The Shape of Water (2017) Dir. Guillermo del Toro
Guillermo del Toro’s stunning and superbly crafted fairy-tale fantasy is brimming with imagination, profound empathy and a deep and powerful sensuality.
COCO (2017) Dir.Lee Unkrich
A gorgeously animated 3D musical fantasy, based on an original idea of Lee Unkrich, and directed by him, ‘Coco’ is up there with the best of Pixar Animation Studios, and in the process manages to shed Hollywood’s tired old…
GUN SHY (2017) Dir. Simon West
GUN SHY is a good natured, clever adventure caper with lots of fun and gags and Antonio Banderas as you have never seen him before!
No Clowning Around
Vladimir Brichta’s striking good looks and palpable on-screen energy had already made him a household name Brazilian television, from mini- series to hugely popular novellas (long serials). But now non-Brazilians can enjoy these…
BINGO- KING OF THE MORNINGS (Bingo- o Rei das Manhãs) Dir. Daniel Rezende
Already picked to represent Brazil at the Oscars, this tear-jerking, heart-warming, inventive and adventurous movie is a delightfully politically-incorrect breath of fresh air, says Corina Poore
The Immigrant's View
Ana Asensio’s award-winning debut film 'Most Beautiful Island' is an unnerving psychological thriller set in the Big Apple that has been receiving rave reviews. I The film is based on Ana's own experiences living…
Most Beautiful Island (2017 Dir. Ana Asensio)
This Polanski-esque penetrating thrilller, set in New York, is a fantastic debut from a new female multi-talented Spanish director, screenwriter, actor and producer
Camera Catalonia @ The 37th Cambridge Film Festival
In an not un-timely event, Corina Poore, relishes the series of Catalan films at the Cambridge Film Festival’s CAMERA CATALONIA this year
Magical Martel
Back in 2001, La Cienaga (The Swamp), the first feature film by a 35-year-old Lucrecia Martel, had a profound effect on the film world, earning fans such as Pedro Almadover and launching the young Argentine as a major world class…
Carla Simón - The New Female Face of Spanish Film Making?
The 61st BFI London Film Festival in 2017 has attracted over twenty films from Luso-Hispanic film directors. Among them are various offerings from Catalonia, including Carla Simón’s delightful SUMMER 1993, which has been awarded…
A Film Festival for All Londoners
At this year’s London Film festival, the Latin American presence is stronger than ever, with Guillermo del Toro’s new film, ‘The Shape of Water’, ‘A fantastic Woman’ by [Argentine-Chilean] Sebastian Lelio and ‘ZAMA’ by Lucrecia…
OUR LAST TANGO (Un Tango Más) 2015 DIR: Germán Kral
Argentina and Tango seem to be riding on the crest of a wave in London with Tanguera having mesmerized audiences at Sadler’s Wells, Evita on stage in the West End and now German/Argentine Germán Kral’s new film ‘Our Last Tango (…
'Return to Ithaca' (Dir. Laurent Cantet)
“You can’t talk about Cuba without letting the Cubans speak,” says French filmaker Laurent Cantet, director this this fascinating study in the complexities of human behaviour in difficult times.
Memorable Films: Hectór Babenco and 'The Kiss of the Spider Woman'
Corina Poore pays tribute to one of Latin America's great directors Hectór Babenco and his most memorable film ‘The Kiss of the Spider Woman' which continues to draw public fascination, even more remarkable for being…
Top Ten South American Political Thrillers
Is it any surprise that Latin America has produced some of the world’s best political thrillers? Latin noir has offered an imaginative terrain for questioning the shady practices of government and exposing the machinations and…
THE SHEPHERD (2017) Dir. JONATHAN CENZUAL BURLEY
Many people struggle for years to get their films recognized and some have success thrust upon them when they do not expect it… as in the case of young Spanish director JONATHAN CENZUAL BURLEY. A natural story teller, Cenzual has…
A Film Guy named Jean Jean
In the past, the Panama Film Festival has attracted director greats such as Karim Aïnouz (Brazil) and Pablo Trapero (Argentina), and actors Ricardo Darín (Argentina) and Édgar Ramírez (Venezuela). This year it was a tall,…
Between Poetry and Politics - an interview with Gael García Bernal
GAEL GARCÍA BERNAL gets on a roll about poetry, fascism, idealism and power as he talks to Latinolife about the times we live in…oh, and his latest film, NERUDA.
