DEAR CHICKENS: A moving short Film takes aim for the Oscars.
DEAR CHICKENS (2018) is a powerful short film that premiered at the LA International Short Film Festival in July 2018. Directed by Swiss/Mexican Mauro Mueller it is now officially eligible to compete for Best Live Action Short…
'ROMA' by Alfonso Cuarón sweeps the boards at the BAFTAs.
ROMA (2018) by Alfonso Cuarón, a masterpiece of cinema, has been crowned the outstanding film of 2018 at the BAFTAs. Semi-autobiographical, it was created with deep affection in homage to a person who was and remains of huge…
Surviving Venezuela
‘Surviving Venezuela: Smuggling Dreams’, directed by Anglo-Peruvian Alexander ‘Lali’ Houghton is a TV documentary filmed in 2017 for ‘Witness’, Al Jazeera. It was short listed for a Rory Peck Award (2018), as well for the Foreign…
Carmen & Lola (2018) A forbidden Gypsy Love
Spanish director Arantxa Echevarría disturbs the status quo with her opera prima about love between two teenage girls from a close-knit Roma Community in the Vallecas suburb of Madrid. Corina J Poore catches up with the exuberant…
Nae Pasaran(2018) Scottish Solidarity to Powerful Effect from Afar.
NAE PASARAN (2018) is a stunning documentary written, directed and produced by Felipe Bustos Sierra. It is the moving true story of how a group of engineers working in a Scottish factory did their bit to help prevent more…
Bridge or Barrier? 10.000km (2014) New Release
Can a modern relationship survive long distance? Facebook, Skype and social media are designed to bring people closer, are they not? The award-winning opera prima ‘10.000 km (2014)’ of Carlos Marques-Marcet is finally available…
YERMA Poisoned Blood and the Aesthetics of Anguish
YERMA at the Cervantes Theatre, presented in both Spanish and English versions, is the last of the powerful ‘Rural Trilogy’ written by Federico Garcia Lorca and here directed by Jorge de Juan. The first was ‘Blood Wedding’, then…
Myth or Reality, and Does it Matter?
Supposedly based on a true story about Basque farm lad, who started to grow uncontrollably to became Europe’s tallest man, reaching a height of 2,42m, Handia swept the boards at the 2018 Goya Awards, winning 10 out of their 13…
A Big Budget for a Big Man
HANDIA (Giant) swept the boards at the 2018 GOYA AWARDS, with 13 nominations, and carrying away 10 awards. In particular it won Best original Script, Best New Actor, as well as awards for Cinematography, Editing, Special Effects…
Three Short Films: Madre, Piggy and Fifteen
Corina J Poore reviews three Latino offerings from the 'Shorts' programme at this year's The BFI London Film Festival: ‘MADRE (2017)’ by Spanish writer/director Rodrigo Sorogoyen, ‘PIGGY (Cerdita) 2018’, (14 min…
LATIN LONDONER #22 Thiago Soares - Principal Dancer
Brazilian dancer Thiago Soares, is a former Principal Dancer of The Royal Ballet. Soares was born in Rio de Janeiro and joined the Royal Ballet in 2002 after receiving many prizes, including silver medal at the 1998 Paris…
Truth or Illusion?
The unusual tale of a commune in the south of Chile takes us on an unexpected journey.It is based on a true story that immediately suggests that upsetting developments may take place, as indeed they do. Produced by the creative…
Ay, Carmela! Shines Again.
The excellent English and Spanish productions of José Sanchis Sinisterra’s comedy ‘Ay, Carmela!’ have just completed their runs. Latino Life’s Corina Poore comments on the productions and meets up with the director Paula Paz at…
LATIN HOTLIST #10 - Autumn 2018
Think Latin, Feel Latin, Buy Latin...here's our choice of great Latin products on the market this Autumn
Carlos Gallardo: From Mariachi to Zombie
‘An actor first and a producer second.’ Latino Life catches up with Carlos Gallardo, who first appeared in the now classic film El Mariachi in1992. Fast forward to 2017 and he returns as producer of RedCon1. BUt it was his…
Things you should know about...Samba Dancing
It is widely thought that the Samba dance originated in Bahia, where enslaved Africans would gather after long days of labour to perform their religious rituals of Candomblé, Capoeira and Samba dancing in a circle (Samba de Roda…
The VIA Art Prize celebrates its 4th year.
