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Llegó una de las fiestas cinematográficas más esperadas de Nueva York con una cartelera estupenda de 16 películas de América Latina. La serie LATINBEAT de la Film Society celebra este año su 15ta edición con una mayoría de filmes realizados por talento emergente pero ya galardonado mundialmente. Desde acá les enviamos nuestras felicitaciones por estos 15 fructíferos años y que se multipliquen!.

Marcela Goglio, la Programadora de LATINBEAT destaca la variedad y gran producción del cine latinoamericano desde que comenzó el auge del cine de la región a comienzos de los 90' sin perder aquel espíritu de un "renacimiento cinemático perpetuo". 

Así, es esta edición del LATINBEAT tenemos películas tales como My Straight Son (foto), de Miguel Ferrari, la primera película venezolana en ganar el Premio Goya 2013 a la mejor película hispanoamericana; Casa Grande, del brasileño Fellipe Barbosa, un hit en el Festival de Rotterdam; Natural Sciences del argentino Matías Lucchesi, ganadora del Grand Prix de la Generation Kplus en la Berlinale; We Are Mari Pepa, del mexicano Samuel Kishi Leopo; The Searches del también mexicano Jose Luis Valle; Holiday, una co-producción Ecuador/Argentina de Diego Araujo; Cristo Rey, de Leticia Tonos Paniagua, la primera directora de la República Dominicana; All About the Feathers, de Neto Villalobos (Costa Rica). También esperamos el retorno de la mexicana Mariana Chenillo con su nueva peli, Paradise. Y para terminar cabe mencionar a los brasileños Marcelo Gomes y Cao Guimarães que nos traen una adaptación de un cuento del poeta Edgar Allan Poe en The Man of the Crowd. 

La edición 2014 de LATINBEAT promete darnos un banquete a los cinéfilos de la Gran Manzana del 11 al 20 de Julio en el Lincoln Center.

Pueden ver el trailer de la serie debajo o siguiendo el enlace > Trailer.

Toda la información sobre LATINBEAT debajo o sigan el enlace > LatinBeat.

FILM DESCRIPTIONS & SCHEDULE

* Casa Grande (Opening Night)
Fellipe Barbosa, Brazil, 2014, DCP, 114m
Portuguese with English subtitles

Set in Rio, Fellipe Barbosa’s long-awaited fiction debut is a clear-eyed, empathetic portrait of a teenager who strives to transcend the limitations of his upper-middle-class family life. Seventeen-year-old Jean (an outstanding Thales Cavalcanti) contends with pressure from parental expectations, university entrance exams, and the surprising discovery of a family financial crisis in this tender, beautifully written coming-of-age story that deftly explores class differences and racism in Brazil today.
Friday, July 11, 6:15pm
Monday, July 14, 8:30pm

* All About the Feathers / Por las plumas
Neto Villalobos, Costa Rica, 2013, DCP, 85m
Spanish with English subtitles

Chalo is inseparable from his friend Rocky, a fighting cock he acquires to bring some excitement into his boring life as a security guard. But what Rocky brings is in fact an unexpected set of screwball adventures. Cockfighting is illegal but has a passionate following in the small Costa Rican town where Chalo lives (the film tastefully keeps the action offscreen). Neto Villalobos’s winning, dryly funny debut feature renders that world with genuine flavor and charm by a cast made up of mostly nonprofessional actors.
Thursday, July 17, 6:30pm

* Cristo Rey
Leticia Tonos Paniagua, Dominican Republic, 2013, DCP, 96m
Spanish with English subtitles
In 2011, Leticia Tonos Paniagua was the first Dominican woman to direct a feature film in her country. Her follow-up, a contemporary take on Romeo and Juliet, tackles with sensitivity and a sense of urgency the tough subject of Haitian immigration in the Dominican Republic, where about one million exiles currently reside. Set in the Cristo Rey neighborhood, which is rampant with crime and police corruption, this love story between a teenager of mixed Haitian/Dominican descent and a drug lord’s sister powerfully combines a genuine feel for barrio life with the quick pace and sense of impending danger of a thriller, all the while exploring the implications of racism and xenophobia on this island divided in two.
Saturday, July 12, 6:30pm
Sunday, July 13, 4:00pm

