'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…
“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…
1976 (2022) Dir. Manuela Martelli
“Be careful in the future, you are not always that lucky!” Manuela Martelli's ‘1976’ (2022), winner of the ‘First Feature’ Category at the BFI London Film Festival 2022, studies how the pressures of a repressive regime…
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…
‘MY IMAGINARY COUNTRY’ 2022, by Chilean director Patricio Guzmán
“When you want to film a fire, you have to be ready to be where the flames will first appear”. (Chris Marker) Chilean director Patricio Guzmán has created a moving documentary film, ‘My Imaginary Country’ in which he records the…
PIGGY (CERDITA) Dir. Carlota Pereda
The 18th 2022 London Spanish Film Festival ended with the screening of the excellent film ‘Piggy' by Spanish director Carlota Pereda where it was awarded a Special Mention. Pereda has created a complex and harrowing tale of…
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…
ALL IS VANITY Dir. Marcos Mereles
A story within a story within…who bit the apple first? A moody, acerbic photographer (Sid Phoenix) and his intern assistant (Yaseen Aroussi), the blasé make- up artist (Rosie Steel) and the laconic model (Isabelle Bonfrer) meet…
Films to Watch Before You Die #7 – “The Motorcycle Diaries" by Walter Salles
Guevara Before Che – An expedition for Socialism across 1950s Latin America and the making of a revolutionary
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…
Films to Watch Before You Die #6 – 'La Historia Oficial' by Luis Puenzo
Only Memory Remains – Desaparecidos, Bourgeoisie and Memory in 1983 Argentina
Madame Satã - A Gem from the Archives
The debut feature of celebrated Brazilian writer/director Karim Aïnouz, ‘Madame Satã’ was selected from the BFI archives for the 2022 BFI Flare Film Festival. Based on real events, this film reveals the unusual and dramatic life…
Films to Watch Before You Die #5: 'Palomita Blanca' by Raúl Ruiz
CHILE IN VIEW - Palomita Blanca (Little White Dove) A teenage love affair in times of civil unrest and military dictatorship. Our fifth entry of “Latin American films you should watch before you die” is one of the most…
On the Divide: Reality and Hypocrisy in the Land of the Free
‘On The Divide' follows the story of three Latinx people living in McAllen, Texas who are connected by the most unexpected of places: the last abortion clinic on the U.S./Mexico border. As threats to the clinic and their…
THE GREAT MOVEMENT - 2021 by Bolivian writer/director Kiro Russo.
Can the sprawling city of La Paz also rise as from the dead? Check out ‘THE GREAT MOVEMENT’ (2021) by Bolivian director Kiro Russo.
‘FOGARÉU’ (2022) directed by Flávia Neves
“When a baby is born it is thrown into the air, if it flies it is a bat, if it falls it is a fool”. ‘Fogaréu,’ is the story of a wealthy Brazilian family that interweaves overt class struggles with intimate family strife in wild…
Films To Watch Before You Die #4 - O’ Desafio (The Challenge) Dir. Paulo César Saraceni
A PLACE FOR POETS – O’ Desafio (The Challenge) of living in a Society that you don’t understand. Once again, the 4th film in our series of “Latin American films you should watch before you die” explores the topics of love and…
NORTHERN SKIES OVER AN EMPTY SPACE (2022)
Selected to be screened for the Panorama Competition at the 72nd Berlin Film Festival, this Mexican ‘western’, the third feature to be directed by Alejandra Márquez Abella, delves into magical realism with the build-up of omens…
MEMORIA (2021) directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul
“In here, time stops”. Thai Director, screenwriter and producer Apichatpong Weerasethakul has set his latest offering MEMORIA (2021) in Colombia. He has managed to uncover a sense of peace that one would have thought hard to…
Films To Watch Before You Die #3 - Alfonso Cuaron's 'Y Tu Mamá Tambien'
A CHRONICLE OF REALITY – A Journey across life and natural and political landscapes, an emotional kick and a box-office success. Alfonso Cuarón’s 2001 film Y Tu Mamá También (And Your Mom Too) is the third entry in our series of…
Films to Watch Before You Die #2 - 'El Mismo Amor, la Misma Lluvia' by Juan Jose Campanella
OLIVETTI BLUES – A two-hour journey into the beauty of love, passion and dreams.
Films to Watch Before You Die: #1 Memories of Underdevelopment
In the first in our series on Latin American Films to Watch Before You Die, Marianna Civitillo takes a look back on 1960s post-revolution Cuba with 'Memorias del Subdesarrollo' (Memories of Underdevelopment) by Tomás…
‘RITA MORENO: JUST A GIRL WHO DECIDED TO GO FOR IT’ (2021)
“What a Journey! In the end it’s [about] who you really are!” This lively documentary biopic of Rita Moreno directed by award-winning Mariem Pérez Riera, entertains and fascinates at every turn.
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…
"I couldn't have made this film if I wasn't Latino"
In the 1950s, when the Democratic Republic of the Congo was a Belgian colony, a generation of Congolese musicians fused traditional African rhythms with Afro-Cuban music to create the electrifying beat of Congolese rumba - a beat…
MY HEART GOES BOOM! Dir. Nacho Álvarez
Following the popularity of new musicals like ‘La la Land’(2016), or even Pablo Larrain’s hypnotic ‘Ema’ (2019), Uruguayan debut director Nacho Álvarez has launched into features with an ambitious, funny and cheerful musical…
The Good Boss (El Buen Patrón 2021) by Spanish director Fernando León de Aranoa
The delightful comedy 'The Good Boss' is being screened at the Riverside Cinema from July 15th- 2022. It was shown at the 2021 BFI London Film Festival following its première at the 2021 San Sebastian International…
CLARA SOLA (2021) by Swedish/Costa Rican director Nathalie Álvarez Mesén
The film Clara Sola (2021)which will be on general release from November 18-2022, first opened at the Cannes Director’s Fortnight in July 2021 and has already received 17 wins and 20 nominations. After being in the Dare Strand at…
CUÑADOS (2021) by Toño López
Screened at the 2021 London Spanish Film Festival, ‘CUÑADOS’ (Brothers- in- Law 2021) is a delightful caper in the local language by Galician director Toño López and a great tonic for a cold autumn evening. Eduardo and his…
The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmão (2019) Directed by Karim Aïnouz.
‘THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF EURIDICE GUSMÃO’ (2019) is a dramatic melodrama that delves into how family bonds and betrayals can affect people’s lives for years. Set in Rio de Janeiro in 1950, Eurídice, 18, and Guida, 20, are two…
Azor (2021) by Andreas Fontana
‘Smell Fear like a Dog’. Andreas Fontana’s film AZOR (2021) showing at the BFI London Film Festival is a slow-burning thriller that enters the murky waters of Private Banking in Argentina during the Dirty War.
Río Turbio: women marginalised by the mine
Filmmaker and archivist Tatiana Mazú González sheds light on the role of women in the Río Turbio miner’s struggle
Strawberry and Chocolate (Fresas y chocolate- Cuba 1993)
Strawberry and Chocolate is a delightful 1993 film by Cuban directors Tomás Gutiérrez Alea and Juan Carlos Tabio. It is being screened as part of the CASA FESTIVAL 2021 which will run throughout September 2021. The festival…
‘SON OF MONARCH’ (Hijo de Monarcas) written and Directed by Alexis Gambis - Mexico/ US 2020
A collage of memories and events fragment like dreams when they collide with reality, in French-Venezuelan’s director Alexis Gambis’ film ‘SON OF MONARCH’ 2020.