And now, on to entertainment!

Latino Leaders: The National Magazine of the Successful American Latino, April, 2008 by Corina Miller

It's a great time for film, as shown by the recent Cine Chicano Film Festival and the Orlando Latin American Film and Heritage Festival. Three feature films topped the list at the Cine Chicano Film Festival, which was hosted by REA Communications President Raul Aguirre, including "Nuestra Familia, Our Family," by Orlana Zill de Granados, Julia Reynolds and "Arizona Daily Star" reporter George B. Sanchez, "Runnin' at Midnite," a 2001 basketball drama by director Pablo Toledo, and "Pancho Goes to College" from director Ruben Reyes. The Fourth annual Orlando Latin American Film and Heritage Festival put Latino cultures in the spotlight through film, more than 30 musical acts, 25 artists and a special performance by the Argentina-based neo-tango group Otros Aires. It was an amazing event, full of color and fun.

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Speaking of colorful, check out Madrid's Reina Sofia Museum, which recently opened an extensive collection of works created by the legendary Pablo Picasso, all on loan from the National Picasso Museum in Paris. The exhibit includes an outstanding array of the master's work, including 400 paintings, sculptures, engravings, drawings, notebooks, ceramics and photographs.

Still yearning for an eyeful of awesome art? Then pick up a copy of "Los Gates Black on Halloween", illustrated by Yuyi Morales and check out her award-winning work. Recently, this book and its drawings won the 2008 Pura Belpre Illustrator Award. Yuyi's colleague, Margarita Engle, won the Pura Belpre Author Award for "The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano". Felicitaciones a las dos!

With the election fever in the air, it's to think anything else is gog on in the political world. But there actually is. I heard that the Ya es Hora !Ciudadania! (Citizens, It's Time!) campaign surpassed its original goal of helping one million immigrants apply for US citizenship. The campaign actually reached 1,029,951 last year, nearly double the 2006 amount. Congratulations on a job well done!

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Speaking of jobs well done, kudos to Charles J. Garcia, the first Latino to be selected to chair the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce. Que bueno!

And while we're talking about chambers of commerce and politics, we have to mention that the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce presented 2008 Legislative awards to Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY). Ros-Lehtinen won the President's Achievement Award, presented to an outstanding public servant who has consistently served the Latino community, and Velazquez garnered the Chair's Award, presented to a public servant who embodies the mission and goals of the USHCC and whose work has empowered the Latino community. The awards were presented by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi at the group's 18th annual awards dinner.

Ok how about getting busy with business news? Did you hear that Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim-Helu and his Mexico City-based Grupo Carso is selling CompUSA to Gordon Brothers? Well it's true.

In other business transactions, Hoodiny Entertainment Group, LLC, which parents Cyloop.com, has formed an alliance with Telefonica de Espanas's Terra Portas to power the Terra Music Channel in Spain. Word is that Cyloop will manage content and community aspects of the site, and Terra will market the new Music Channel. Terra.com also joined forces with QuinceGirl.com to reach a bilingual audience, using the site to relay ideas and information about quinceaneras. Check it out at www.quincegirl.com.

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Speaking of smart marketing, did you hear about the waves that Revolucion Hispanic Communications is making? The Hispanic ad agency won five highly coveted Creativity Annual Awards, including a Gold Award for the agency's "Go With the Flow" campaign for Blue Fish's Riesling and three Silver Awards for the Ad Council-sponsored public service campaign for AdoptUsKids, Complete a Life/ Completa una vida, a print ad for Santa Rim's Casa Real, and for Straccali Tuscany's "Right Around the Comer" campaign. The group also won eight Davey Awards, including three Gold and five Silver Awards. Way to go, Revolucion! Fabuloso!

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And last but not least, a couple of new appointments. Arnim Sanchez Holzer as CIO of IDB Bank Asset Management. Felicitaciones, Arnim!

Well, that's all for now. Until next time, keep the good news rolling in. Hasta la proxima!!

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