LA SINGLA (2023) by Spanish writer/ director Paloma Zapata
“She understood music because she was born with it within her.” This drama documentary, part-fiction, part reality, reveals the astounding story of a young girl, who despite being profoundly deaf, became one of Flamenco’s most…
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…
Penal Cordillera (2023) by Felipe Carmona Urrutia
“Not only condors fly.” In 'Penal Cordillera' a group of five high-ranking military officers convicted of crimes against humanity during the Pinochet Military Dictatorship, find their privileges threatened at their…
‘When Evil Lurks’ (Cuando Acecha la Maldad) Dir. Demián Rugna
A gateway to hell in your stomach, or evil oozing out from a putrid demon-infested body, are images that have sprung from the fertile mind of Argentine horror filmmaker Demián Rugna. Now, more to feast on in ‘When Evil Lurks’.
CLOSE YOUR EYES (2023) by Victor Erice at the BFI in the Victor Erice Season 2024
‘Memory is very important, but a person is more than just a memory’ and a film can be more than just a film. Spanish writer/director Victor Erice’s slow-burning film of mystery and loss lingers long after the credits have rolled…
Tótem (2023) by Mexican writer/director Lila Avilés
“I wish Daddy did not have to die”. Lila Avilés’ delightful second feature deals with mortality and love at an intensely human level in this gem of a movie.
PUAN 2023 by Benjamin Naishstat and María Alché
“Llueve sobre tu desolación” (It rains on your despair) In the philosophical comedy by Benjamin Naishstat and María Alché, premiered at the San Sebastian International Film Festival, the upended life and personal struggles of…
Films to Watch Before You Die #9 – “The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos) by Juan José Campanella
What Hides Behind Their Eyes? – 20 Years of Unresolved Cases between Love and Death.
FAILURE! 2023, directed by Alex Kahuam is screening at the London Frightfest 2023
Failure! is a psychological thriller that features the enigmatic Ted Raimi in the lead role as a man who, facing ruin gets increasingly more desperate as he seeks a way out.
‘BALNEARIOS 2002’ by Mariano Llinás, screened in the ‘Architecture on Film’ series at the Barbican
‘Balnearios’ (Beach Resorts) may be a documentary, including archive footage from the mid-20th Century, but with Mariano Llinás’ ironic and dry sense of humour, it reveals an unconventional and surreal quality all of its own,…
ESTÉVEZ / PAÑOS Y COMPAÑÍA wow audiences at Sadler’s Wells
The Flamenco Festival at Sadler’s Wells is lit up again with ‘La Confluencia,’ an adventurous new work created by dancer/ choreographer team Rafael Estévez and Valeriano Paños.
Horror is alive and kicking in THE BREACH (2022) by Rodrigo Gudiño
Mexican- Canadian film director Rodrigo Gudiño, best known for founding the horror magazine and company Rue Morgue, has lived up to his reputation with an entertaining and fun horror film with plenty of gore, ‘The Breach’ (2022)
SÚPER CHEFS, a play by Betsy Picart, with music by Ariel Cubría.
At the Theatre Peckham, SÚPER CHEFS, an exciting music & dance play designed for children (aged 4-8), is delighting its young audiences and their parents alike,
BROKEN TOYS by Carolina Román at the Cervantes Theatre.
To celebrate PRIDE Month, the multi-award-winning play ‘BROKEN TOYS’ by Argentine-Spanish playwright Carolina Román, is playing until the end of June to enthusiastic audiences, at the Cervantes Theatre in Southwark.
‘El Perro del Hortelano’ (The Dog in the Manger) by Lope de Vega.
Lope Félix de Vega Caprio, (aka the Phoenix of Spain- 1562-1635) was possibly the first, and maybe the finest playwright that helped launch the Golden Age, el Siglo de Oro in a Baroque Spain. A contemporary of William Shakespeare…
La Vida es Sueño (Life is a Dream) by Pedro Calderón de la Barca at the Barbican Theatre.