* Dust on the Tongue / Tierra en la lenguaRubén Mendoza, Colombia, 2014, DCP, 89m
Spanish with English subtitles
Despite family patriarch Don Silvio’s abusive behavior toward friends and family, his magnetism has allowed him to remain the center of attention his entire life. When his death is imminent, he makes an unusual request—he asks two of his grandchildren to help him die. Will they take revenge? With an impeccable direction of actors and a seamless flow between fiction, documentary, and mockumentary, Mendoza displays surprising skill and boldness as he navigates the sensitive subject of veiled hostility between parents and offspring.
Saturday, July 12, 4:00pm
Sunday, July 13, 8:40pm

* Holiday / Feriado
Diego Araujo, Ecuador/Argentina, 2013, DCP, 82m
Spanish with English subtitles

Sixteen-year-old Juan Pablo travels to the remote family hacienda in the Andes, where his uncle, who is involved in a corruption scandal, has taken refuge with his wife and teenage children. It is the carnival holiday of 1999, days before the collapse of Ecuador’s banking system. There, Juan Pablo meets Juano, an enigmatic, self-assured heavy-metal fan from the nearby pueblo, who opens his eyes to an entirely new, liberating world. As his country and family is heading for the abyss, the two boys’ budding friendship develops into a fragile romance, and Juan Pablo is forced to define himself against his chaotic surroundings. Daniele Luppi, who has collaborated with Norah Jones, Jack White, Ennio Morricone, and Gnarls Barkley, composed the score.
Tuesday, July 15, 4:30pm
Wednesday, July 16, 6:15pm

* The Man of the Crowd / O Homem das Multidões
Marcelo Gomes & Cao Guimarães, Brazil, 2013, DCP, 95m
Portuguese with English subtitles

Loosely based on Edgar Allan Poe’s story of the same name, Marcelo Gomes and Cao Guimarães—two of the most interesting filmmakers working in Brazil today—have crafted an elegant, parsimonious, and formally impeccable story of Juvenal, a lonely train driver in Belo Horizonte, and his encounter with Margo, a station controller. Emphasizing the theme of alienation in Poe’s story (and revealing Guimarães’s work as a visual artist), the two directors opted for an unusual format, about a 3:3.5 ratio, which intriguingly makes the film resemble a Polaroid. Juvenal and Margo, who each embody a different form of urban solitude, have been brought together in this beautifully composed ode to friendship. A Curator Films Release.
Saturday, July 19, 1:00pm
Sunday, July 20, 6:15pm

* Mateo
Maria Gamboa, Colombia/France, 2014, DCP, 86m
Spanish with English subtitles

Sixteen-year-old Mateo infiltrates a theater group in the violent neighborhood where he lives, and reports on the political activities of its members. But his perspective on the nature of their creative work begins to shift when he falls for a beautiful girl in the troupe. Gamboa’s tough but spirited music-infused tale is based on real-life experiences.
Sunday, July 13, 1:30pm
Tuesday, July 15, 6:30pm

* The Militant / El lugar del hijo
Manuel Nieto, Uruguay, 2013, DCP, 121m
Spanish with English subtitles
Ariel, a student leading a 2002 occupation at a Montevideo university, receives news of his father's death in Salto. Leaving the city and all its protests and solidarity movements behind, Ariel embarks on a very personal journey as he settles into the tranquil countryside—an area under-explored in Uruguayan cinema—and learns that he has to manage his father’s inheritance, including his debts and a lover who’s still living in his house. In this fascinating story of rebirth, Nieto crafts a clever metaphor for the country of Uruguay, which its youth will someday inherit and have to learn how to manage, in their own search for restoration.
Thursday, July 17, 8:45pm
Friday, July 18, 4:00pm

