Bad Influence (Mala Junta)
Saturday, May 12 at 7pm - Ottawa Art Gallery

Chile - 2016 - 89 minutes - dir. Claudia Huaiquimilla

Spanish with English subtitles

Huaiquimilla’s startling debut feature explores an unlikely, transformative friendship between two teens: a troubled petty criminal from Santiago and a shy outsider from the indigenous Mapuche community. Arrested after a violent robbery, troubled Tano is sent away from the city to be in the custody of his estranged father, a mechanic living in a small rural mountain community. Tano soon befriends shy, awkward Cheo, whose indigenous Mapuche status gets him bullied. His community, meanwhile, is fighting against the displacement and destruction wrought by a massive local pulp mill. The connection between the two boys quickly deepens against the pressures of schoolyard cruelty and their troubled home lives. This dramatic combination forces in each boy a reckoning with himself and the world around him. Stunning. Director Claudia Huaiquimilla, herself of Mapuche origin, has won numerous international awards for her impressive film.

General Admission: $13 (HST incl)

CFI Members/Students/Seniors: $9 (HST incl)