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“Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines” is a documentary directed by Kristy Guevara-Flanagan. The film was screened during South by Southwest in Austin this week. The movie deals with the lack of female comic book characters and the impact they have made on feminism and society at large. Academic scholars, everyday heroes, Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill and Le Tigre fame, and Gloria Steinem provide lively stories of how Wonder Woman was a catalyst for feminism. Steinem even shares a humorous story as to how Wonder Woman was resuscitated during the height of the Feminist Movement.  She was given back her powers and even gained an African sidekick named Nubia.

The Good: This is a clear example of female empowerment. I was surprised to know that Wonder Woman was more of a feminist role model when she was introduced in the 1940s — it was continuously stressed that she did not need a man. However, somewhere along the line, namely after World War II, Wonder Woman went from clobbering bad guys to pondering about wedding proposals.  Kathleen Hanna is particularly amazing in explaining the influence of Wonder Woman’s image on the Riot Grrrl movement.

The Bad:  Although it was refreshing to find that this movie did not blame men for the downfall of Wonder Woman, it cannot be avoided. This movie places the blame on society at large. However, this movie starts heading in various directions when they start to link Xena and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Some of the testimonials go nowhere fast because they give Wonder Woman that deity status that is usually reserved for Captain Kirk and the rest of his “Star Trek” descendants.

The crowd’s reaction: Based on the questions that were asked, I feel that there were audience members who felt that Wonder Woman represented sexually repressed creator, William Moulton Marston, than a feminist icon. Audience members were sympathetic to the young girls on the screen who wanted to be Wonder Women as well as the women who gave up on domestic ventures to become engineers and college professors.  In other words, I think we were on the same page where we loved it, but we were not in love with it.

I do think there is a lack of female leads – and those that exist are usually relegated to second banana roles that are simply begging to get trapped or ensnared asking for the male lead to rescue them. There is a hilarious scene where Hanna points at the Spice Girls as the new disciples of “Girl Power.” The film is very optimistic about pushing Hollywood into producing a Wonder Woman film.

I am less optimistic. In fact, I see an Aquaman film being made beforehand. I do not think we will get a feminist Wonder Woman, but rather one where she plays a single gal in the city trying to navigate the choppy waters between trying to maintain her career and finding love with possibly Ryan Gossling or Ryan Reynolds – simply because it’s a wonder any other kind of movie gets made.

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Narrative Shorts 2 was a panel here in Austin for South By Southwest at the Alamo Draft House. These shorts are one of a three-part series, a collection of short movies that strives for an artistic aesthetic – however there are more misses than hits. Some films take themselves too seriously. In this case, it seems that these shorts are jockeying into position as to who can win that race. Unfortunately, this race has no winners.

Narrative Shorts 2 consisted of the following films: “The Black Balloon” by Benny Safdie and Josh Safdie, “A Chjána (The Plain)” by Jonas Carpigano, “Life and Freaky Times of Uncle Luke” by Jillian Mayer and Lucas Leyva, “My Friend Kills Time” by Jakob Rørvik, “Reinaldo Arenas” by Lucas Leyva, “REMAINS” by Jeremiah Zagar and Nathan Caswell, “Sea Meadow” by Lily Baldwin, and “Shoot the Freak” by Bradford Willingham.

The Good: Lucas Leyva is a very talented person. I am sure that we will be hearing that name more often with time. Both of his films were the cream of the crop using Miami, Florida as an important, yet unspoken, character. It is said to be based on a true story about a homeless man who caught a five-foot shark and was unsuccessful at selling it, so he just left it in the middle of the street. “Reinaldo Arenas” is beautifully shot as the movie through the eyes of a dying shark.

“The Life and Freaky Times of Uncle Luke” is an artistic comedy – picture the starting credits to “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” on LSD. It stars Luther Campbell of 2 Live Crew as the titular Uncle Luke. The movie is a loose translation of “La Jetee.” In this case, it is almost a retelling of the influence 2 Live Crew had during the late 1980s and early 1990s. However I do not remember time travel when they released “Banned in the U.S.A.”

“A Chjána (The Plain)” by Jonas Carpigano is a gritty picture about African immigrants struggling in Italy. It definitely keeps you at the edge of your seat. Jonas Carpigano’s pacing is great and he has a knack for storytelling.

