Collective Monologues (2024) by Jessica Sarah Rinland
‘Wednesdays are a day of rest in the zoo’. Not for the visitors or the carers, but for the animals. Anglo-Argentine Rinland gazes into the finer, intimate life of zoos and rescue centres across Argentina, making it a sensual…
As Fado Bicha – Challenging the Taboos of Portugal's Most Famous Music
Whilst the ‘Three Fs’ of fado - Fatima (the shrine), Football and Fado - which cemented the genre's association with the Salazar dictatorship, and its inherent conservatism, especially about gender issues, have put many…
“I always dreamt of making movies in Hollywood”: An Interview with Eugenio Derbez
This hard-to-resist family-friendly comedy paints Mexico in a bright shade of flamingo pink. Its star and one of the most famous Mexican faces in show business, Eugenio Derbez, speaks to Latino Life about his Apple TV+ series…
“FREEDOM IS WITHIN EVERYONE”
The Delinquents is a heist film with a twist: the aim is not for wealth and luxury, but for freedom and the meaning of life. Selected as Argentina’s entry for the Oscars, this latest offering from Rodrigo Moreno is based on the…
Giullianna Martinez - A New Face for Tituba
Ahead of her performance as Tituba in Anthony Lau’s upcoming production of The Crucible, American-Colombian actress Giullianna Martinez talks to LatinoLife about this exciting retelling of a classic play.
Celluloid Colonialism
Felipe Gálvez’s much-anticipated directorial debut, ‘The Settlers’, deals with a taboo topic in Chile’s official history - the genocide of the Selk’nam people in Tierra del Fuego, the southernmost part of South America, at the…
“No Tengo Dogma" - an Interview with Mexican Director Lila Avilés
Mexican writer/ producer/ director LILA AVILÉS is reaching audiences far and wide, way beyond her Latin American roots, as her second film TÓTEM (2023) hits the screens in the UK and other countries. Both her films, LA CAMARISTA…
Modern (yet Unashamedly Macho) Malambo
A fiery, young, and scintillating take on traditional Argentine malambo dance, Malevo is a dance troupe based in Buenos Aires, seeking inspiration from the malambo dance, originally from the Pampas plains. Wowing audiences across…
Latin Londoner #49 - Gabriela Vallim, journalist, cultural producer
Born in São Paulo, Brazil, Gabriela Vallim is a journalist, cultural producer and founder of Baile Funk Culture, expanding the Brazilian street culture in the UK through events and workshops. She’s curated events at the…
Deconstructing Chile's Past
Up and coming Chilean writer/ director FELIPE CARMONA URRUTIA's 'Penal Cordillera’ (2023) was nominated for the Sutherland Award (Best First Feature) at the 2023 BFI London Film Festival. He talks to Corina J Poore…
'THE BREATHING ISLAND', Ismael Rodríguez’s first solo show in London
In this multi-media debut show ‘The Breathing Island, Ismael Rodríguez has focussed on life in this world. Expressing a keen awareness of the complexity and diversity of this planet, Ismael Rodríguez’s thought-provoking mixed-…
"Don’t Even Try": Breaking Shakespeare’s Glass Ceiling
"I loved Shakespeare, but almost every fellow actor, manager and director told me: ‘don’t even try.’” Mexican-born Jimena Larraguivel didn’t want to be in telenovelas. She wanted to be on stage. But with her strong accent…
Latin Londoner #48 - Gustavo Nenao, street artist
Gustavo Bordin (akak Gustavo Nenao) is a Brazilian street artist who has developed works in three continents and 42 countries and was the only Brazilian to join the selected group of artists chosen by the former U.S. first lady…
UnStrictly Tango: German Cornejo
For those of us appalled by BBC Strictly’s unashamedly banal demonstrations of tango dance, the yearly visits of German Cornejo and his dance troupe of world class Argentine dancers have been a welcome oasis of authenticity. We…
Latin Londoner #46 - Patricia Bidi, Visual Artist
Peruvian artist Patricia Bidi has been living in London for over 20 years and exhibiting her work all over the world. After working on Cecilia Vicuña's Brain Forest Quipu at the Tate Modern, Patricia explores these themes in…
"I thought, what might happen if those trees would someday disappear?"
