latin american film festival

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Dir. Miguel Garzon, 2017 | 86 mins

Seven years after being the first human being to walk on the Moon, on August 1st, 1976, US astronaut Neil Armstrong joined a British-Ecuadorian expedition whose mission was to explore a cave located deep in the Amazon forest, called Tayos Cave. Why was a mission of such magnitude organized, and what was the British interest in the cave? A group of geologists and members of esoteric disciplines penetrate into Tayos' massive underworld to shed light on its dazzling enigmas. Miguel Garzon’s stunning documentary takes us deep into the majesty and the mystery of Tayos, and is an epic, breathtaking journey into the depths of the Tayos underworld and the depths within ourselves.  Amazing and astonishing, Tayos is an unforgettable way to close the 23rd Latin American Film Festival.

Spanish, English, Shuar, Hungarian with English subtitles.

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Dir. José Enrique Pintor (Pinky), 2017 | 108 mins

After Roberto's beloved wife dies, his health begins to decline as he slowly slides into the vague worlds brought on by the worsening Alzheimer's disease he has been suffering now for years. His daughter Ruth decides to take him in to live with her family, even though her husband Alfredo argues that she already has enough problems at home with the care of Jan, her only son of 17 years who has Down Syndrome. With the arrival of Roberto at home, the relationship between the grandfather and his grandson begins to grow and deepen, discovering that both have many things in common. They also come up with some ‘bucket list’ plans, and soon hit the road to fulfill them. Moving and amusing, Tomorrow is a bittersweet story of love, memory, and companionship in all its forms.

Spanish with English subtitles.

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Dir. Catalina Mesa, 2016 | 77 mins

Deep in the Andes lies a small Colombian village called Jericó. Colourful and lush, this magical place is home to a rich history that's poetically captured through the eyes of its older generation of women. Serenaded by an extraordinary soundtrack, we're invited into their authentic and intimate spaces as they share with unabashed honesty and intimacy their deepest secrets of love, loss, lust, and motherhood. Throughout this intimate documentary, with laughter, tears and sometimes pain we journey with these women through their remarkable stories that serve as an historical preservation of life in Jericó. Says director Catalina Mesa, “My intention and reward in making this film was to give Jericó, Antioquia and Colombia a portrait that celebrates and preserves the beauty, authenticity, and wisdom of the feminine spirit of my culture.”

Spanish with English subtitles.

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Dir. Jonatan Relayze, 2016 | 73 mins

Rosa Chumbe (a powerhouse performance by Liliana Trujillo) is a police officer with a drinking and gambling problem. This gets her into trouble with her superiors, who are constantly warning her to improve her ways. On top of that, she has problems with her daughter Sheyla who lives at home with her young baby. After Sheyla gets pregnant, she leaves with all of Rosa’s savings, abandoning her young baby boy. Rosa now has to look after her grandson, a responsibility for which she is not ready. The film is set in Lima in the middle of October, against the background of the “purple month”, when the famous Lord of Miracles procession takes place. Rosa has never believed in religion, but now finds herself needing a miracle to get by. A multiple award-winner at international festivals: Jury Award for Best Feature Film, Austin International Film Festival of the Americas; Jury Award for Best Feature Film; Best Peruvian Film at the Lima Latin American Film Festival; and the FIPRESCI Prize at the Montréal World Film Festival, FIPRESCI Prize.

Spanish with English Subtitles

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Dir. Daniel Rosenfeld, 2018 | 92 minutes

The Argentine bandoneon player and composer Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) revolutionized the tango. His tango nuevo, with its jazz and classical influences, made him a controversial figure in Argentina, as his revolution clashed with tradition. Astor received his first bandoneon from his father when he was nine. Twenty years later, he had reached the limits of the tango. In search of his own style, he went to study piano composition in Paris in the early 1950s. There he realized that in spite of everything, he was still a tanguero. A multifaceted career was to follow, chiefly in Europe and the United States. For this critically acclaimed documentary, Piazzolla’s son Daniel drew on his private collection. Unique footage of numerous performances and intimate family films combine with archive material to paint a vivid portrait of Piazzolla: self-assured, stubborn, passionate --- a true virtuoso. Daniel’s commentary reveals a complicated relationship with his father, and his use of hours of recorded conversations between Piazzolla and his daughter Diana provides further insight into the mind of a musical genius.