The Bad: Outside of the three films, everything was an existential mess. “My Friend Kills Time,” “REMAINS,” and “Sea Meadow” are too similar in the sense they feature a main character looking into the camera far too long while dancing to express faith, death and fatalism. These movies carry on too long. The “REMAINS” was probably the worst of the lot using answering machine messages dressed over life’s precious images.  It is basically a bad shortcut to Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life.” I was waiting for some dinosaurs to show up and wrestle against the fetus.

I do not know if you have figured it out but I did not like Narrative Shorts 2. These films just gave me an odd feeling where I can only be smart if I “got” these films. They were simply too “artistic” for the sake of art. Narrative Shorts 1 surely proves that between these triplets, they are more fraternal than identical.

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“Marley” was one of the highlighted feature documentaries here at South by Southwest this week. “Marley” was directed by Kevin McDonald, director of the widely acclaimed “Last King of Scotland.” It was displayed to a packed house at the lovely Paramount Theatre to a growing amount of buzz, with a line stretching around the block — and then some.

The film chronicles the life and times of international Reggae superstar Bob Marley. The movie does a great job at creating a sense of connection with its subject, in particular of explaining Marley’s Rastafarian beliefs and knocking the whole “stoner myth” off its moorings.

If I learned one thing, it was that being Bob Marley was a difficult task, which in turn made him a complex individual.  The man survived an assassination attempt, and yet, what dogged him the most was that at the height of his international superstardom, the faces that were looking back at him did not look like him.  This pursuit sends him to Africa to mixed results.

The good: The musical interplay between Marley and the challenges and triumphs he encountered play out seamlessly. Unlike other biographies in the past relating to Johnny Cash, Kurt Cobain, John Lennon or Jim Morrison, this one comes closer to being even-handed, but not close enough for my liking.  It is a good thing to shine your idols to the light, and not pretend as if you owe them money.

The bad: Unless you really, really, really want every detail from Bob Marley’s life you will find that this documentary runs a bit long, as it clocks in at 2 hours and 24 minutes.  Like most documentaries, this movie starts making excuses for Marley. For example, when it is revealed that he had 11 different children, it is explained away with a “Bob was going to be Bob” nuance.  His wife, Rita Marley, looks so visually uncomfortable as she remembers those days.

The reaction people at the theatre had: It was somewhat hard to tell, because it seemed I was locked in with hundreds of Bob Marley apologists – needless to say, they ate it up.  The funniest, or rather most ironic, thing was the audience reflected the same audience from the concert footage.

I feel that this movie will be popular among Marley fans and self-appointed Rastafarian hipters.  There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that this film will essentially become the definitive authority on Bob Marley – much how Oliver Stone’s “The Doors” became the gospel of Jim Morrison and spawned a generation of summer leather jacket-wearing alcoholic poets. I do not think this will be the case with this film, but the tongue-in-cheek release date of April 20 is not lost on anyone. In other words, I do not feel that this movie will win Mr. Marley any new fans. Yet my question is why it took this movie so long to be made – but now that it is here, it is worth at least a viewing.

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Descuento Libre is a discount website that has been working to break into the Latino market since its launch in 2011. At a panel Monday at South By Southwest in Austin, Group Buying for the Latino Demographic, several people at the organization presented about the ways in which they’d attempted to break into the online Latino consumer market.

Boris Portman, CEO of Descuento Libre, said that Latino group buying is a good market because there’s less competition for this demographic. Although Latinos are mobile and tech savvy, as well as being early adopters of technology, this particular slice of the group deal pie has yet to be fully claimed.

One way Descuento Libre is working to snatch it is by expanding from the U.S. into Mexico. While there are 22 million online Latino shoppers in the U.S., there are 25 million more in Mexico, a market that Portman termed “one the fastest growing e-commerce markets in the world.”

“Since we launched, we’ve been working to discover the best approach to engaging Latinos online with brands and retailers through incentives such as coupons and deals,” said Alexandra Landeros the company’s social media director. “Our goal is to foster loyalty between customers and the businesses to create a mutually beneficial relationship.”

