Film Screenings
Latino movies playing in your city
In Alberto Isaac’s backstage drama about the Tívoli, a run-down burlesque theater, corrupt politicians live by flagrant double standards – despite being regular attendees at its naked karate acts, erotic religious pageants, and other travesties, they publicly bluster about its obscenity as a blight on the community. From 1975.
Seattle: Feb. 17 at the Northwest Film Forum.
A young theater and film director is hired by a governmental institution to make a documentary about the Lacandones. Upon getting more familiar with the indigenous people, he realizes that the script he has been given to work with depicts a false reality, which leaves him with an existential crisis that throws his life into stark perspective. Raúl Araiza’s film is focused on exposing social problems of Chiapas, reflecting on political demagogy, data manipulation, and official censorship. From 1977.
Seattle: Jan. 20 at Northwest Film Forum.
A cult film by Hiroshi Teshigahara (WOMAN OF THE DUNES), inspired by the wild, undulating, joyously erupting forms of Barcelona architect Antoni Gaudí. Teshigahara's eye for texture, shape, and sensual detail meets Gaudí's whimsy in the cinematic exploration of such masterpieces of visionary architecture as the basilica of La Sagrada Família. The contemporary of artists such as Picasso and Joan Miró, Gaudí drew on Barcelona's medieval Romanesque architecture and ancient Arab culture for his inspiration. This film reveals the intricacy and hallucinatory richness of his concepts through camerawork alone. Forgoing narration, Teshigahara accompanies his images with a brilliantly eclectic selection of music, ranging from baroque harpsichord to glass orchestra.
Chicago: Opens Dec. 21 at the Siskel Film Center.
Laura and Eva, two waitresses, meet with Adrián, a delivery boy whose father treats him harshly. Adrián and his friend Luis go to a cabaret with the waitresses – Laura falls in love with the timid Luis, and Eva gives herself to Adrián. From 1974.
Seattle: Dec. 16 at Northwest Film Forum.
In 1997 the Argentine filmmaker Fernando Birri returned to his home country to film a documentary on the 30th anniversary of the death of Che Guevara and the relevance of utopias at that time. Carmen Guarini decided to record those moments. A rough edit of this film was hidden away on a fragile VHS tape for twenty years. Today, these images come to life and shed some light on the life of this Latin American poet and master filmmaker, who, at the age of 92, still refused to give up on his own utopias. With Fernando Birri, Eduardo Galeano, Ernesto Sabato, León Ferrari, Tanya Valette.
San Francisco: Dec. 12 at the Roxie. A Q&A via Skype with director Carmen Guarini will follow the screening.
What is the passion of Berenice (Martha Navarro)—a widow, teacher, and caretaker of her invalid godmother? “Hate,” she replies. “I know that very well. And I assure you, there’s nothing like it.” The object of her hate, as well as her lust, is Rodrigo (Pedro Armendáriz Jr.), the handsome son of her godmother’s doctor. Berenice is a character driven by contradictions and marked, literally, by mysteries. Writer/director Jaime Humberto Hermosillo is perversely uninterested in reconciling these contradictions: to reconcile them would be to dull them. Instead, via a coolly observational visual style and rigorous characterization, he keeps them disparate yet together. From 1976.
Seattle: Nov. 25 at Northwest Film Forum.
Through a range of differing and subjective perspectives on the complexities of present-day Cuba, a group of documentary filmmakers from the renowned International School of Film and Television (EICTV), craft multiple narratives in collaboration with local production crews and one another. Made within the confines of a specific geographical and temporal frame, the shorts series Based in Havana, marries visions of the outsider looking in with those of the insider looking out, creating nuanced views of contemporary realities, often cast one dimensionally.
Detroit: Nov. 19. Presented by Cinema Lamont.
For more than 30 years, interdisciplinary artist Coco Fusco has explored notions of race, identity, and power through video and performance. She presents two intimate artist portraits centered on concepts of the body, state control, and expurgation, investigating their effects on artistic production and political discourse in Cuba. LA CONFESIÓN explores the public confession of poet and accused counterrevolutionary Heberto Padilla, while LA BOTELLA AL MAR DE MARÍA ELENA focuses on the state intimidation of political reformer María Elena Cruz Varela. These portraits examine the relationship of art and artists to our contemporary political moment.
