Latin American Film Festival

Inspired by the debate about a new class of “Granny Slaves” the film examines the plight of a woman who, instead of enjoying a restful old age, is pushed into taking more and more responsibility for the upbringing of her grandchild. The remarkable aestheticism of the cinematography is a tool, which the director uses to convey, through allusion and metaphor, the hidden emotion beneath the surface of every scene. Stunning.

Ricardo struggles to protect his Afro-Amerindian culture and language (Garifuna) from the steady encroachment of the tourist trade. T old in Social Realist style, the film subtly explores the parallels between the iniquities of the British Colonial period and the modern day threat from globalised commerce.

An evocative rendering of deeply Cuban themes, (city and country , male and female, age and youth) told through the unfolding love story between a girl returning to her Holguín home from Havana, and a young, local fisherman.

Arandom encounter between Damian, a married lawyer undergoing a mid-life crisis, and Estela, a local transvestite prostitute, begins a strange relationship between two individuals who seem poles apart but have more in common than they know . Seeing the world through Estela’s eyes, Damian begins to look at things from a different point of view and will soon make a decision that will affect the rest of his life.

Montevideo, set amidst the vastness of land, ocean and river, is the scene of a bloody feud of Shakespearean proportions as two dynasties (one Jewish, one gentile) fight to preserve their honour and tradition. Reus, the district in which the drama plays out, is rich with the narrative and iconography of European émigrés, who long have thrived, clashed and coexisted there, so far from their original roots” perhaps with “European émigrés, who have long thrived, clashed and coexisted there, so far from their native homelands.

An extraordinary melding of vérité-style stories shot on the streets of Montevideo, strung around the central narrative of a popular radio DJ who is searching for meaning in his life. The harsh and evocative city is revealed through beautiful cinematography as the film pokes tentative fingers into some of the darker recesses of Uruguay’s past and present life.

The harrowing story of 10-year-old Miguel’s illegal entry into the US is recounted in flashback as he is being interrogated for shoplifting. The suffering of Miguel (Ramsess Letrado) and his young mother (Denisse Bon) is portrayed in a hard-hitting, but never sentimental way.

Payaguala, a Tehuelche shepherd, lives a solitary and contented life in the wilds of Patagonia, indifferent to the mining and tourist industries gradually encroaching upon his world: until a visitor helps him to set up a solar-powered television (a ‘gift’ from the government). With a wry, satirical glee, the film explores the devastating consequences as Payaguala’s peaceful existence is gradually corroded by this un-looked- for new arrival.

Merciless hit man Max needs help in uploading his “terror videos” (footage of murders, posted on YouT ube to intimidate rival drug gangs). Unsuspecting wedding video-maker , Rafael, ends up teaching Max a lesson in compassion and forgiveness.

A very creative comedy in which innocent and simple-minded Angel loses his job in an insurance company and, with no job in sight, has to look for new ways to earn a living. Inadvertently, he becomes involved with a gang of thieves and a series of crazy money-making schemes they come up with. Naïvely, Angel doesn’t seem to be able to deduce that they are
anything more than well-meaning strangers, helping him out: or, even more to the point, that, as criminals, they are totally incompetent! He agrees to take the lead in a heist that promises to make him both rich and famous; or so he believes.

This uncompromising, hilarious, dark comedy has already won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature at this year’s Santa Cruz Film Festival, and deservedly so. Restrained and observant direction allows the
script and the highly talented cast plenty of scope to develop the wry humour which emerges from a basically desperate situation affecting millions worldwide, today.

The death of a famous American archeologist, Albert Frederick Thomas Jackson, in his adopted home town of San Pedro El Bajo in Guatemala, triggers a bizarre chain of events. For a start, not one but two wives suddenly materialise (an American called Betty Hooter and Soledad, a Guatemalan) with competing claims on the substantial estate left by ‘Mr.
Thomas’.

Things take a stranger turn still when the will seems more concerned with the future of a cow (named Tracy) than the welfare of the wives. It appears that ‘Mr. Thomas’ wishes that, for the greater good, Tracy should become pregnant… and the disposal of his estate rests on this being achieved. For Betty and Soledad, the race is on to get Tracy ready for the bull and effectively serviced without delay…

An achingly funny screwball comedy from way leftfield, satirising the cultural schism between urban and rural Guatemala, as well as the evengreater gap between reality and the word.

“Hermaphrodite” treats of the tragic consequences of intolerance, misunderstanding and fear still generated by the issue of sexual ambiguity in so much of the world. The protagonist Maria was born with the sexual organs of both a woman and a man and she has had to grow to womanhood guarding what seems a terrible secret. One day she meets La Melaza who is on the run from the law, hiding out in the countryside. She is attracted to him but cannot bring herself to tell him the truth: soon, he becomes frustrated with the lack of a physical relationship. It’s only a matter of time before her dual-sexuality must be revealed… but she can only guess at how he will react.

