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The Mad Songs of Fernanda Hussein

United States

2001

168 Min
Color
English
  • Currently 4.6/5 Stars.
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DIR John Gianvito

EXEC John Gianvito

SCR John Gianvito

DP Ulli Bonnekamp

CAST Thia Gonzalez, Elizabeth Pilar, Bonnie Chavez, Carlos Stevens, Carlos Moreno Jr.

MUSIC Johannes Ammon, Jakov Jakoulov, Igor Tkachenko

SOUND Philip Seeger

Synopsis

This downbeat three-part drama tells a trio of stories that focus on different aspects of America’s reaction to the war in the Persian Gulf. Fernanda Hussein (Thia Gonzales) is a Hispanic woman whose husband abandoned her and their children and returned to Egypt, where he was born. With the war in the Gulf at its height, Fernanda is subjected to a daily barrage of racist insults due to the fact that, through marriage, she shares her last name with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, and when her children disappear under mysterious circumstances, Fernanda is left with nowhere to turn and few ways to express her sorrow. In the second chapter, Carlos (Robert Perrea) is a soldier who returns home as a hero after serving in the Middle East. But after spending months cleaning up the bloody damage American air strikes inflicted upon the people of Kuwait, Carlos has a hard time feeling heroic about the aftermath of the war. And finally, tensions mount among the members of a wealthy New Mexico family, as teenage Raphael (Dustin Scott) speaks out against the war, to the great consternation of his parents and siblings. Incidentally, Robert Perrea, who plays a returning Gulf War veteran in the second segment, himself served in the Gulf War as a Marine. –IMDb

Director

Original

John Gianvito

John Gianvito (USA) is a film maker, teacher and curator living in Boston, Massachusetts. His films include The Flower of Pain (1983), Address Unknown (1985) and The Mad Songs of Fernanda Hussein (2001). He is the editor of the book Andrei Tarkovsky: Interviews (2006). His latest film Vapor Trail (Clark) had it’s world premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2010 in the section After Victory. —International Film Festival Rotterdam 

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eric

7May11

Years ago back in 1999 or 2000 I had the opportunity to see this film at the now-defunkt Taos Talking Pictures film fest nestled in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in Taos, New Mexico. This rarely-seen film packs a powerful punch but is a gently paced, compelling narrative and beautifully shot. It is truly an original work!

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Bryter Layter

2Mar11

amazing.. amazing beyond words..

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