Synopsis:
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.

After 15 years in New York, Nélida Silva returns to her birthplace in the Andes to fulfill a lifelong dream of hosting the Fiesta Patronal-a week of dance, music, and ritual honoring the town’s patron saint. But Neli's changed, and so has the village. What's it like to go back to the Andes when you've become a New Yorker? After meeting Neli, Cynthia Paniagua, a dancer raised in Queens by a Peruvian mom, embarks on her own Peruvian journey, determined to know the real Peru and understand its art forms. Soy Andina is an exuberant cross-cultural road trip, propelled by traditional music and dance rarely seen outside the country. But the core story is intimate and universal: a yearning for roots and connection in a globalized world.

Website:
www.soyandina.com

Trailer:
http://www.soyandina.com/weblog/video_clips/index.html

Bio:
Director/Producer: Mitch Teplitsky
Mitch is a documentary producer and marketing consultant. This is his first film. It took him long enough! Back in the 70's he used to annoy his sisters with a super-8 camera in suburban New Jersey. Somehow he ended up at Wharton Business School and worked for companies like Viacom, Arbitron, MTV and the NY Times. Fortunately he got laid off. That forced him to remember what he used to really like to do - tell stories. He bought his first movie camera in 20 years, and called the Film Society of Lincoln Center.
He became the Film Society's first-ever marketing director. On weekends, he headed to the Bronx to videotape his grandma. Or to Jersey for Peruvian parties with long-time friend Nelida. One day, Neli told Mitch she was returning to Peru for a festival -wanna come? Hmm....He bought a new camera and began annoying her, documenting - Nelida and Cynthia all over Peru, and back to Jersey. Talk about coming full circle.

Crew:
Mitch Teplitsky - Writer and Producer
Ingrid Patetta - Editor
Diana Logreira Campos - Editor

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