Latin American Film Series
The Center for Latin American Studies presents a film series on a particular theme each quarter of the academic year. CLAS faculty specialists in Latin American cinema determine the theme and choose feature films to be shown on alternate Wednesday evenings during the semester. Graduate students specializing in film/cultural studies serve as film series coordinators. Among their duties is an introduction to each film, covering essential background information on filmmakers, actors, and cultural context. All films in a language other than English have English subtitles. The Latin American Film Series is free and open to the public. Children (accompanied by an adult) and teens are welcome, but discretion is advised as most films are not rated.
Latin American Literatures and Cultures faculty who contribute their expertise to the film series:
Abril Trigo
Laura Podalsky
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SPRING 2013
Latin American Film Series
NEW POETIC REALISMS:
HUMAN LANDSCAPES AND THE DOCUMENTARY IMPULSE
Wednesdays at 7:30PM
180 Hagerty Hall, 1775 College Road
OSU Columbus Campus
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
All films subtitled in English
| Date | Film | Synopsis |
|---|---|---|
| January 9 |
Nostalgia de la luz / Nostalgia for the Light |
In Chile's Atacama Desert, astronomers peer deep into the cosmos in search for answers concerning the origins of life. Nearby, a group of women sift through the sand searching for body parts of loved ones, dumped unceremoniously by Pinochet's regime. (France-Germany-Chile-Spain-US, Patricio Guzmán, 2010, 90’) |
| January 23 |
En el hoyo / In the Pit
|
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best World Documentary at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, In the Pit is a powerful portrait of the construction workers responsible for building the second deck on Mexico City's heavily-congested Periferico Freeway between 2003 and 2005. Juan Carlos Rulfo''s film captures the honest spirit of men and women who face mortal danger on a daily basis, working without modern equipment to complete more than 10 miles of concrete roadway and support towers that soar above the densely-packed barrios. "The unlikely beauty...is just one of the surprising complexities of this latest in an extraordinary wave of Mexican nonfiction cinema" (Robert Koehler, Variety). In Spanish with English subtitles. Juan Carlos Rulfo---Mexico---2006---84 mins. |
| February 6 | Copacabana | A moving portrait of the Buenos Aires Bolivian community, Copacabana is Rejtman’s impressive first entry into nonfiction filmmaking. The formal restraint of Rejtman’s comedies is beautifully applied to this gently paced documentary that uses the carnival celebrations of the Virgin of Copacabana as an entry point into the vibrant Bolivian neighborhood. With its absence of voiceover and minimal dialogue, Copacabana interweaves the music and dance of the rehearsals and street celebrations into the daily lives and labor of the Bolivian immigrants who work with pride to preserve the memories and culture of their distant homeland. In Spanish with English subtitles (Argentina, Martín Rejtman, 2006, 56 min.) |
| February 20 |
Montoneros, una historia / A History of Montoneros |
Filmmaker Andrés Di Tella’s first feature film tells the story of the Montoneros, an important guerrilla group in Argentina during the1970s, through the perspective of Ana Testa, a former militant. [LP-(Argentina, Andrés DiTella, 1994, 89 min.) |
| March 6 |
Edificio Master |
The daily lives and routine of 37 families living in a huge 12-story building in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro: their drama, aspirations, intimate revelations, loneliness, dreams... (Brazil, Eduardo Coutinho, 2002, 110 min) |
| March 20 |
Cocalero |
"Outstanding" says The New York Times about this portrait of Evo Morales, the Aymara Indian farmer who became Bolivia's first indigenous president in 2005. The filmmakers gained unprecedented access to Morales as he, backed by a union of Bolivian farmers, led a controversial campaign against his government's US-backed war on coca leaf growing. A cinema verite approach lends itself to this tale of a working man's optimism and determination. To put his triumph in perspective, the film shows Morales locking arms with Cuban leader Fidel Castro and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, whose countries would form an "Axis of Good" against American imperialism. An Official Selection at Sundance and the NYC Human Rights Watch Alejandro Landes---Bolivia---2006---94 mins. |
| April 3 | Del olvido al no me acuerdo / Juan, I Forgot I Don’t Remember |
Made by the son of famed Mexican writer, Juan Rulfo, Del olvido... purports to be the son’s search for his father among the people who knew him. But as their memory betrays them, the film becomes a brooding reverie on love, memory, death, and old age. (México, Juan Carlos Rulfo, 1999, 70’) |
| April 17 | Mutum | Brazilian-born filmmaker Sandra Kogut made her fiction feature debut with “Mutum” (2007), a film she hoped would “blur the line” between documentary and fiction. Based on the coming of age novel “Campo Geral” (1964) by Joao Guimaraes Rosa that Kogut adapted with Ana Luiza Martins Costa, “Mutum” is set in the sertao, an isolated part of Brazil’s interior. The story’s center is ten-year-old Thiago (Thiago da Silva Mariz), a dreamer at odds with his harshly practical and increasingly violent father. The tiny village where they live was built for the film, built from the same materials as real ones; the film has no score, only the naturally-occurring sounds made by birds, animals, insects and day to day activities. The result is a film that doesn’t pretend to be a documentary, but nonetheless feels intensely real. (Brazil-France, Sandra Kogut, 2007, 92 min) |