Chicago: Nov. 8 at the Siskel Film Center.
Diverse cuisine is rarely counted among the cultural phenomena for which Cuba is celebrated; popular notions of Cuba as a place defined by deprivation doesn’t help. A richly comprehensive remedy for this misperception, Cuban Food Stories visits every province in the country to sample a culinary legacy grounded in so much more than rice and beans.
Paragons of Cuba’s characteristic adaptability and creativity, the film’s subjects—which include an artist turned restauranteur and nuclear physicist turned fisherman—create mouth-watering meals with ingredients such as coconut milk, cacao, lobster and river shrimp. Until now devoid of franchises and the fraught agricultural practices that often come with a place at the global economic table, Cuba is undergoing a period of sweeping change, making the preservation of its culinary heritage a priority—and making Cuban Food Stories a must-see.
Nationwide: Playing now. Check here for a screening near you.
“Back in the 1950s, Swedish-American singer William Clauson had a worldwide hit with ‘La Bamba.’ Now he lives in a ramshackle garage in Tijuana, Mexico. In William, the New Judo Master, directors Ricardo Silva and Omar Guzmán show how a Mexican nurse washes his naked old body. ‘How did we get here?’ a voiceover muses. ‘What road led us here? When did we take it?’ This fascinating film essay is about the struggle against time, old age, and transitoriness.
New York: Sept. 20 at Anthology Film Archives.
The ¡Que Viva Cine Latino! outdoor film series will showcase some of the most innovative and critically acclaimed Latino movies from the past 12 months in a unique, outdoor setting. The event will take place every Wednesday in September (Sept 5, 12, 19, 26, 2018) beginning at 6:30 p.m. PT with live entertainment and art exhibits at the Las Americas Premium Outlets.
Films include: Sept. 5: Overboard; Sept. 12: El Jeremías; Sept. 19: Dolores; and Sept. 26: Coco.
San Diego: Sept. 5 - 26. Full details here.
A classic cult film from Alejandro Jodorowsky. A bizarre, ultra-violent, allegorical Western, "El Topo" is set in two halves that have widely been compared to the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. In the first half, Jodorowsky plays a violent, black-clad gunfighter who, accompanied by his naked son, sets off on a murderous mission to challenge four Zen masters of gunfighting, and learns from each of them a Great Lesson before they die. In the second half, El Topo sets out to find personal redemption, secluding himself in a subterranean community to learn the ways of peace, but unfortunately death is never far away.
Coral Gables: August 25 at Gables Art Cinema.
From 1996. A portrait of the writer as a young man. Tristán Romeo (Fernando Ramallo) is about to turn fifteen and looking forward to his sexual initiation when life deals him a losing hand and he’s left to care for his cantankerous grandfather (the great Luis Cuenca). His particular rite of passage will entail coping with loneliness and sorrow, learning to tread the sinewy road to survival. The seeds of David Trueba’s lifelong concerns are all present in his first film, made the year after he published his first novel, Abierto toda la noche (Open All Night). Here is the melancholy humor laced with an understanding of the choices we make and the price we pay for them.
Coral Gables: Opens Aug. 18 at Gables Art Cinema.
The final film by the late Mexican director Eugenio Polgovsky—one of the finest documentary filmmakers of his generation—is a poignant portrait of a family’s fight for survival and the regeneration of their local river. Once known as the Mexican Niagara, the waterfall of El Salto de Juanacatlán was a source of immense joy and continuous sustenance for the villages surrounding it. This natural paradise disappeared when an industrial complex was established across the Santiago River close to Guadalajara. Nowadays its poisonous waters destroy everything in their path, including the memories of the fishermen and farmers who watched their whole world disappear. From among the toxic ruins of the river’s banks, ancient specters emerge as an echo of a lost Eden. The destiny of a river goes hand in hand with that of a village, and humanity itself.
New York: August 14 at Anthology Film Archives.
