ON YOUR FEET
The story of how a child fled from Cuba to Miami to become a global superstar needs spicing up, but the rhythm is gonna get you, says Elizabeth Mistry
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…
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…
‘ASFIXIA’ Dir. Kenya Márquez
Mexican writer/director Kenya Márquez excels with her second feature ‘Asfixia’ (Suffocation 2018), to be screened (free) online at the Raindance Film Festival 2020, in the Female Gaze strand. It is a tale of redemption and love,…
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,
'The Sleepwalkers' by Paula Hernández
The latest film by Argentine director Paula Hernández who continues her successful run of intimate dramas with ‘The Sleepwalkers’ (Los Sonٞámbulos-2019). Selected to represent Argentina at the 93rd Academy Awards, it tells the…
Latin Londoner #39: Spin, Professional Bboy
Born in Cali and raised in London, Juan David Gaviria Muñoz (aka Spin) is a professional Bboy (breaker): five times National Solo Champion, two times European Solo Champion and five times World Champion in crew category,…
Let Me Entertain You: Boris Izaguirre in London
Move over Graham Norton. He's in town for one night only, and he's bound to cause quite a splash. Award-winning novelist, beloved TV presenter, honorary Spaniard and gay icon Boris Izaguirre is much more than a…
'Utama' Dir. Alejandro Loayza Grisi
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 to struggle for water and food. Director Alejandro Loayza Grisi…
Stories of Sisterhood - The Mexican Photographer who Scooped Top Prize at the Sony World Photography Awards
Citlali Fabián, 37, has been named Photographer of the Year at the prestigious Sony World Photography Awards for her series "Bilha, Stories of my Sisters". The Mexican photographer explores issues of identity, community…
'Prazer, Camaradas!' Dir. José Filipe Costa
‘Prazer, Camaradas!’ is a charming, fiction-documentary by Portuguese director José Filipe Costa that was recently shown at the 63rd BFI London Film Festival. With acute observations and a gentle humour, it examines the impact on…
Seré Millones Dir. Omar Neri, Fernando Krichmar & Mónica Simoncini
They robbed the bank then and now they will rob it again for a movie about the heist! Nicknamed ‘The Blowtorch Heroes’ by their political party, Oscar ‘El Gordo’ Serrano and Ángel ‘El Turco’ Abus (with his wife Laura ‘Beba’ Zona…
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…
A Readers Guide to Argentina
Like its music, dance, theatre and art, Latin America is producer of some of the greatest literature that exists on the planet. But in this rich forest of words, it’s not easy to know where to start. Which is why we asked our…
Breaking the Mould in Paraguay
Marcelo Martinessi’s fascinating study of a lesbian couple affected by social mores in Paraguayan society is submitted to the 91st Academy Awards.
'REAS' by Lola Arias
“I see beyond the wall”...Having its UK premiere at the BFI Flare 2024 Festival, Argentine cinema and theatre director Lola Arias' award winning new documentary ‘REAS’ has created a novel take on the prison documentary,…
The Second Mother (2015) Dir. Anna Muylaert
A hugely enjoyable film exploring the complex relationship between Latin America's middle class and its live-in maids in a digestible, humorous and touching way.
Chocolate, Politics and Peace-Building
An Ethnography of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó, Colombia by Gwen Burnyeat
OLIVIA AND THE CLOUDS (2024) by Tomás Pichardo-Espaillat.
“Like they don’t see something is pulling them apart.” In ‘Olivia and the Clouds’, a visually exciting animated feature, relationships flounder, steeped in memories and hopes as animator, film maker, professor and artist from…
"Magellan" (2025) Dir. Lav Diaz
"Magellan" traces the drama of the fateful expedition to the Spice islands in the 16th century and features Gaël García Bernal as the Portuguese navigator Fernando Magalhães (Magellan), who has to leave his heavily-…
"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…
LATIN LONDONER #62 - Gigi Tisminetzky. Actor, Writer, Theatre Director
Gigi Tisminetzky is a multi-lingual Argentine actor and theatre maker. After arriving in London at 16 to train at LAMDA and The Drama Centre, Gigi embarked on a cross-border TV career which include 'Devils' on Sky and …
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…
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
EL AFFAIRE DE MIU MIU (2024) by Laura Citarella.
The Giornate Deglo Autori’s world première of ‘EL AFFAIRE MIU MIU’ (2024) by fêted Argentine director Laura Citarella, at the 2024 Venice Film Festival on August 31st, has added a thrilling mystery tale to the compelling female…
La Tortuga de Darwin @ Cervantes Theatre
A delightful, thoughtful and hugely comical experience at the innovative Spanish Theatre initiative in Southwark
Ballet Brazil
Inspiring, talented, and dedicated are only a few words used to describe dancer Thiago Soares. The Brazilian born artist has left his mark on the Royal Ballet, which has made him a household name, but this wasn’t an easy task.…
LOS TALLOS AMARGOS (1956) by Argentine Fernando Ayala
“There are fools in Germany, fools in France and fools in Argentina.” Cine Lumière screens a classic cult film noir from the Golden Age of Argentine cinema, 'Los Tallos Amargos' (1956) directed by Fernando Ayala.
Las Cosas por su Nombre
Confused when someone tells you to "Stand my balls up", "arm a patch and throw out the wagon" or "take out my stone by making a show"? You'll need Candela’s guide to authentic Colombian Spanish…
‘Ropes’ (Cuerdas) Dir. José Luis Montecinos
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR. With multiple awards for his six short films behind him, writer/ director José Luis Montecinos has finally plunged into his first feature with a dark thriller laced with horror at every turn.
COMPARSA (2025) written and directed by Doug Anderson and Vickie Curtis.
Well-received at the 2025 Sheffield Documentary Film Festival, this is a moving feature-length documentary that explores how a group of women from Peronia, in Guatemala are challenging the authorities over the woeful lack of…
The Brazilian Wild West
Corina Poore talks to the award-winning directors Juliano Dornelles and Kleber Mendonça Filho about ’Bacurau’, a fascinating, drug-fuelled and dark ‘western’ set in a remote area of north-eastern Brazil, which comes with a twist…
The Forensic Film Director
The Argentine director Martin Kraut reveals that he keeps a file of newspaper cuttings that he likes to develop into stories. One such report, from a Uruguayan journal, was transformed into ‘LA DOSIS’ (2020) a tense and…
LATIN LONDONER #12 David Benitez - Tango Dancer
United by romantic love and passion for tango David & Kim Benitez are not only great teachers, but also spectacular performers. The sensuality and magnetism of their dance made them win the LUKAS award for Tango Performers of…
Diego Maradona (Dir. Asif Kapadia)
In the Shakespearean tragedy that is the movie 'Diego Maradona', master documentary story-teller Asif Kapadia offers football's most revered and loathed protagonist a chance for redemption