Imagine moving from a small Andean village to the crazy world of New York City.Mitch Teplitsky has done just that, but his beautiful documentary film is more than imagination - it is the reality of a woman who picked up her life and relocated it to the Big Apple.
I had the pleasure of chatting with Teplitsky, the Director/Producer of "Soy Andina." The title translates to "I am Andean," and the woman whose life it follows came to the United States from a village in the Peruvian Andes.
"Soy Andina tells the intersecting stories of two New Yorkers – a modern/hip-hop dance dancer raised in Queens, and a folkloric dancer from the Andes – on a dazzling odyssey through Peru in search of roots and a world of folkloric dance." (More...)
Soy Andina will have its second showing tonight as part of the Chicago Latino Film Festival. It's a lush film, beautiful in its cinematography and dancing, incredible scenery and a compelling storyline. It will show tonight (Monday, April 14) at 8:30 p.m. at Instituto Cervantes, 31 W. Ohio Street, Chicago (directions here).
Mitch and his lovely wife Doris were enjoying coffee at Common Cup, on this bright and sunny morning in Rogers Park, Chicago. I was, of course, blogging. The Teplitskys were at the table next to me and Mitch politely interrupted my conversation with a fellow patron."I'm sorry to interrupt," he said with a warm smile, "but I heard that you blog. What do you blog about? What's your web site?"
"This neighborhood, mainly, and other things," I said, adding, "I'm a crazy right wing reactionary."
Again with the warm smile. "I like this neighborhood," he said. "I'll look at your blog."
"Don't hate me after you read it," I said, half kidding."I'm a blogger, too," he smiled.
The usual questions ensued. Where are you from, what are you doing in Chicago. He enthusiastically told me about his Soy Andina. He described the film as a "can you go home again?" story.
"Can you go home again?" I asked.
"It's where you heart is, truly," he said.
Mitch met Doris while working on another film project in Peru several years ago. She is a native of Peru. Mitch is a New Yorker, through and through. Through traveling in Peru, the many stories that Doris must have told him, and his researches for the documentary, Mitch Teplitsky is an expert on all things Peruvian.
To get a taste of Peru, check out Soy Andina. If you miss it at the Chicago Latino Film Festival, you can get a copy on DVD. Go to the film's web site for more information.
