SCREENING DATE: SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 19TH 2015
TIME: 6PM | SHORT FILMS BLOCK 4
FILM SYNOPSIS:
A relentless and cheerful dog walks the colorful streets of “La Candelaria” looking for food; on his way through the city, he finds a kind and hard working street performer that is trying to make a living. They get to meet each other in a very challenging and funny way that might change their lives forever.
Director: Alex Montoya
Alex is an audiovisual artist born in Bogota – Colombia, currently based in Rochester, NY. He has participated in several animation projects throughout his professional career that deal mainly with social and environmental issues. Some of these films include: “FTT – Genetically Modified Organism”, “Solomon M. Chacko”, and award winning animated film “Plastic Glory”. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in Music studies with concentration in audio engineering at – Universidad el Bosque – (Bogota, Colombia) and completed his MFA degree in Film and Animation at the – Rochester Institute of Technology – (Rochester, NY). Alex believes in the complementarity between sound and image and his projects generally involve a further development of the sound elements.
DIRECTOR’S LATINO HERITAGE:
Alex was born and raised in Bogota Colombia and left his country after graduating from college with hopes of finding a deeper understanding in the art of filmmaking and mostly in order to connect with people who shared the same interests and have similar artistic ideas.
His intention was to grow in the professional level by finding a place that would provide better educational opportunities and offer direct contact with experienced filmmakers and animation studios. However, while doing so, Alex found a place that gave him the opportunity to grow also in a personal level and provided him with a sense of belonging and identity.
Never forgetting his origins, Alex is extremely privileged for having learned the art of animation from American professors and is also extremely grateful for having learned the art of music in Colombia. Due to this constant contact with both cultures, his artistic ideas are heavily influenced by Colombian traditions, rhythms and imagery but at the same time his films are developed and expressed with an American film language.
Alex currently shares his experience with students from different backgrounds and countries while teaching animation courses at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He keeps participating in animation projects as a freelancer and continues learning while creating his own films.
A relentless and cheerful dog walks the colorful streets of “La Candelaria” looking for food; on his way through the city, he finds some cruelty but he also finds a kind and hard working street performer that is also trying to make a living. They get to meet each other in a very challenging and funny way that might change their future plans.
Candelaria Hot Dog – Trailer 2015 from Alex Montoya on Vimeo.
FILM CREDITS:
Director: Alexander Montoya-Melendrez; Story: Alexander Montoya-Melendrez; Producer: Alexander Montoya-Melendrez; Lighting and Camera: Manojh Reddy; Sound Design: Vicky Mejia Yepes; Music: Sean Jefferson; Animation: Alexander Montoya-Melendrez, Ihab Mardini; Production Design: Alexander Montoya-Melendrez; Puppet Fabrication: Alexander Montoya-Melendrez; Costumes: Vicky Mejia Yepes; Set Fabrication: Alexander Montoya-Melendrez; Props: Ilyssa Simsek, Silicone casting and mold making: Austin Quinlan; Compositing: Alexander Montoya-Melendrez, Ihab Mardini, Meghdad Asadi Lari, Sultan Alshehri; Color Correction: Manojh Reddy; Credits Sequence: Karl Pajak; A d v i s o r s : Br i a n J L a r s o n , M a r k R e i s c h , T o m G a s e k .
Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Candelaria-Hot-Dog/635673183200782