There’s a lot of money at stake here. Between the U.S. and Mexico, there’s $25 billion dollars worth of online spending up for grabs. The presentation was interesting for describing the different ways in which the company worked to monetize its idea. They tried local radio giveaways, Mexican food deals and more. Moving forward, Descuento Libre is set to expand their group buying from the Internet into a text message-based model.

But, the company reps maintained, because Latinos over-index on e-commerce by almost 20%, it’s certainly a fruitful thing to pursue.

“Los Chidos” played recently at the South By Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas. It is the new film by Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, a musician of At the Drive-In and Mars Volta fame.  The movie is a fable that deals with an American stranger who has car trouble and happens on the hapless tire shop owned by the title family, Chidos, and their immoral adventures from that point on.

“Los Chidos” are a mess of a family. The matriarch prays for their worthless souls on a regular basis to no avail — until the Lord enlightens her to do what must be done.

What works: The first half of this movie is almost flawless. The comedic timing by the characters cuts deep. I found myself laughing more at the asides than the main dialogue. Rodriguez-Lopez claimed that his intention was to expose the male psyche — and he does a great job at it. He exposes such themes as domestic abuse and homophobia.

What does not work: This movie unravels into a hot steaming pile of absurdities. The last half of this movie is almost so bad it negates the brilliant first half. I would almost say it’s a “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”-meets-”Freeway”-with a touch of “Y Tu Mamá También.”  It goes from being a movie built on social satire to unsettling fable on the turn of a dime.  This is definitely not a date movie.  Rodriguez Lopez insists that there is a message there, but it is hard to dissect between the severed sex organs, cannibalism and incest.

What the audience reacted to:  The onscreen goriness was too much for a handful of people, who chose to walk out. I cannot blame them, simply because this movie culminates into a scene so outwardly obscene that it makes the ear cutting scene from “Reservoir Dogs” look like “Looks Who’s Talking.”

The only way I would be able to recommend this movie would be if you walked out after the first act because the film simply snowballs into something that needs defending. Rodriguez-Lopez insists that the American stranger suffers the worst fate of all, but I would disagree, given the “Sopranos”-like ending. Rodriguez-Lopez told us that this movie dealt more with the male psyche than race or ethnicity; however, I feel that race and ethnicity do a play a major role in here.

The Mexican Chidos exploit the American stranger for his money, paying off their debts, tabs and alcoholic sensibilities, but in the end he brings them closer together after by executing a revenge plot against a relative of Los Chidos who kidnaps him and leaves him to die.

I liked this movie, but only because I like some pretty messed up things.  I think the last time I turned my head this many times was when I was watching Lawrence Olivier torture Dustin Hoffman in a dentist chair during “Marathon Man.” I do not know if I should feel worse about myself, or simply take a Purel shower in order to make me feel better about my strange tastes.

This is definitely not a date movie.

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Narrative Shorts 1 played at the Alamo Draft House and featured a collection of short films that I promise will leave you emotionally drained – but that is a good thing.  The films screened Saturday at the South By Southwest Festival in Austin dealt with heavy subjects, like the death of a newborn child to a man who leaves his abortion money on the night stand. It suffices to say that there were few comedies, too.

The filmmakers leave it all on the screen as they convey a raw emotion that hits a nerve. 

Narrative Shorts 1 included: “Another Bullet Dodged” by Landon Zakheim, “The Chair” by Grainger David, “Liar” by Adam Garnet Jones, “A Fábrica” by Aly Muritiba, “Joy” by Colm Quinn, “Little Dad” by Noah Pritzker, “Not Far From the Abattoir” by Kyle Thomas and “Syndromes” by The Golden Filter and Kristoffer Borgli.

The Good:  “Another Bullet Dodged”, ”The Chair” — these two were the best —  but “A Fábrica”, “Joy”, “Little Dad”, “Not Far From the Abattoir” were all great films.

“Another Bullet Dodged” follows a young woman and young man and what they deal with when they have an abortion, and the implosion of a relationship that once was, but has now become simple gestures grasping at familiarities.  The young man is so slimy and repulsive that it made me uncomfortable in my own seat a handful of times.  He makes Rush Limbaugh look like Susan B. Anthony.  He goes from bad to worse and by the end of the film there is simply no redemption for him.