Spanish with English subtitles

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Dir. Ariel Escalante, 2016 | 78 mins

Claudia loves everything about being a nurse: managing the adrenaline, controlling emotions, saving lives. At home everything is different, however: there’s a room to clear out, and she needs to find a new roommate. More pressingly, Claudia is struggling to cope with her cousin Sylvia’s recent suicide. Even though she is doing a great job of hiding her anguish from people, everything around Claudia reminds her of Sylvia, but she is unable to cry. When an old acquaintance comes back into her life with an illness and in need of her support, she will finally be forced to find new ways to confront the weight of life and loss. An intimate and finely detailed character study, The Sound of Things is an absorbing drama of both pain and hope.

Spanish with English subtitles.

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Introductions, including the filmmaker Silvio Caiozzi, will begin at 6pm due to the length of the film. A reception with the filmmaker will follow the screening.

Dir. Silvio Caiozzi, 2017 | 195 mins

Pancho Veloso, an old writer of celebrity articles, returns to his hometown of Chilean Patagonia after more than 40 years of having fled. When trying to write “salable” stories about this area known as “the end of the world,” he will be confronted by his own past, as well as his nation’s recent and painful history. Pancho will have to rethink his life.  This stunning, sprawling, epic existential drama from a master filmmaker chronicles personal and political history in Chile, and is a magnificent vision of a complex life lived to the fullest. This film was Chile’s official entry for Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, and it captured the Grand Prize of the Americas at the 2017 World Film Festival in Montreal. The LAFF has presented Silvio Caiozzi’s 2004 film, Cachimba, as part of the 2007 edition. We are happy to welcome his work back to Ottawa.

Spanish with English subtitles.

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Dir. Abner Benaim, 2018 | 84 mins

Rubén Blades Is Not My Name presents one of Latin America´s most beloved singer-songwriters on an intimate, revealing journey across his 50-year career. Benaim’s appealing documentary focuses on the significance of Blades’ career in music. Moving through his discography, Benaim and Blades take us through his greatest hits while various guests, including Sting and Paul Simon, provide additional insight on his significance and musicality. Blades’ peers from the Latin music scene lend some context to his music and highlight how his songs might simply sound like sexy tango music to an untrained or foreign ear, but injected political messages and hymns to the working class within the conventions of popular music. There’s also a fascinating examination of Blades’ political convictions and ambitions, most notably his impressive run for president in 1994.

Spanish, English with English subtitles.

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Actor Luis Alberto Garcia will attend the screening to introduce and discuss the film.

Dir. Arturo Sotto, 2018 | 118 mins

It's the summer of 1994 and passions are running high during yet another migration crisis with the United States. One morning in August, two men and a woman involved in a ménage-à-trois in the small Cuban village of Siboney are found dead. The prime suspect is a twenty-year-old woman named Sugar who is the product of this love triangle, and was the only person in the house at the time. She pleads innocent and to prove it, she tells the prosecutor and the lawyer investigating the case of the emotional odyssey of her parents, a love story that lasted more than 40 years in the midst of the Revolution. This fascinating crime drama is a story that weaves together personal passions and Cuba’s tangled political history in strikingly original ways.

Spanish with English subtitles.

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Filmmaker Katherine Jerkovic will attend the screening to introduce and discuss her film. A reception hosted by the Embassy of Uruguay will follow.

Dir. Katherine Jerkovic, 2018 | 82 mins

Mourning the death of her father, Sarah travels from Montreal to a village in rural Uruguay to visit her paternal grandmother, Magda. Over a decade ago, Sarah and her parents left Uruguay and never returned. Driven by childhood memories, she hopes to renew her relationship with Magda and with her home country. Magda, meanwhile, is struggling with the news of the death of her faraway son. Confronting the strangeness that time and distance have created, Sarah and Magda will reinvent their bonds in surprising ways. This Canadian-Uruguayan co-production is an understated, finely observed, brilliant family drama. “Jerkovic is a gifted, intuitive storyteller who doesn’t need to oversell her story’s emotional undercurrents; she trusts her audience to understand what’s going on simply by paying attention to her actors’ faces.” Norman Wilner, NOW Magazine.

French, Spanish with English subtitles.