Latino Life talks to Ting Tong Chang, who’s work ‘Peng’s Journey to the Southern Darkness’ won the VIA Art Prize in 2016. Now Chang is a juror for the up- and- coming VIA Art Prize, inviting candidates to offer their work for…
Carlos Acosta’s A Celebration – Thirty Years in Dance
Carlos Acosta has retired from the Royal Ballet where he was principal dancer, but there is little else about him to denote ‘dancer in retirement’.
'The Third Bank of the River' by Chris Feliciano Arnold (Picador)
A book which tells the story of the Amazon and its ports-towns near the frontier between Brazil, Colombia and Peru
Latin Hot List #9
Think Latin, Feel Latin, Buy Latin...here's our choice of great Latin products on the market this summer
Emotional Estuaries
Emotions fly on the waterways of London. ANCHOR & HOPE (Tierra Firme), the second feature by Carlos Marqués-Marcet who wowed audiences with his debut feature film ‘10.000km’, a drama about friendship and motherhood. Set in…
The Girl Who Stole the Show
EIZA GONZALEZ REYNA in ‘Baby Driver (2017)’ won us over completely, says Latinolife film critic Corina Poore who was impressed by the rising Mexican star at the end of the summer's Pop up screens.
The Girl Who Stole the Show
EIZA GONZALEZ REYNA in ‘Baby Driver (2017)’ won us over completely, says Latinolife film critic Corina Poore who was impressed by the rising Mexican star at the end of the summer's Pop up screens.
An inspired Cuban Production of Bizet's Carmen
Cuba's natural setting, with its own historical and cultural drama, and the plethora of high quality performing artists, singers and musicians make for a triumphant production of Bizet's Carmen.
Albita - The Latina Alter-Ego
Grammy and Emmy-winning singer Albita, once a protégé of Gloria and Emilio Estefan, is now performing in ‘Carmen La Cubana’ - the tragic tale originally adapted into the famous opera ‘Carmen’ by Georges Bizet from the 19th…
Without Stillness There Is No Dance.
Gilles Brinas believes profoundly in the universality of dance and the Arts and feels that Stillness and Silence are vital ingredients of drama. So,he developed ‘Che Malambo’, which is indeed a dramatic show, based on the ‘…
San Juan Noir
Award-winning Puerto Rican poet and novelist Mayra Santos-Febres has been a pivotal literary figure in her island home for many years, championing the work of upcoming writers through her creative writing classes at the…
By Reason, By Force: an interview with Chilean artist Mario Fonseca
Mario Fonseca: Conceptual Artist, Writer and Photographer talks about Chile today and how the Military Dictatorship (1973-1989) affected his work.
Migration and redemption in Latin America
In his film X500 (2016) Colombian-Canadian director Juan Andrés Arango García describes the challenges faced by three immigrants in three countries as they struggle to fit into their new environments.
‘The Paranoids’ Dir. Gabriel Medina (DVD release)
With humour, pain and irony, Gabriel Medina's ‘The Paranoids’ takes us into the internal world of oddball Luciano as he comes to terms with his life
In Search of Memory
‘My photographs are about our journey through life’ Corina Poore interviews the remarkable Chilean photographer Maurizio Valenzuela
'Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle' Dir. Gustavo Salmerón
Corina Poore talks to Gustavo Salmerón, who made a unique film about a family who lived a fairy tale. It happened to be his own.
'Zama' Dir. Lucrecia Martel (Argentina)
After a debut La Ciénaga (The Swamp 2001) that shook the world of cinema and the equally successful La Niña Santa (The Holy Girl 2004) and La Mujer sin Cabeza (The Headless Woman 2008), Lucrecia Martel, one of the protagonists of…
Chocolate, Politics and Peace-Building
An Ethnography of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó, Colombia by Gwen Burnyeat
‘FRAGMENTED DIALOGUES’: Art and Identity in 1980s Chile
Corina talks to the curator of a fascinating exhibition of the work by two Chilean artists, Mario Fonseca and Mauricio Valenzuela. It is on at Austin/Desmond Fine Art till 30 June and explores both the fragmented and silenced…