The other film, “The Chair” is about a young boy who deals with a deadly mold epidemic that kills his mother and then the people in his South Carolina town.  This is a poetic film that unfolds stanza by stanza with such beauty and an echoing depth.

The Bad:  “Syndromes” carried too long, which is kind of tragic when it comes to a short film.  There is not much dialogue and a lot of imagery that is more of a throwback to Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun” video from the mid 1990s.  It is about a young girl who can heal the sick, but this leads to her own.

Audience Favorite: Most of the public reacted to “Joy” by Colm Quinn.  This film deals with a school girl giving birth to a baby who dies a couple of hours afterwards.  She then deals with the baby’s corpse being left in the room as a sort of coping mechanism.  The whole theatre had a collective “aha” moment when the curtain was pulled and the deceased baby was revealed.  During the Q&A period there were multiple testimonials by people who were moved to share their own personal experiences.

Without a doubt this was the best series of shorts I have attended where I was impressed by one right after another.  “The Chair” was great in expressing mankind’s helplessness when it can no longer look at either God or science for salvation.  I cannot recommend these shorts enough although “Syndromes” felt a bit cold and out of place.

By Jessika Gomez-Duarte

In the the SXSWi panel “How Digital Softened Brazil’s Iron Lady” Andrew Paryzer, Director of Accounts at Blue State Digital, shared the story of Dilma Rousseff’s 2010 presidential campaign – which not only led to Brazil’s first female president, but also the first time in which a Brazilian candidate used social media to connect with voters online.

By leveraging diverse social media channels, including Twitter, Rousseff’s team was able to introduce and humanize a candidate who was not originally seen as telegenic or charismatic. Rousseff’s team had to soften her image from the title, “The Iron Lady”, and personalizing the candidate using social media was the tool to do that.

On the first day of her campaign, Rousseff launched a Twitter account (@dilmabr) to engage with her audience. This strategy was complemented through a site created by her party (http://www.participa.com.br/), which focused on action over content consumption by providing activists with tools to mobilize their communities.

Immigration and LGBT advocates spoke about the ways in which they utilized digital media to organize around their issues and campaigns at the Still Invisible? Waging Stories with Social Media panel Sunday at South By Southwest.

The short version is that, via tools like Twitter and video, activists were able to push through changes to anti-immigrant and anti-LGBT legislation, such as deportation policy and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

Panelists included DREAMer and Presente.org organizer Felipe Matos and Change.org Director of Organizing Jackie Mahendra. Both spoke to the fact that, via tools like Twitter or Vimeo, tangible changes came about.

“We challenge [institutional stakeholders] to their face, and they have to react to us, but we also use Twitter,” Matos said, adding that blogs were also helpful in allowing him to define his own narrative. The Internet, via tools like Twitter, also allowed DREAMers to create a national organizational network that spans 30 states, he said. Every time he appears on TV he gets feedback from others who are interested in joining — via social media channels of course — and conversely, he uses social media to gain access to traditional media platforms like TV shows.

“It happens often,” Matos said, of being able to engage institutional folks via Twitter specifically.

Jake Brewer, a surrogate for Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and undocumented immigrant Jose Antonio Vargas, said that digital storytelling is a whole different ballgame. Vargas did not attend the panel, due to a family emergency, but Brewer said the launch of his project Define American showed them that a truly social platform creates a community that catalyzes change. People may not open their mail or emails but they will almost always see a Twitter mention, he said.

Mahendra concurred, noting that a great cause combined with potent use of social media technologies can bring very tangible outcomes for activists online. “If you have this great mix of an amazing story and are able to tweet a journalist — you can see amazing results.”

By Armando Rayo

Today at the SXSWi Panel: Accelerating Killer LatAm Startups, Panelists Pedro Torres Picón, David Weekly, Carolina Rossi and Yang shared some interesting insights on the entrepreneurial trends happening south of the border.

Rossi mentioned that one of the reasons for Chile’s momentum is because, as the leading producer of copper in the world, funding is now more readily available. She sees a growing trend of powerful organizations that are investing and providing funding for startups.

Also capturing the excitement – “more and more people are joining the middle class, the internet’s penetration has increased, the consumer is growing and they are going more and more online,” discussed Yang.