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Dir. Juan Carlos Maneglia, Tana Schembori, 2017 | 102 mins

Good-natured and clever, newspaper delivery boy Manu dreams of a life of opulence and wealth, removed from the realities of the shantytown outside Asuncion where he lives with his overworked mother, baby sister, and grandparents. Given a book on his nation's history by his once-thrill-seeking grandfather, Manu discovers a weathered treasure map and quickly realises that riches beyond his wildest dreams might be closer than he'd ever imagined. Enlisting the help of best friend Fito and local cafe owner Elio, the trio set out to uncover a hidden fortune of silver, the mythical ‘Plata Yvyguy.’ They soon discover that Paraguay does not give up secrets easily. A fast-paced, funny, and thrilling follow-up to their sensational first feature, 7 Boxes (LAFF 2013) by writers-directors Juan Carlos Maneglia and Tana Schembori.

Spanish with English subtitles.

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Dir. Luis Alberto Lamat, 2018 | 101 mins

Four very special couples fight with their lives to achieve their wishes. Some are looking for respect and the right to love; others face betrayal and hidden truths in their personal live. This unique anthology film features four stories full of humor, drama and passion, and they are linked to a singular setting, unfolding in the common space of ‘Central Park’ in Caracas. From renowned director Luis Alberto Lamata, whose 1994 film Naked With Oranges played at the first ever LAFF in 1997, and who returned to our festival in 2014 with his historical epic, Bolivar, Man of Difficulties.

Spanish with English subtitles.

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Dir. Marcus Loayza, 2018 | 87 mins

Young shoeshine boy Tupah embarks on a frantic quest to find his uncle, who is lost in the Averno, a mythical place where the Andean inhabitants believe that the dead coexist with the living and where everything finds its opposite face. In a dangerous journey through the underworld, as myth and reality get endlessly intertwined, Tupah has to defeat the worst of his enemies and the greatest of his fears. An extraordinary adventure story merging ancient and modern myths, Averno is an absorbing, incredible (literally and figuratively), and endlessly entertaining tale rendered with a visually poetic style by a talented director, Marcus Loayza.

Spanish with English subtitles.

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Dir. Gianni Beretta, 2016 | 81 mins

Gianni Beretta’s engaging documentary is the story of Monsignor Oscar Arnulfo Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador, who was assassinated in 1980 by death squads. Pope Francis, upon his arrival in 2013, initiated the process of his canonization, a very stormy process that divided the Roman Catholic Church and its ecclesiastical institutions. With his religious and political activities throughout Latin America, the importance of Romero transcends that of El Salvador, as he became an international symbol of liberty (in 1989, Hollywood even produced a biopic, Romero, starring Raul Julia). In his honour, to this day the United Nations celebrates every 24th of March as the International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims. This is the remarkable story of Romero’s life, death, and, in many senses, rebirth.

Spanish, Italian with English subtitles.

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Dir. Alejandra Marquez  Abella , 2018 | 93 mins

Sofia and Fernando have it all — money, status, beautiful houses, servants. Fernando has inherited all his wealth, acquired by his father with the help of his uncle Javier. At dinner one night, Javier announces he is stepping aside. There are a few dark clouds on the horizon: their American business associates have backed out of a deal, and the President of Mexico has just appeared on television with ominous news about the economy. Initially, their world remains untroubled. Sofia watches with bemusement as a young woman and her rather gauche husband, try to enter her social circle. But soon cracks appear in Sofia and Fernando's manicured lives, as the social and economic order undergoes seismic shifts. Part satire, part warning about the pitfalls of materialism, this elegant work is a subtle, sophisticated exploration from of the crumbling mores of Mexico's upper middle class during the country's debt crisis of 1982.

Spanish with English subtitles.

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Dir. Anna Muylaert , 2016 | 112 mins

Veteran director Anna Muylaert’s The Second Mother dissects with precision and humour contemporary Brazilian class differences and family dynamics. The film revolves around Val, a hard- working live-in housekeeper in modern day Sao Paulo. Val is perfectly content to take care of every one of her wealthy employers’ needs, from cooking and cleaning to being a surrogate mother to their teenage son, who she has raised since he was a toddler. But when Val’s estranged daughter Jessica suddenly shows up, the unspoken but intrinsic class barriers that exist within the home are thrown into disarray. Jessica is smart, confident, and ambitious, and refuses to accept the upstairs/downstairs dynamic, testing relationships and loyalties and forcing everyone to reconsider what family really means. This engaging film won the Special Jury Award for Acting at Sundance Film Festival and the Audience Award for Best Film in the Panorama Section at the Berlin Film Festival.

Portuguese with English subtitles.

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The Latin American Film Festival Launch Party