Neruda (2016) Dir. Pablo Larrain
The latest Chilean addition to a great Latin American tradition of highly entertaining political thrillers, or 'Latin Noir' as the genre is now known. Neruda, focuses on the the arrest warrant issued in 1948 for the…
Between Politics, Poetry and Fantasy: Pablo Neruda as Thriller
NERUDA, an original take on a biopic of the renowned Chilean poet Pablo Neruda by Pablo Larraín, is being release in the UK in April, 2017. Much anticipated, fans of Pablo Larrain’s creative films will not be disappointed. Very…
The Films of Armando Bó
In the first of our 'Memorable Film' series on Latin America and Spain’s most memorable films and directors, Latinolife’s film editor, Corina Poore, profiles the ground-breaking Argentine director Armando Bó
Aquarius (2017 Dir. Kleber Filho Mendonça)
A richly painted portrait of Brazilian society, of corporate greed and, ultimately, of a woman of a certain age.
In Search of the New Brazil
The Brazilian film 'Aquarius' received rave reviews following its World Premiere at Cannes where it was nominated for the Palme d’Or, the Cannes Jury Prize, and the Cannes Grand Prix. Just as captivating for the world’s…
BLACK ORPHEUS (Dir. Marcel Camus 1959 - new Blu-Ray release)
The classic 1959 Rio Carnival adaptation of the ancient Greek tale about Orpheus and Eurydice, two lovers meeting and falling in love, pursued by the macabre figure of Death, is brilliantly brought back to life in a new Blu-Ray…
In Praise of Latin Erotica
A rare screening of FUEGO, one of Latin America’s best examples of erotic cinema, has been chosen as part of the Barbican’s Cheap Thrills season of bold and outrageous films. Corina Poore praises one of the hottest cinematic…
La Noche (Dir. Edgardo Castro)
Corina J Poore talks to the director of Argentina’s latest film to wow global audiences, a ferociously honest film that explores the drug-fuelled debauchery of Buenos Aires’ underworld sexual, and ye whose power lies in its…
PORTO (Dir. Gabe Klinger)
Presenting his debut fiction feature at the London Film festival this week, Brazilian/American Director Gabe Klinger talks about the film's central themes around the intense experience one can have with a stranger and…
The Clan (Dir. Pablo Trapero)
Outsanding performances and direction bring to life this story, one of the most curious of Argentina's many intriguing historical dramas.
When Two World's Collide (Dir. Heidi Brandenburg and Mathew Orzel)
The Sundance World Cinema Documentary special jury prize-winner, this tense and immersive tour de force, takes audiences directly into the line of fire between powerful, opposing Peruvian factions who will stop at nothing to keep…
'JULIETA' (Dir. Pedro Almodóvar)
Almodovar's ‘Julieta’ marks a change in the iconic director’s well-known style
10 things about Julieta, according to Pedro Almodóvar
In his own words, Pedro Almodóvar offers us clues to the ten themes central to his latest film, Julieta
The Pain of Separation - an interview with Julio Medem
Native of San Sebastián (b. 1958) and settled in Madrid, Julio Medem is one of Spain’s most acclaimed directors. Famous for ‘Sex and Lucia’, ‘Lovers of the Arctic Circle’, and also for 'La Pelota Vasca' a film about…
Embrace of the Serpent dir. Ciro Guerra
Ciro Guerra’s El abrazo de la serpiente/Embrace of the Serpent takes you on a journey into the deep Colombian Amazon, in principle with two white explorers who are in search for the sacred, psychedelic yakruna plant. Though…
Embracing Another World
It’s been a long day of interviews for Ciro Guerra. As director of Embrace of the Serpent, the first Colombian film to be nominated for an Oscar, the film man of the moment is in demand in London, where the film launches this…