In 1938, Emma Tenayuca led ten thousand San Antonio pecan shellers in a massive walk out. While the pecan shellers’ strike is recognized by many as the birth of the Chicano movement, it is shrouded in myth and denial about its iconic communist leader. In 1987, workers organized a march of 3,000 through the streets of Nacogdoches — a largely unknown epiphany for black women in Texas. A STRIKE AND AN UPRISING (IN TEXAS) explores both events, using the methods of oral history including myth and humor, and relates these stories strongly to contemporary ideas and events including the removal of the Jefferson Davis statue at UT Austin. The resulting experimental documentary recovers stories of working people in Texas and demonstrates the power of labor and liberation.
Austin: August 8 & 12 at Violet Crown Cinema.
Twelve-year-old Pedro roams the streets with his friends, raised by the violent urban atmosphere around him in a working class district of Caracas. After Pedro seriously injures another boy in a rough game of play, single father Andrés decides they must flee to hide. Andrés will realize he is a father incapable of controlling his own teenage son, but their situation will bring them closer than they have ever been.
Miami: Opens August 3 at Miami Tower Theater.
In 1992 the Soviet Union collapsed. Among those left in limbo are Havana university professor Sergio and Soviet cosmonaut Sergei. Sergio was already struggling to provide for his family when the end of the USSR—Cuba’s main financial supporter—left he and his countrymen in newly dire straits. Sergei, meanwhile, is abandoned in space when the funding to bring him back evaporates. When Sergio, who’s also a ham radio enthusiast, chances upon a channel in direct contact with the MIR space station, he and Sergei become friends—and draw the interest of the authorities.
Miami: Opens July 27 at Tower Theater Miami.
Lucía is director Humberto Solás’ magnum opus, a sprawling historical triptych featuring women (who share the same first name) at a time of significant change on the island. In the 1890s a discontented Lucía (Raquel Revuelta) neglects her husband and becomes involved in the war of independence from Spain taking up with a young insurgent. In the 1930s, Lucía (Eslinda Núñez) is a divorced woman helping to overthrow dictator Gerardo Machado. Finally in the 1960s, Lucía (Adela Legra) is a young field-worker challenging her machista husband. At the time of the film’s making, Solás was a twenty-six-year-old graduate of Rome’s vaunted Centro Sperimentale who embraced Visconti’s flair for melodrama endowing it with sabor cubano.
Coral Gables: July 15 & 17 at Gables Art Cinema.
Silverio tries to migrate to the United States by posing as a Cuban immigrant but becomes unmoored in the middle of the ocean in search of the United States. Chaos and confusion ensue, and Silverio must decide where he really belongs.
Austin: July 14 at Bullock Museum. Includes Q&A. Come early at 6pm for a welcome reception with cash bar.
The acclaimed debut feature by Colombian filmmaker Vladimir Durán – a favorite at the Berlinale’s Forum and winner of the Best Director and Best Colombian Film awards at the Cartagena Film Festival – follows Axel and his older sisters Antonia, Alejandra, and Alicia. They live in an apartment that becomes their kingdom ruled by extravagant policies that they’ve imposed, including locking up their mother, Margarita, in a room. The children communicate with their mother through a small window, giving her blankets, DVDs and reading material, and celebrating her birthday in the corridor. When she’s eventually had enough, it’s Axel who must decide what to do.
New York: July 12 at Anthology Film Archives.
From renowned Chilean director Patricio Guzmán. Water, the longest border in Chile, also holds the secret of a mysterious button that was discovered in its seabed. Chile, with its 2,670 miles of coastline, the largest archipelago in the world, presents a supernatural landscape. In it are volcanoes, mountains, and glaciers. In it are the voices of the Patagonian indigenous people, of the first English sailors and also those of its political prisoners.
Pleasantville: June 26 at the Jacob Burns Film Center.
As the profile of Spanish language cinema continues to rise on the festival circuit, a strong commitment to experimentation remains in the cinema emanating from the region. First-rate film schools in Cuba, Argentina, and Mexico, among other nations, are producing a new generation of filmmakers who eschew the proliferation of digital techniques, returning to tactical analog modes of production (This program features work made on Video8, Super 8, 16mm, Super 35mm, and VHS). Playing with notions of self-reflexivity and nostalgia, real and imagined, these filmmakers test the boundaries of both narrative and documentary genres. Showcasing the diverse voices of these talented young artists, each of the six films highlight the vision and ingenuity of Latin America along with Spain. These shorts have screened at Cannes, Toronto International Film Festival, and New York Film Festival, along with strong Latin American showcases such as the Morelia, Mar del Plata, Valdivia, and Havana film festivals.
