Film

Latin American Showcase

The 27 Latin American films selected this year make up a kaleidoscopic panel of heavy impregnation. Amongst films celebrating the ethnic and cultural identity of the continent there are others that hover above it questioning it as they flirt with it in an ambiguous and provocative way.

From Chile, Mexico and Guatemala come works that focus on the position of indigenous people in the modern world, their wisdom and view of the world confronted with the aggressive needs of a society which uses the natives and disposes of them the way they see fit.

Two beautiful and strong works highlight the Peruvian production: while an unlikely and debauched fictional Klaus Kinski's son takes us on a ride on his motorcycle taxi through the streets of Iquitos, in the very Peruvian Amazon where Werner Herzog filmed Fitzcarraldo, filmmaker Claudia Llosa projects the sweet and investigative feminine look of her feature films Madeinusa and La Teta Asustada within the difficult and violent transvestite universe of Lima.

Argentina comes with a particular psychological cinema, movies that dive deeply into the work of actors presenting disturbing narratives that cause discomfort while undoubtedly seducing the viewer with their intriguing and mysterious characters. And as final proof of the great peculiarities of the selection this year, there's a thriller from Uruguay a dense and strange foray into the delta of a Venezuelan river, a typical Mexican wrestling filmed in subjective camera, and a small and friendly Caribbean dog-movie.

Latin America is a continent that reinvents itself and keeps surprising us with its inventive cinema, fearlessly facing its darker side and contradictions.

Selected films:
AF ANTÜ, de Alberto Gajardo - Chile
CUANDO SEA GRANDE / WHEN I GROW UP, de Jayro Bustamante - Guatemala, France
EL AMOR CAMBIA / LOVE CHANGES, de Ignacio Ceroi - Argentina
EXTRACORPUS, de Bernardo Antonaccio - Uruguay
FLEXING MUSCLES, de Charles Fairbanks,Charles Fairbanks - Mexico, United States
GOING KINSKI, de Smokey Nelson - Peru, United States
HUMBOLDT, de René Castillo Ibaceta,Nicolas Cortes - Chile
LA MAÑANA DE NAVIDAD / CHRISTMAS MORNING, de Gastón Margolin,Martín Morgenfeld - Argentina
LA NIÑA MALA / BAD GIRL, de Jorge De León Amador,Jorge De León Amador - Cuba
LA NOCHE ANUNCIA LA AURORA / NIGHT ANNOUNCES DAWN, de Gerard Uzcátegui,Gerard Uzcátegui - Venezuela
LA NORIA / THE WATERWHEEL, de Karla Castañeda,Karla Castañeda - Mexico
LA SANTA / THE BLESSED, de Mauricio López Fernández - Chile
LILA, de Sebastian Dietsch - Argentina
LOXORO, de Claudia Llosa,Claudia Llosa - Peru, Spain, Argentina
MAGNOLIA, de Diana Montenegro Garcia,Diana Montenegro Garcia - Colombia
MARI PEPA, de Samuel Kishi Leopo - Mexico
MOJARRA / WHILE IT RAINS, de Lucia Garibaldi - Uruguay, Brazil
NOELIA / NOELIA, de María Alché - Argentina
NUBES / CLOUDS, de Manuel Abramovich - Argentina
OLAS NEGRAS / BLACK WAVES, de Geraldine Guardia,Viviana Alvarez,Geraldine Guardia - Chile
PAAL, de Christoph Müller,Victor Vargas Villafuerte - Mexico, Switzerland, Canada
POTHOUND, de Christopher Guinness - Trinidad And Tobago
PUDE VER UN PUMA / I COULD SEE A PUMA, de Eduardo Williams,Eduardo Williams - Argentina
QUIJOTE Y MARTIN FIERRO / QUIXOTE AND MARTIN FIERRO, de Maria Eugenia Mendez - Uruguay
RATITAS / SCOUNDRELS, de David Figueroa,David Figueroa - Mexico, United States
YEGUAS Y COTORRAS / MARES AND PARAKEETS, de Natalia Garagiola - Argentina