Check out this trailer for Protocolo (Protocol) a short film about a malfunctioning “American-Chinese Cloning Company” machine. The film was made by Rodrigo Hernández as his film school senior project. He is working on a feature-length film based on the short’s premise.
Hernández will be presenting his short this weekend at SciFi London.
Source: El Economista
Filed under Movies, Sci-fi Conventions & Fan Events
This weekend (September 15-16) was the Kaisen Festival at the Cosme Beitia Coliseum in Cataño, Puerto Rico. I had the opportunity of going on the Saturday and it was a delight. There is something about Kaisen that you can’t get at the larger, flashier Puerto Rico Comic Con (PRCC). Since it’s held in smaller locations across the island, it is cozier. You can easily find your friends, stalk cosplayers for a picture, and sit in the stands to just people watch. Parents and People Who Get Tired (me) find this sitting thing very convenient. Cosplayers have a place to rest yet not miss out on the onstage magic performances, singing, skits, and the random car-with-the-headlights-on announcements. At the PRCC you’d have to sit out in the halls to get a break from the crowd. Also, Kaisen has free parking and is way more wallet friendly. Of course, there are fewer vendors (I noticed a serious lack of local comic book artists this time- there were maybe three) and no visiting guests but for the price I would say Kaisen does what it does beautifully. Besides the cosplay contests and skits, they have video gaming, card play, a movie marathon and small workshops related to fan life. They have built a supportive community online and the organizers have events throughout the year to keep people entertained and excited about the next convention. Even if they don’t have something going on, they will post about fandom events from other organizations.
I have posted the pictures above and others as a Facebook album. For more information about Paquines.com (the Kaisen Festival organizers), visit their website here and their Facebook page here.
Filed under Sci-fi Conventions & Fan Events
Kaisen Infinity poster
The Kaisen Infinity convention was held this past Saturday May 7th at the Fernando (Rube) Hernández coliseum in Gurabo, Puerto Rico. This is the main event of Paquines, a nonprofit organization of fans of comics, anime, science fiction and other hobbies on the island. (Paquines are the same people behind the Karibukai Animation Festival.) The main attractions of Kaisen (besides local retailers of fandom goodies) are the cosplay contests, gaming tournaments, model exhibits, live music, and fan skits.
Welcome to Nana Cafe
Kaisen attracts people of all ages and fandoms, although most of the cosplaying (and merchandise) I saw was inspired in anime.
This was the first time Kaisen was held in Gurabo, a town in the central eastern part of Puerto Rico. The relatively new coliseum was an ideal place for this event. It was spacious, fully air-conditioned, with ample parking and a great location. People came from all over the island to enjoy the festivities.
Some highlights of the day:
Furries represent!
An impromptu dance based on the Caramelldansen meme everybody seemed to know and I had to look up later. A lion furry started it as a solo dance and people just jumped in behind him. It was definitely a great moment of the Con. Here is a video I found on YouTube.
Quickly helping Captain America
Another local band present that I didn’t see perform but were lovely to chat with (in spite of their name!) was Death Arrangement.
I was part of the volunteer crew; it was great to talk with fellow genre fans while we attended our duties. A shout out to Paola of Hogwarts Puerto Rico, Aiko, Lavinia, Victor, Karlo, and Alchemist for your Japanese lessons and general camaraderie!
I posted my photos in a Facebook album. Also here’s a slide show with even more pictures- another YouTube find:
Filed under Sci-fi Conventions & Fan Events
This weekend I made it to the Karibukai Animation Festival. I say “made it” because it was raining constantly this past week and I waited until the very last day of the festival for drier weather.
I got the chance to meet Carlos Goméz Nicolás (Nikodemo), creator of the funny animated series from Spain Cálico Electrónico. Niko was freshly arrived from a (wet) tour of El Yunque rainforest. Poor guy came to 
normally sunny Puerto Rico and barely saw the sun. He was nice enough to autograph stickers of his Cálico series for free. Cálico Electrónico is about a short chubby janitor/superhero that fights (or tries to fight) bad guys in Electronic City. Some videos the Cálico website are dubbed into English so if you can’t understand Spanish you’re in luck.
I saw Dig Comics, a pro comic book reading documentary with writer/director/host Miguel Cima (of Argentinean heritage). From what I saw, Cima is very much a comic book fanboy and this documentary is a labor of love. Made me smile. There was a second documentary about comic books called Comic Book Literacy. It was a longish but very educational. I learned something of the history of comics in the United States.
Of the Japanese anime I saw, I found Gundam Unicorn to be the most interesting and will be looking for the DVD. I hadn’t seen any robot anime since Voltron. I thought it had ruined me for anything else.
The shorts contest was disappointing not because of the quality but because of the quantity. There were only three contenders, and three prizes, so it wasn’t exactly a fierce competition. Hopefully next year we’ll get more entries. Here were the winners:
1st place ($250) and Viewer’s Choice award ($150). Fried, Elena Montijo Capetillo. This was a cute dark humor story about a little girl who loves her chickens but each bird is a bit crazy (and the girl too). I voted for this entry because it was the one I liked best. Having it created by a woman was a nice bonus. Check out her promo video at the link. It shows a bit of the winning short starting at 0:37.
2nd place ($200). Boricuas Beyond: Happy Hour, José Luis Collazo. This animated short from the Puerto Ricans in the future series Boricuas Beyond was the one I least enjoyed. Although the animation is excellent, I didn’t like the crude humor. It uses local pop culture and slang heavily so it would be hard to get if you’re not a Puerto Rican living on the island.
3rd place ($150). Ventana, José Vázquez. I’m not sure Ventana was a story, it was more like a look at past and future Puerto Rican cartoon characters, some corporate logos and others from comics and webseries. Vázquez also presented a short called Mad Taíno about a native couple who fight Spanish conquistadors.
I really hope more animators and film producers participate in future Karibukai events. It’s great exposure and the money isn’t bad either. Here’s to next year not having such foul weather that keeps people home. I really enjoyed the event and hope the Karibukai Festival will become a yearly tradition.
Filed under Film Festival, Sci-fi Conventions & Fan Events
Recently I received a press release with interesting news about an animation festival that will take place for the first time in Puerto Rico next weekend. Here are the details: The Karibukai Animation Festival will take place from May 27th to the 30th at the Puerto Rico National Filmotheque in the north wing of the Cuartel Ballajá, near the San Felipe del Morro Castle in Old San Juan. Karibukai will feature full-length animated films along with a contest for local animated shorts. According to their website, Karibukai is the Japanese word for Caribbean.
Some guests attending:
International productions that will be shown include:
Karibukai is organized by Paquines, a nonprofit organization bringing animation, comics, and film fans together in Puerto Rico. Check out the Karibukai official website for more details, film listings, and contest info. I’m looking forward to checking the festival out so if you can’t be in beautiful Old San Juan next weekend, I’ll let you know what went down.
Filed under Film Festival, Sci-fi Conventions & Fan Events
