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Luz in Latin America

A world-class Latino women’s bodyboard champion is driven by her passion to bring disadvantaged children into her sport.

  • Amanda Nemcik
    Director
  • Amanda Nemcik
    Producer
  • Myriam Fuentes / EP
    Producer
  • Luz 'Loly' Grande, herself
    Key Cast
  • Ruth Parra, herself
    Key Cast
  • Neymara Carvalho, herself
    Key Cast
  • César Bauer, himself
    Key Cast
  • Facundo Ciapina, himself
    Key Cast
  • Carlo Rivera Turner (himself)
    Key Cast
  • Babby Quiñones (himself)
    Key Cast
  • Myriam Fuentes
    Writer
    Don Pepe Ferrer Canales, voz de antillano (director-producer-co-writer, La décima borinqueña (director, coproducer), Puerto Rico 500 años (director-producer-writer), Las raíces del agua (director-writer)
  • Andrei Nemcik
    Cinematographer
    Antes que cante el gallo (producer, editor), Under my Nails (producer, editor)
  • José Elí Pérez
    Sound Design
    The Vessel (sound mixer), Unsettled Accounts, Antes que cante el gallo (sound mixer), Under
  • Pancho Martínez
    Art Direction
  • Mari Frances Bonnet - Line Producer
    Production Dept
    Kinky (AD)
  • Lorimir Couret
    Associate Producers
    Don Pepe Ferrer Canales, voz de antillano (producer-DP-editor) La décima borinqueña (co-producer, DP), Puerto Rico 500 años (producer-editor), Las raíces del agua (producer, 2nd camera, editor)
  • Albéniz Couret
    Associate Producers
  • Ana Leyda Fuentes
    Associate Producers
    Don Pepe Ferrer Canales, voz de antillano (producer-writer), José Antonio Dávila: poesía y naturaleza (producer-writer)
  • Agustín B. Graterole
    Associate Producers
  • Luis Otero
    Associate Producers
  • Raúl III Hidalgo
    Associate Producers
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Luz en Latinoamérica
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Genres:
    Sports, Social Activism
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 26 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    April 13, 2016
  • Country of Origin:
    Puerto Rico
  • Country of Filming:
    Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Puerto Rico
  • Language:
    Portuguese, Spanish
  • Shooting Format:
    HD
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • International Puerto Rican Heritage Film Festival
    New York City
    United States
    November 9, 2016
    New York premiere
    Best Documentary
  • LA Femme Film Festival
    Beverly Hills, California
    United States
    October 20, 2016
    California
  • Festival de Cine Internacional de San Juan
    San Juan
    Puerto Rico
    September 2, 2016
    Puerto Rico
  • Festival de Cine Latino Americano
    Dallas-Forth Worth, Texas
    United States
    September 24, 2016
    Texas
  • Festival Internacional de Cine del Mar Caribe
    Margarita
    Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of
    March 4, 2017
    Caribbean
Director Biography - Amanda Nemcik

'Luz in Latin America' is the first feature film by director Amanda Nemcik (1984-). Amanda was born and raised in Puerto Rico and has a Master Degree (Summa Cum Laude) in Cinema and Audiovisual Communication from the Universidad Católica Argentina, Buenos Aires and a B.A. in Drama from the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras. She became a film and a theatre actress, at a very young age, under the tutelage of Cuban filmmaker Enrique Pineda (1933-) and other local Theater directors. While a Drama student she co-founded Nomads Productions, a college theater group for which she produced and acted. Her short documentary "Copyleft ... a challenge to copyright in Argentina" was selected to screen at the Convention of the Market of Cultural Industries in Argentina (MICA 2012). The animated stop-motion short "Water" - which she co-produced and co-directed with fellow UCA students- was selected for Cinefiesta 2012 and Divercine 2013 festivals and became a finalist in the Environmental Film Festival of San Juan 2012. Amanda works producing mini-documentaries and commercials for private firms and public agencies. Her next independent project is ‘Ecoloriza’, a stop motion animation that addresses the danger to our planet posed by the excessive production and inadequate disposition of solid wastes. Amanda is an amateur bodyboarder since age 15.

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Director Statement

Throughout this documentary project, my priority as director has been to have the film act as a soundboard for Loly's genuine voice and as a testimony to her inspired trajectory, both as a world-class bodyboarder and as a social activist for disadvantaged children. I also sought to leave a record of the pioneers of this sport as witnessed from Puerto Rico and of the role of the island and Latin American bodyboarders in lending the sport its multi-cultural character. It was also vital for me to make a record of the people who have uphold Loly's goals not just as an athlete but moreover in her pursue for a better society. Finally, I meant to leave a record of the children being touched by her inspiring work. My greatest challenge was to place this story at the right intersection of sports, art, and social justice.