Interestingly enough, many of the startups are not serving the Spanish speaker. With Spanish being the second global language of the world, this is an isolated opportunity that has been missed.

Some key barriers entrepreneurs are facing are motivation, lack of educated investors, executing logistics and funds. Twitter and Facebook have been integral in assisting distribution and building networks.

This SXSW Interactive Coverage was Sponsored by Univision News

The White House is increasingly utilizing digital platforms in order to more effectively do outreach with the Latino community, according to a The White House on The Road panel Saturday at South By Southwest. And doing so is of particular importance to president Barack Obama because, according to José Rico, Executive Director for the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, Latinos are essential to the future of the United States.

A recent study released by the initiative found that more than 3,000 Latinos across the country have been involved in meetings organized by the group. Social media guru Giovanni Rodriguez noted that these folks were organized in part online. Given that Latinos out-index almost all other groups on Facebook and Twitter, and thanks to online grassroots organizations like LATISM and Hispanicize, both state and federal governments have started to look at those groups for guidance, he said.

Specific to the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, Rico said that Latinos are the future of the U.S. because one in three children born in the country are Latino, “if we are going to create the workforce of the 21st century, we need to make sure this population is prepared.”

Echoing the promise of the American Dream several times, noting that ones’ children could work hard to be better off, Rico said the 3,000 people with whom the initiative engaged wanted the federal government to partner with them to that end. Meeting around five different themes — the economy, education, health care, immigration and Latino heritage — Rico said the White House learned a lot. People are passionate about immigration, he said, and would even “yell” during summits about the issue.

Technology is increasingly a way the White House is seeking to engage Latinos. One way they have tried to engage Latinos is via a smart phone app that provides health care info. They’ve used crowdsourcing to help people understand the financial aid process and FAFSA. Google Docs and Shakira’s 9 million Twitter followers are other tools. And all of this has produced results, Rico said.

“We’ve actually seen a tremendous increase in college enrollment, and a slight but significant rise in high school graduations,” he said. This is due in part to President Obama’s focus on financial aid, he said, but also because of grassroots work to raise awareness of the importance of college to Latinos.

Ultimately, Rico said the White House will continue to engage with Latinos in any way that’s effective, particularly if technology continues to produce results. It’s not only of tremendous importance to Latinos, but the future of our country.

“The future of our democracy, the future of our economy, how we are going to create the new entrepreneur, how we are going to be the most educated country in the world — that rests on the Hispanic community,” he said.

Comedian and author of “How to be Black” Baratunde Thurston gave a keynote speech to a packed crowd at South By Southwest Interactive Saturday afternoon. The gist of his speech was, essentially, that social media and satire/comedy have the power to change the world.

Thurston started his speech by talking about his family members, how former slaves and pioneering women affected his life with their experiences. Then he tied his experiences growing up with this family in an environment which he likened to “The Wire” to his outlook on his work.

He often had the audience in stitches with his self-satirical comedy, noting that he lived “The Wire” in 3D and that “we had everything ‘The Wire’ had except undying universal acclaim and white people who loved it.” Nonetheless, he spoke about how his satirical work at The Onion had inspired people from all over the world, and the effects of it in the U.S.

A large part of his presentation consisted of examples from around the world where satirical comedy — a la “The Daily Show” or cartoons — served as the only outlet for inconvenient truths. Specifically, Thurston noted that China, Egypt, Nigeria, Afghanistan and Iran were places where comedians were pushing the envelope and “revealing important truths mainstream outlets cannot.”

“We look to institutions for trust and they often come up short,” he said. “The media? They’re too busy talking about the state of the media. Comedians are willing to speak the truth.”

You can almost measure the freedom of a society by its tolerance for satirists, he told the audience, and with comedy and social media, everyone who creates content online is creating a revolutionary tool. There’s a need in society of satire, he said, and ultimately this allows us all to participate in the “upgrading of our own humanity.”

By Armando Rayo

This SXSW coverage is sponsored by Univision News. 

Panelists: Andrés Traslaviña & Daniel Medina

Great panel discussion regarding how social media has allowed citizens to engage in the democratic process, increase civic participation and how it’s becoming an equalizer between the rich and the poor.

