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 5 feature films to be shown on alternate Wednesday evenings during the quarter. 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.

Click HERE for the current film series flyer

The flyers from earlier film series are archived at the bottom of this page. Click here to go to the archive.

Latin American Literatures and Cultures faculty who contribute their expertise to the film series:

Abril Trigo
Laura Podalsky
Richard Gordon

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SPRING 2012

LATIN AMERICAN FILM SERIES:

FILM AND THE CITY

Wednesdays at 7:30PM
180 Hagerty Hall
1775 College Road
Columbus, OH 43210
OSU Columbus Campus

** FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC **
All films subtitied in English

April 4
Crónicas / Chronicles
John Leguizamo is Manolo Bonilla, an ambitious Miami-based reporter for a Spanish-language news outlet. When a serial killer devastates a small town in Ecuador, he and his crew fly down to cover the story. Shortly after their arrival, Bonilla saves the life of shifty-looking salesman Vinicio Cepeda, who claims to have information regarding the "Monster of Babahoyo", and Bonilla will do anything to keep him talking. Soon his star begins to rise as Cepeda provides him with more and more ratings-grabbing details. Then Bonilla discovers something even the authorities don't know about--another body. His decision to follow the lead on his own could make his career...or completely destroy it. Worse yet, another child may lose his life if Bonilla fails.
(Mexico/Ecuador, Sebastián Cordero, 2004, 108 min.)
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAQh0jKmQ5E

April 18
A Via Láctea / The Milky Way
Heitor (Marco Ricca) and Júlia (Alice Braga) are a couple. As dusk sets in the city of São Paulo, they have a violent argument over the phone. Heitor decides to go to find Júlia to resolve things face to face. Distraught, he gets in his car and goes to his girlfriend’s house. During the journey through the streets of São Paulo, in the evening rush hour, Heitor starts to observe the city, which begins to interfere with his thoughts. (Brazil, Lina Chamie, 2007, 86 min.)
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Xn9y6G2Pvk

May 2
El secreto de sus ojos / The Secret in Their Eyes
Recently retired criminal court investigator Benjamin (Ricardo Darin) decides to write a novel based on a twenty-five year old unresolved rape and murder case, which still haunts him. Sharing his plans with Irene (Soledad Villamil), the beautiful judge and Benjamin’s former colleague, his initial involvement with the case is shown through flashbacks, as he sets out to identify the murderer. Benjamin’s search for the truth will put him at the center of a judicial nightmare, as the mystery of the heinous crime continues to unfold in the present, testing the limits of a man seeking justice and personal fulfillment at last. (Argentina, Juan José Campanella, 2009, 129 min.) Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZvBQ8l2EoY

May 16
Machuca
Set in Santiago, Chile, during the Marxist government of President Salvador Allende, Father McEnroe supports his leftist views by introducing a program at the prestigious prep school St. Patrick to allow free admission of some proletarian kids. One of them is Pedro Machuca, slum-raised son of the cleaning lady in his classmate Gonzalo Infante's liberal-bourgeois home. Yet the new classmates become friends, paradoxically protesting together as Gonzalo gets adopted by Pedro's slum family and gang. But the adults spoil that too, not in the least when General Pinochet's coup ousts Allende and supporters like McEnroe.
(Chile, Andrés Wood, 2004, 121 min.) Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qr2G7TiaWLw
**Please note, this film will be shown in Mendenhall Labs, Room 100**

May 30
Whisky
When Jacobo, a lonely sock factory owner, hears about the impending visit of his irritatingly cheerful brother, whom he hasn't seen in years, he enlists his faithful assistant Marta to pretend to be his wife. However, the game of deception grows more intense as Herman insists they all take a trip to an off-season seaside resort, and Marta's true personality begins to subtly emerge to both Herman and Jacobo, and the ordinariness of everyday life finally begins to shift. (Uruguay, Juan Pablo Rebella/Pablo Stoll, 2004, 99 min.)
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYuPjUQiQLs

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LATIN AMERICAN FILM SERIES ARCHIVE

Winter 2012: Toward a New Filmic Language: Young Directors from the South

Spring 2011: On the Road Again: Contemporary Latin American Road Films

Winter 2011: Visions from Bolivia

Autumn 2010: Jungles, Deserts and Mines: Dreams of Conquest and Tales of Survival

Spring 2010: Cuban Cinema: Then and Now

Winter 2010: Re-Visioning Bolivia

Autumn 2009: São Paulo on the Big Screen: 2006-2008

Spring 2009: Latin American Cinema and the World: Beyond Cuaron, Del Toro, and Iñarruti

Winter 2009: Globalized Experiences: Argentinean Youth at a Crossroads

Autumn 2008: Luis Buñuel's Mexican Films: A Retrospective

Spring 2008: Young Latin American Women Filmmakers

Winter 2008: Love, Greed, and Violence in Mexican Technicolor

Autumn 2007: Queer Possibilities in Recent Latin/o American Film