San Diego Latino Film Festival Poster Winner
The San Diego Latino Film Festival (SDLFF) had a poster unveiling and benefit event, Somo Estrellas at Karina’s Mexican Seafood’s new location downtown. They had over 70 entries from around the world including Canada, Mexico, India and Argentina. The winner, Zoran Cardula is a graphic designer and an artist based in Skopje, Macedonia. Through his poster for the San Diego Latino Film Festival, Cardula said, “I wanted to connect typography and iconography in modern concept. So I have represented famous Latin American symbols and from the film industry through simple and modern icons.”
The image will be used in all aspects of the festival including the program, posters, postcards and T-shirts. The competition started five years ago and is a great way for the community to have input into how the festival is represented. I like that they acknowledge the winner and their accomplishments, there are other festivals with a similar contest but, you must sign a disclaimer that you will never publicly state that you’re the designer. SDLFF knows what’s important when it comes to their approach, the community. Congratulations to this year’s poster winner!
The San Diego Latino Film Festival will celebrate its 22nd edition from March 12-22, at its new home, the AMC Fashion Valley 18 at Simon Fashion Valley. The complete line-up of films and invited celebrities will be announced Feb. 19. http://sdlatinofilm.com
Whale watching
It’s that time of year when over 20,000 gray whales make their journey from Alaska to the lagoons of Baja California. It’s the longest known mammal migration; a round-trip that is 10,000 miles. The females give birth to their calves and spend several months enjoying the warm waters until their young are strong enough to head back, usually around the end of April. They are known to travel either solo or in threes but during peak migration season several pods can be seen together. Lucky for us, San Diego is an ideal place to spot a few.
My Whale watching adventure took place aboard one of Hornblower’s daily cruises. I went on the 9:30 a.m. tour. Every seat provided a good view. The captain also announces sightings over the speaker so you can choose to stay inside and go out on deck later for a closer view. Trained docents from the San Diego Natural History Museum are available to answer any questions you may have. They truly enhanced the 3.5-hour voyage by pointing out where the whales were and explaining their behaviors to passengers. The trip was calm and sunny. We spotted eight gray whales that stayed close to the boat for quite some time.
The captain had a hard time leaving. He’d be ready to head back to shore and then a whale would spout and/or show its fluke, “OK, one more,” he’d say and several passengers would laugh. Flukes are the two lobes of the whale’s tail and differ from species to species. Some researchers use them to identify individuals; because of their distinctiveness they’re like fingerprints. I never though I’d be so excited to see a little spout and a tail come out of the water. The great thing about being local is Hornblower provides a whale-sighting guarantee. No whale, get a ticket to go on another tour. Cruises leave from the San Diego Navy Pier at 970 N. Harbor Drive at 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
You can make a reservation at: http://www.hornblower.com/port/overview/sd+whalewatching