* My Straight Son/Azul, No Tan Rosa
Miguel Ferrari, Venezuela, 2013, 35mm, 113m
Spanish with English subtitles

Famous telenovela actor Miguel Ferrari’s debut feature, which won Best Iberoamerican Film at this year’s Goya Awards (the Spanish Oscars), is the first Venezuelan film to openly deal with gay and transgender issues—still mostly taboo in the country. While telling the story of the romantic relationship between a fashion photographer (Guillermo García) a handsome surgeon (Sócrates Serrano), the film also explores with great panache and lots of heart an array of other topics, including teenage love, homophobia, and what it’s like to be a gay parent to an estranged teenage son. Proudly sentimental and reminiscent of Almodóvar’s early melodramas, but also taut, polished, and sexy, My Straight Son features performances by many of Venezuela’s TV personalities. A TLA Releasing release.
Thursday, July 17, 3:30pm
Saturday, July 19, 8:30pm

* Natural Sciences / Ciencias Naturales
Matías Lucchesi, Argentina/France, 2014, DCP, 71m
Spanish with English subtitles

Determined to find the father she never knew, 12-year-old Lila (Paula Hertzog) escapes her remote boarding school tucked away in the impressive Sierra de Córdoba mountains. This sweet coming-of-age story about love and perseverance won Berlin’s Generation Kplus Grand Prix as well as Best Film, Best Screenplay, and Best Actress at the Guadalajara Film Festival this year.
Friday, July 11, 9:15pm
Monday, July 14, 6:20pm

* Paradise / Paraíso
Mariana Chenillo, Mexico, 2013, DCP, 105m
Spanish with English subtitles

Mariana Chenillo’s sophomore feature displays a warmth and delight in life that couldn't be further from the dark humor of her acclaimed debut, Nora’s Will (Latinbeat ’09). This unpretentious romantic comedy about a happy overweight couple from the suburban middle-class neighborhood Satelite (the “paradise” of the title) takes refreshingly unexpected turns, as their move to Mexico City launches them both on a journey of self-discovery.
Friday, July 18, 9:00pm
Sunday, July 20, 3:30pm

* Reimon
Rodrigo Moreno, Argentina/Germany, 2014, DCP, 72m
Spanish with English subtitles
Documentary and fiction are almost indistinguishable in this minimalist but powerfully eloquent film by the director of El custodio and Un mundo misterioso. Moreno closely observes the daily routines of Reimon, a young woman from northeastern Argentina who commutes long distances from her suburban neighborhood to her job cleaning houses in Buenos Aires. In one of these homes, a young couple read passages from Marx’s Das Kapital out loud as she dusts and cooks... And though the film is practically silent, staying true to Reimon’s introspective cadence, the juxtaposition of her daily reality with that of her employers says it all.
Friday, July 18, 6:45pm
Sunday, July 20, 8:30pm

* Root / Raiz
Matías Rojas Valencia, Chile, 2013, DCP, 87m
Spanish with English subtitles
In this hypnotic story of redemption and rebirth, a young woman embarks on a road trip through lush remote locations in southern Chile to find the father of a recently orphaned child. Having just returned from the city to the hostile environment of her home in Puerto Varas, Amalia leaves again with 9-year-old Cristobál on a dilapidated truck. The two clash, bond, and grieve in the almost mystical qualities of the region’s breathtaking natural beauty. In his impressive debut feature, Matías Rojas Valencia tells an intensely moving story with very few elements, skillfully incorporating the natural setting as a mirror through which we can witness the characters’ deep inner transformations.
Saturday, July 12, 1:30pm
Wednesday, July 16, 8:30pm