Jorge Zima’s latest film is a wry, sure-footed comedy that extemporises on a classic Argentinean theme (the gap in understanding between the city and the country) with all the skill and bittersweet wit of a tango maestro. Hapless, lovable rogue, Oscar is at the helm of a music production company that is on the rocks. When, by chance, he discovers a
Norwegian band has had an international hit with a remix of a song by one of his former artists, Oscar has to convince his girlfriend Natalia to undertake the exhausting ride through the hills of Cordoba to find the singer (instead of the holiday in Miami he’d promised her). The hunt for the reclusive musician, however, proves to be far from straightforward and the couple become embroiled in a voyage of self-discovery, challenging, sensual and violent by turns, on which they are forced to re-evaluate their relationship, and, even, the very values by which they have been living their lives. Hilarious, moving and magical.

“Night on the Terrace” oozes with implied eroticism. Paola and Diego live a sedate suburban life in Buenos Aires. In an attempt to divert their minds from their comfortable yet stale existence, the couple proudly host a lavish dinner party, which culminates in a tour of their luxurious home. However, it soon becomes clear that the fineness of the surroundings holds little meaning for the couple. Only when a mysterious stranger enters Paula’s lonely life is she reinvigorated, and a bizarre and intriguing love triangle forms, wrought with tension and lust. A film about hidden desire, “Night on the Terrace” brilliantly conveys the emotional chasm existing between our inner world and the outside reality in which our lives unfold.

On the ancient cobblestones of Cuzco, Peru, a postcard-selling street kid, Pablo, encounters a 12 year old American tourist, Mary. Her fascination with the Andean culture and his desire to understand a life beyond his own helps them transcend the language barrier. As their innocent curiosity grows into young love, they soon find it isn’t the only connection they
share.

An uncompromising account of the life of Fernando Quintero, from his rise as a revolutionary leader against the dictatorship of Marcos Perez Jimenez, to the betrayal of his ideals and his complicity in the repression that followed his rise to power.

The death of his son Ephraim, heir of his former revolutionary convictions is the event that triggers his awakening to the false reality in which he has become subsumed. Tormented by remorse for his son’s death and by the realisation of how badly he has betrayed his own people, he desires, finally, only to die. “Days of Power” is a telling parable treating of
Venezuelan society of the 1960s, as it passed from dictatorship to the new oppression of “representative democracy”.

After more than a decade without having released a feature film, Cesar Bolivar, director of some of the most successful Venezuelan movies of the 1980s, returns with a classic tale of revenge.

“Death in High Contrast” is a political thriller-cum action film, that tells the story of Gabriel, son of leftist militants who were killed by a right-wing paramilitary squad known as Grupo Onza. Gabriel witnessed the massacre when he was a child: now, 20 years later he decides to take the law into his own hands. In his quest for justice, he is helped by a reporter, Pepe Grillo, who goes undercover in the search for information. Gabriel starts hunting down the members of the sinister organisation that killed his parents, one by one. However, in the course of his mission, he manages to
fall in love… with the daughter of a man responsible for his parents’ deaths!

Cesar Bolivar has cast the film from some of Venezuela’s greatest stars and most talented actors, while he, himself is among the most accomplished directors the country has ever produced. His skill and commitment is put to excellent use in telling, in an accessible form, the story of contemporary Venezuelan society, which is, in part, a story of polarisation, intolerance, a corrupt underworld and an inescapable cycle of violence.

Cheila returns to Venezuela from Canada to spend Christmas with her family in the beautiful new house she has worked so hard to buy for her mother ‘Maita’. She also brings the news that she is finally in a position to complete the operation to change sex and to realise her dream of “becoming a real woman”. All she needs, now, is the love and support that
only close family can provide. To her horror, she finds the house dilapidated and in a state of chaos, occupied by a crowd of siblings and cousins who quickly transform her dream into a nightmare and make her see her family and her life in a totally different light.

In Florida, two Ana’s live in parallel realities, (or perhaps one Ana’s reality is the other’s illusion). The first Ana has to rise early to get to her soul destroying, low-paid job where she will be working all day. The other Ana is moneyed and able to lead an easy life focussed on self-expression through social status. Fantasy, reality, success, and deception blend in a brilliant comic drama that bends racial and social boundaries and where nothing is as it seems. What constitutes healthy aspiration for a people used to deprivation and toil? Is it worth sacrificing the comradeship and community
feeling that derives from shared hardship, just to accrue personal wealth? These are some of the deeper questions posed in the course of a deceptively simple story.

This first 35mm film in the Quechua language, beautifully restored, recently, by ZDF in Germany, presents a hallucinogenic mix of love story and animistic Peruvian mythology.

15 year old Kukuli lives a simple life in the high Andean mountains of Paucartambo ( a small village in Cusco, Peru). She sets off on a trip to participate in the local annual fiesta. On the way she meets Alako and they fall in love. The young couple encounter a witch, who predicts their premature death. During the fiesta Alako is killed by Ukuku, a legendary figure, half man, half bear, who also abducts Kukuli. In death, the lovers are transformed into llamas: one white and one black; and they fall in love… again…