Just as William Shakespeare was revolutionizing theatre in England, Spanish writers like Lope de Vega and Pedro Calderón de la Barca were shining bright in the Spanish 'Siglo de Oro'. 'Life is a Dream' is one…
LITTLE RICHARD: I AM EVERYTHING (2023) by Lisa Cortes
In this beautifully researched documentary, screened at the 2023 BFI Flare London LGBTQIA+ Festival, Lisa Cortes celebrates the ‘architect of rock n’ roll’ Little Richard, with all the ebullience and joy that vibrates in his…
‘UNIDENTIFIED OBJECTS’: Juan Felipe Zuleta’s film of friendship despite all odds
Screened in the 'Hearts' Strand at the 2023 BFI Flare LGBTQI+ Festival, this powerful and charming film has been praised by Queer Forty as “one of the best road movies ever made”. This may be a grand statement but there…
"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…
Latinx Films at The 37th BFI Flare Film Festival 2023
With an array of exciting films from 41 countries, as varied as Morocco & South Korea to Latin America, the biggest LGBTIQ+ film festival in Europe 1(5- 26 March) aims to expand our perspectives, not only with films, but also…
OSCARS 2023: The Latino Contenders
Last year at the Oscars, the animated movie Encanto and Afro-Latina actress Ariana DeBose took home awards. In recent years, figures such as Alejandro G. Iñarritu, Alfonso Cuarón, and Guillermo del Toro have been winners. This…
SUBLIME (2022) Dir. Mariano Baisin
A beautifully understated Argentinian coming-of-age drama starring Martin Miller and Teo Inama Chiabrando and directed by Mariano Biasin.
10 RomComs with a Latino Twist
We have to start this list with a disclaimer: some of these films feature offensive stereotypes and, well, aren't very funny either. But if you can bear the Latino clichés and cringey moments, which let's face it, many…
Latin American Films to watch on Valentines Day
Is the stereotype really true? Do Latinos really do romance better? Then why does everyone turn to Hollywood when trying to find the best rom-com? We may not be famous for making comedy out of romance but we definitely do drama…
Films To Watch Before You Die #8 - Strawberry and Chocolate (Fresas y Chocolate) Cuba 1993
In celebration of LGBT History Month, we remember one of the most memorable queer films in Latin American film history. Strawberry and Chocolate is a delightful 1993 film by Cuban directors Tomás Gutiérrez Alea and Juan Carlos…
Ten Argentine Films we love…
With their unique brand of humour, intellectual insight, romance and political drama, there have been so many great Argentine films that it’s practically impossible to pick out a few. But here are 10 of LatinoLife’s favourites 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…
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.…
The Incarceration Trap
From the freedom of the Mexican Pacific coast to an American high security jail, director Rodrigo Reyes explores the life of a Mexican illegal immigrant, Sansón Andrade, who was sentenced to life in prison with no parole. This…
HAPPINESS, A PLAY by MARILIA SAMPER opens at the Cervantes Theatre
“Sometimes it is best not to see anything” – This is a moving play that reveals the challenges of life in a working-class condominium. Where is the solidarity?
IGUANA LIKE THE SUN (2022) Julián Robles
‘Can a pregnant woman watch an eclipse?’ Mexican actor/ writer / director Julián Robles has emerged with an interesting debut feature that will be screened at the Raindance Film Festival, It represents a notable change of…
“…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…
Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths (2022) by Alejandro G. Iñarritú.
Alejandro G. Iñarritú, the Oscar-winning director of superb movies like ‘AMORES PERROS’, ‘BIRDMAN’ & ‘THE REVENANT’ returns to Mexico with a personal, sprawling and visually beautiful film that questions filming itself. Co-…
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…
'Alcarràs' (2022) Dir. Carla Simón
Shot at the height of the Pandemic in 2021 in Alcarràs, an area in the province of Lleida, on the border between Catalonia and Aragon, Carla Simon’s moving film ‘Alcarràs’ (2022) is a stark picture of the Solé family fighting the…