* The Searches / Las búsquedas
Jose Luis Valle, Mexico, 2013, DCP, 77m
Spanish with English subtitles
The parallel stories of a widow and a widower come together in the elegant and sober second feature by the award-winning Jose Luis Valle, a director of Salvadoran-Mexican descent. Made in just seven days, and shot in black-and-white, with a budget of $1,500, the film exhibits that a large part of Valle’s talent resides in his capacity to tell a taut, polished, and intriguing story with the fewest of elements—great and renowned Mexican actors notwithstanding (Gustavo Sánchez Parra, Arcelia Ramírez, Gabino Rodríguez). Chance, revenge, solitude, and redemption are some of the themes explored by this small gem of a film.
Saturday, July 19, 6:00pm

* The Summer of Flying Fish / El verano de los peces voladores
Marcela Said, Chile/France, 2013, DCP, 95m
Spanish with English subtitles
Don Francisco is celebrated for the effective if increasingly violent ways he employs to exterminate the carp that overpopulate the artificial lake on his property in the majestically beautiful areas of Curarrehue, Coñaripe, and Liquiñe in southern Chile. His beloved 16-year-old daughter, Manena, seems to be the only one aware of the growing tension surrounding them, as the demands of the Mapuche Indians that have lived and worked in the area for centuries have gone unheard for too long. Said brings her sharp observational skills as a documentarian to this fiction/nonfiction hybrid, working on location with nonprofessional actors to create a quietly powerful denunciation of environmental destruction and social injustice. But she also succeeds in crafting a moving and vivid youth drama through Manena’s tricky predicament, caught between loyalty to her family and to what she knows is right.
Sunday, July 13, 6:30pm
Monday, July 14, 4:00pm

* We Are Mari Pepa / Somos Mari Pepa
Samuel Kishi Leopo, Mexico, 2013, DCP, 95m
Spanish with English subtitles

As the school year ends, the 16-year-olds who make up the title punk band are free to skateboard, play soccer, and rehearse the one—obscene yet catchy—song they’ve written. Samuel Kishi Leopo vividly captures the carefree spirit of the teenagers' summer vacation, with closely observed, carefully drawn characters and a pitch-perfect score (by his brother Kenji Kishi). The summer finally ends and the leisurely days—palpitating with music, desire, and camaraderie—give way to reality, bringing this vibrant portrait of youth at a pivotal moment full circle. A FiGa Films release.

Saturday, July 12, 9:00pm
Tuesday, July 15, 8:30pm

MOVIES AND DATES ONLY

Friday, July 11
6:15PM Casa Grande (114m)
9:15PM Natural Sciences (71m)

Saturday, July 12
1:30PM Root (87m)
4:00PM Dust on the Tongue (89m)
6:30PM Cristo Rey (96m)
9:00PM We Are Mari Pepa (95m)

Sunday, July 13
1:30PM Mateo (86m)
4:00PM Cristo Rey (96m)
6:30PM The Summer of Flying Fish (95m)
8:40PM Dust on the Tongue (89m)

Monday, July 14
4:00PM The Summer of Flying Fish (95m)
6:20PM Natural Sciences (71m)
8:30PM Casa Grande (114m)

Tuesday, July 15
4:30PM Holiday (82m)
6:30PM Mateo (86m)
8:30PM We Are Mari Pepa (95m)

Wednesday, July 16
6:15PM Holiday (82m)
8:30PM Root (87m)

Thursday, July 17
3:30PM My Straight Son (113m)
6:30PM All About the Feathers (85m)
8:45PM The Militant (121m)

Friday, July 18
4:00PM The Militant (121m)
6:45PM Reimon (72m)
9:00PM Paradise (105m)

Saturday, July 19
1:00PM The Man of the Crowd (95m)
6:00PM The Searches (77m)
8:30PM My Straight Son (113m)

Sunday, July 20
3:30PM Paradise (105m)
6:15PM The Man of the Crowd (95m)
8:30PM Reimon (72m)