints' Day. Or what the heck, you could just come down and check out a non-ersatz version of the same thing in any number of Mexican towns and cities.
Info: xcaret.com.mx
Cancun-Riviera Maya Film Festival Nov. 3-9
In just the second year that the festival's been run, it's attracting work from some interesting talent indeed, along the lines of José Padilho, who explores crime, corruption and poverty in Brazil; Jaime Rosales, who won Spain's equivalent of an Oscar last year; and Céline Sciamma, a French lesbian who made a splash at Cannes in '07 with "Water Lilies."
Info: cancunfilmfest.com.mx
Riviera Maya Jazz Festival Nov. 27-29
In its sixth year, this bash on Mamitas beach in Playa del Carmen is adding digital stage screens but otherwise continuing its formula of mixing international headliners (David Sanborn, Earl Klugh, Bill Cobham, Fourplay) with some of Mexico's top jazz talent (the Beaujean sisters, Pepe Morán, Héctor Infanzón, and local bandleader and festival head Fernando Toussaint).
INFO: rivieramayajazzfestival.com
For more events, check cancun.travel and rivieramaya.com
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