Film by Center for the Study of LA’s Rodriguez To Air On PBS In July
LMU In the News
July 10, 2003
Film by Center for the Study of LA’s Rodriguez To Air On PBS In July; LMU Featured As Documentary Sponsor With New TV Spot
RADICAL CONTRASTS and a common future in the San Diego-Tijuana region are the themes explored in an insightful half-hour documentary entitled Mixed Feelings by Phillip Rodriguez, senior research fellow for The Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University. The film, which premiered nationally on PBS this past March, will be rebroadcast on Monday, July 21, at 10:30 p.m. and again on Sunday, July 27, at 5:30 p.m. Local viewers may view the documentary by tuning in to KCET Channel 28.
As the lead sponsor for Mixed Feelings, LMU partnered with Rodriguez to commission a 15-second TV spot that gives a broad glimpse of the university to viewers, which also will be broadcast at the beginning and throughout subsequent airings of Mixed Feelings. Filmmakers CurrentRutledge, Inc., of Seattle, Wash., produced the spot under the direction of LMU's Communications and Public Affairs Department.
Told from the point of view of area urban planners and architects, Mixed Feelings examines the profound differences between Mexican and U.S. cultures and how these disparities are articulated in the physical environment of their cities.
“You might re-think facile assumptions about life in differing environments [after watching this program],” says Los Angeles Times critic Patrick McDonnell, noting that the film’s "quick cutting, unconventional camera angles, hip Nortec score and aerial shots impart an MTV edge.”
Rodriguez takes a new angle when comparing the two very different landscapes -– the spontaneous, self-made neighborhoods on Tijuana hillsides versus San Diego’s perfectly manicured, master-plan communities -– analyzing the attitudes of people directly affected by the shared border and their differing, often passionate, views. The film artfully explores the dynamic and extreme array of hopes, imaginations, and fears of two uncomfortable neighbors as they move toward a more integrated future.
Funded by KPBS-San Diego, the U.S.-Mexico Fund for Culture, and LMU's Center for the Study of Los Angeles, the original documentary features digital photography and animation by cinematographer Claudio Rocha and music by the Nortec Collective, Bostich and Manu Chao. For more information on Mixed Feelings, visit the website at www.mixedfeelings.org.
Rodriguez is currently at work on a feature-length documentary about Los Angeles for PBS.