Following her highly successful film ‘Summer 1993’ (2017) Carla Simón Pipó has created a moving, award-winning tale of a family trying to save a threatened peach farm in Catalonia. Corina J Poore talks to the writer and director…
Untangling to Reveal
Chilean-born Cecilia Vicuña is one of Latin America’s most celebrated artists. Her most ambitious work yet is currently being shown at the Tate Modern - a multi-part installation made up of sculpture, sound, music and video. At…
The Things That Tie Us
During his day job as a Spanish criminal interpreter in a small town in California, filmmaker Rodrigo Reyes met a young man named Sansón, an undocumented Mexican immigrant who was sentenced to life in prison without parole.…
"Transforming one body into another’"
Flamenco's experimental bailaor extraordinaire, Israel Galván, will be mesmerising audiences at Sadler’s Wells for two nights on November 25 and 26th with his original interpretation of ‘The Rite of Spring’ by Igor…
“…And Some Have Greatness Thrust Upon Them.”
‘Argentina 85’ directed by Santiago Mitre and starring Ricardo Darín and Peter Lanzani, is a taut, fact-based courtroom drama that is as suspenseful as it is intense. It tells the story of how Julio César Strassera and his…
Alejandro Loayza Grisi: Director of 'Utama'
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival 2022, ’Utama’ is a journey through the eyes of a Quechua couple that are battling between life and death with the climate change crisis affecting their home, forcing them…
“The Horror Seeps Through the Cracks”
Set during the harshest period of the Pinochet Dictatorship, ‘1976’ (2022) is an intelligent and moving study of a well-to-do housewife, Carmen, who, after being asked to care for a wounded activist, finds her life changing and…
Latin Londoner #45: Marcos Mereles, Film Director
Born in La Rioja, Argentina in1990, Marco Mereles is a filmmaker, based in London. His first feature film ALL IS VANITY (UK, 2021) had its world premiere at the 65th BFI London Film Festival and will be released in UK cinemas…
Mexico in Kew: A Floral Celebration of Life
“Our Day of the Dead is an affirmation of life”, says Betsabeé Romero, the internationally renowned Mexican artist who has created a riotously-colourful Día de Los Muertos installation at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew. As…
CAMUFLAJE (Camouflage) 2022 by Jonathan Perel
A jogger decides to run around the largest Military garrison camp in Argentina. On his travels he meets an array of people whose lives have been affected in various different ways by living close to Campo de Mayo, that had become…
Mexican artist Perla Krauze at the Cadogan Gallery
‘The crevices talk of what has gone before, which is life’ (Las grietas hablan de lo que ha pasado… que es vida’) Mexican sculptor and painter, Perla Krauze, is exhibiting a fascinating selection of her sculptures and…
Emotional challenges for a Colombian immigrant in the UK
Santi (2021) is a 10-minute short film directed by up-and-coming talent Harry Richards. He talks to Latino Life about the film and its inception, and explains that the short is a taster for what will become a 90-minute feature…
"At the end of the day what's most important is family"
We talk to Andy Garcia, Gloria Estefan, Adria Arjona (daughter of Guatemalan singer Richardo Arjona) and Diego Boneta (hot off his title role in Netflix's Luis Miguel: The Series) who make up the stellar Latino cast of a…
Food, Femininity and Theatre: The Life of Pepa Duarte
Theatre maker, and drama teacher, Pepa Duarte, is author of the self-performed play Eating Myself. Directed by Sergio Maggiolo, the play will be showing at Peckham Fringe this 16 and 17 May and has been hailed by The Guardian as…
The Wild South
After years touring the most successful and innovative tango shows around the world, most notably Tango Fire Immortal Tango, Argentine choreographer and lead dancer Germán Cornejo and his company of 10 men and 3 girls, challenge…
Breaking Convention in Peru
From the barrios of Lima, 12 dancers arrive in London next week to perform an exciting work with Latin and hip hop influences at Sadlers Wells' 19th Breakin' Convention. We talk to D1 Dance Company founder Vania Masias…
HOLOGRAM (2022) Book of poems by Miguel Cullen
‘Books should be more than just lines of poetry.’ HOLOGRAM (2022) the new collection of poems by Anglo-Argentine poet and journalist Miguel Cullen, includes visuals and videos and certainly fits the bill of being different.
To Fight or Not To Fight
The English-language production of Chilean playwright Pablo Manzi's 'A Fight Against' debuts at London's Royal Court Theatre until 22 January 2022. 'Una lucha contra' portrays violence as a shared…
Latin Londoner #44 - Sofia Serbin de Skalon, Film Curator
World cinema specialist, writer and culture maker, Argentine born Sofia de Skalon is founder of the Argentine Film Festival London, a showcase for contemporary Argentine cinema. Through her PR agency, Sofia has promoted more than…
BALLAD OF A HAPPY IMMIGRANT (2021) book of poems by Leo Boix
“Come back a man or never come!” says the refrain in the titular poem 'Ballad of a Happy Immigrant', that is, in a sense, “the story of my life”, says Leo Boix. If you are searching for a Christmas gift for a book…