Colombians have gone from fear on the streets due to terrorist groups like the FARC to  a government and citizens that play a  large role in community participation. They did it in the following ways…

Social cohesion – people involved in the democratic process

Security – ensuring safety among its citizens

Social responsiblity – increase trust and engagement with the poor

Check out the interview with Andrés Traslaviña as he discusses some of his experiences with social media in Colombia. 

[Video By CulturalStrategiesTX; ]

The gist of the “Multi y Mono: A Cultural Advertising Battle” panel at South By Southwest Interactive Saturday morning is that ad agencies, marketers and brands themselves are going to have to completely alter the way they perceive of their audiences in order to continue to prosper. This is due largely because of the growth and mainstreaming of Latinos and African-Americans, according to panelists.

“The concept of ‘general market’ needs to be questioned,” said Sergio Alcocer, chief creative officer of Austin-based LatinWorks agency. “The ad industry is going through a very strong transformation, as ‘multicultural’ becomes truly a source of business.”

Alcocer went on to say that, previously, the ad industry considered “diversity” to be hiring a Latino or African-American person to dedicate themselves to the Hispanic or African-American marketing of that agency. Nowadays, the mindset is more important, and minorities need to participate from the very start of messaging to be effective — not just be an afterthought and “Hispanicize” an ad that’s already been created.

This idea of changing content with changing demographics carries over into the ways in which the ad industry has previously conceived of “Hispanic marketing,” and changes to those ideas. For example, he said the “traditional segmentation model” for Latinos was based on language: not acculturated (Spanish speakers), bicultural (some Spanish) and acculturated (no Spanish). However, Alcocer said recent research from his agency shows that language does not necessarily translate into behavior — which has turned this model on its head.

“There are Hispanics who don’t want to acculturate,” he said, noting that there are mainstream Latinos who speak Spanish at home. Thus, it’s incumbent upon brands and agencies to move away from hiring a “Hispanic guy” and move towards incorporate Latinos and Latino marketers into branding from the very beginning.

Another topic of discussion amongst panelists was not only how agencies are tying in the idea of diversity, but how they are recruiting people of color to work for them. It seemed to be that mainstream ad agencies are whiter than in previous years while multicultural agencies were described as being like the “UN.”

Leslie Wingo of Sanders/Wingo said one solution to the pipeline issue of “we just can’t find any good minority talent” is to look outside of the industry to talented people in other fields, such as lawyers or anthropologists. “We need writers, we need people who understand cultures, who speak Spanish, Chinese, who come from different backgrounds,” she said. “It’s about understanding the people that you are trying to communicate with, not at.”

Kelli Coleman is the Executive VP at GlobalHue concurred, noting that the idea is to find people who varied backgrounds who understand cultural nuances. You may not find this waiting for it to come out of the “traditional” pipeline, you may have to get creative about it if you want to find it, which you must if you want to be successful in the future.

NewsTaco, The Latino Daily, will be in Austin, Texas beginning Friday, March 9, 2012 to cover the South by Southwest Music Conference and Festival (SXSW) including Interactive, Music and Film through the end of the festival, March 18.

NewsTaco’s presence is part of a growing level of Latino participation in SXSW, which began in 1987. Also included this year is The Social Revolución, which includes a Latino Lounge, Revolucionario Awards and after party sponsored by Univision News.

Throughout the festival, we aim to cover SXSW panels, films and bands focused on the rising influence of Latinos, who constitute roughly 16% of the U.S. population.

“Latinos are a growing voice and a critical part of the mainstream conversation. We are excited to bring our unique perspective to this year’s SXSW and look forward to creating a new kind of dialogue about technology, music, film and culture,” said Editor, Sara Inés Calderón.

NewsTaco staff present at the event will include:

• Sara Inés Calderón (Editor) covering SXSW Interactive, on Twitter @SaraChicaD
• Renée Saldaña (Contributing Editor) covering SXSW Music, on Twitter @Copuchenta
• Oscar Barajas (Film Critic ) will focus on SXSW Film, on Twitter @Oscarcoatl

Receive updates, interviews, photos, videos and more beginning March 9 through March 18 at NewsTaco, Facebook.com/NewsTaco or @TheNewsTaco on Twitter.