Detroit: June 14 at Cinema Lamont.
Smooth-talking barrio Lotharios, sun-drenched streets, and hydraulic trucks named Suavecito weave in and out of Allison Anders’ MI VIDA LOCA. The lives of young Chicana gang members in Los Angeles’ Echo Park neighborhood provide backdrop for a rich, free-form storyline which shifts between various perspectives as each character narrates their own experience.
Writer/director Allison Anders is touring the country to present the film and host Q&A sessions afterwards.
Denver: June 14 at Alamo Drafthouse Cinema.
San Francisco: June 19 at Alamo Drafthouse Cinema.
In this Argentinian film, the main character has nothing but the memories of his mother in Burkina Faso and his recently deceased brother. His brother, however, despite his death, demands attention. The body needs to be recognized before the authorities of an unknown city, the necessary papers need to be taken care of, as do the arrangements to return the body to Burkina Faso: a whole prosaic annex of death with rules that become urgent amidst the mourning. Focusing almost entirely on one character, this singular film reflects on the experience of displacement, as the protagonist sets out on a trip by foot towards an unlikely resolution of his tribulations.
New York: June 5 at Anthology Film Archives.
In 1979 Cuba, flamboyant gay artist Diego (Jorge Perugorría) attempts to seduce the straight and strait-laced David (Vladimir Cruz), an idealistic young communist, and fails dismally. But David conspires to be “friends” with Diego so he can monitor the artist’s subversive life for the state. As Diego and David discuss politics, individuality and personal expression in Castro’s Cuba, a genuine friendship develops between the two. Can it last in such an oppressive environment?
San Francisco: May 26 at the Roxie.
Carmita (Israel Cárdenas and Laura Amelia Guzmán, 2013, 80 min.), which tells the story of Cuban actress Carmen Ignarra, who is exiled in Mexico. The documentary is paired with De Cierta Manera (One Way or Another) (Sara Gómez, 1977, 78 min.), which captures life in Havana after the Cuban Revolution through a blend of storytelling and historical footage.
New York: May 26 at the Brooklyn Museum.
1979's Chicana is a watershed work of the Chicanx Movement that spotlights the political and cultural contributions of Latina women from the Aztec era to the present, with an emphasis on their roles as revolutionary leaders. Shown in a double bill with From Spikes to Spindles, a documentary about Chinese-American identity.
New York: May 19 at BAM.
A Mother’s Day double feature with Diálogo con mi Abuela (Conversation with My Grandmother) (Gloria Rolando, 2015, 40 min.), a familial portrait centering the contributions of Afro-Cuban women. Then, the Academy Award–nominated documentary Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo (The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo) (Susana Blaustein Muñoz and Lourdes Portillo, 1985, 64 min.) tells the story of the activist mothers who challenged the repressive regime in Argentina during the 1970s and 1980s.
New York: May 13 at Brooklyn Museum.
Two films by Cuban director Tomás Gutiérrez Alea: 1972's Una Pelea Cubana Contra Los Demonios (A Cuban Fight Against The Demons) and 1979's Los Sobrevivientes (The Survivors). Hosted by the director of Havana’s Cinemateca de Cuba, Luciano Castillo, and with special panelists: cinematographer Mario García Joya and the actress and widow of Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, Mirta Ibarra.
Los Angeles: May 11 at Linwood Dunn Theater.
Selena Quintanilla was a major figure in Tejano music, a Grammy-winning recording artist, a beloved star in the American Southwest and Mexico, and seemed poised to cross over into mainstream popularity on the U.S. pop charts when she was murdered on March 31, 1995 by the president of her fan club. Written and directed by Gregory Nava, this biopic concentrates on Selena's relationship with her family and her rise to fame, dealing only briefly with her tragic death.
New York: May 10. Free screening in Highbridge Park
