12th Irish Latin American Film Festival

international | arts and media | event notice Wednesday April 06, 2011 10:41 by Tadhg Ó Cruadhlaoich - Latin American Solidarity Centre tadhgoc at yahoo dot ie ---------------------------- --------------------

12 ú Féile Scannán Meiriceá Laidineach 2011

Festival of short films and documentaries on Latin America

12TH IRISH LATIN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL

The 12th Irish Latin American Film Festival, once again aligned with Latin America Week 2011 takes place in Dublin on the 5/6/7/8th April with selected screenings at other locations [see details at www.lasc.ie]. Admission to all screenings is free at this small screening space, and attendees are requested to be seated on time for each screening.

This bi-lingual Film Festival is organised in our indigenous language, Irish with English as back-up, and as in all previous Festivals, features short films and documentaries. In 2011, three indigenous languages of The Americas – Guaraní (Karoi Norte), Quechua (Ukuku) and Mapuche (La Voz Mapuche) feature. Films are infrequently available on Central America, but this year’s Festival programmes an excellent documentary on Honduras and the detrimental influence of its imperial neighbour, the US.

Sincere gratitude is extended to all the filmmakers and producers from Latin America, and the European filmmakers for their goodwill and efficient co-operation in drawing up the programme for this year’s Festival.

Tuesday, 5th April Latino Shorts 1 (72’) [5.00 pm]
La Voz Mapuche (113’) [6.30 pm]

Wednesday 6th April Latino [EU] Shorts (71’) [5.00 pm]
Alto Gracia (25’) [6.30 pm]
Chasing Che (78’) [7.00 pm]

Thursday 7th April Latino Shorts 2 (76’) [5.00 pm]
En Defensa de la Madre Tierra (31') [6.30 pm]
Interrogating the torturer (25’) [7.00 pm]

Friday 8th April Efecto Dominó (27’) [5.00 pm]
Casanare (52’) [5.30 pm]
Quien dijo miedo (118’) [6.30 pm]

Venue: The Irish Aid Centre (near The Gresham Hotel)
O Connell Street,
Dublin 1

Latino Shorts 1.

Ukuku [Peru/2009/20’] Director: Gastón Vizcarra.
In Quechua, this Peruvian short film features the Ukuku, a mythological character, ascending the Andes to bring back sacred ice.

O Paraíso em suas Maos [Brazil/2010/14’] Director: Carolina Ghidetti Costa.
Banners, pamphlets and speeches. It is a big hustle for the construction project – paradise in your hands.

Los Maravillistas [Chile/2009/10’] Director: Richard O Connell.
A charming portrait of five traffic light performers (Marvel-ists) in downtown Santiago. They love what they do and strive to better themselves.

Laszlo [Mexico/2009/15’] Director: Ehécatl Garage.
Greta cannot work out why her husband Laszlo insists on wearing a bear outfit.

El Nino y el Mar [Ecuador/2009/13’] Director: Tito Molina.
A little boy is building a castle of sand at the beach. But again and again it is washed away by the sea. In only two shots this essayistic short film contemplates reality.

Tigre [Argentina/2009/13’] Director: Juan Pinnel.
Matilde lives in Tigre with her boyfriend and two daughters, who are closer in age to him than their mother!

La Voz Mapuche [Chile/2008/113’] Directors: Pablo Fernández and Andrea Henríquez
The search for living in harmony with the environment, a horizontal way of organising and a resilience that has never been broken, have allowed the Mapuche to resist for over 500 years. WE STILL EXIST!
The Voice of the Mapuche features the music, the paintings, the poetry, the language, the rituals and their traditions. The full feature documentary covers a hunger strike for Mapuche rights that went on for 100 days.
Pepe Gutierrez, recently returned from Latin America, will update the audience on the struggle of the Mapuche people.

Latin [EU] Shorts.

Alitas [England/Mexico/2009/13’] Director: Gabriela Palacios.
Little Wings features Juanita and Natalia, adjusting to life with their mother. One day, Juanita spots a pair of angel wings at a shop.

Another Night [England/Brazil/2010/14’] Director: Zaira Brilhante.
A cinema caretaker/cleaner and a beautiful young woman share a common passion – a love of cinema.
The Director will attend the Festival [www.zairabrilhante.com].
Pequeña Revolución [Denmark/2009/21’] Director: Marianne Hongan-Moraga
The Director travels from Denmark to Chile to visit her uncle, Juan Ramón who lives in a sustainable homestead. He and his wife conduct a Small Revolution.

Loucura Suburbana [England/Brazil/2009/14’] Director: Philipp Figueroa.
Suburban Madness - is named after the carnival group of one of Brazil’s most innovative psychiatric institutions. Situated in the poor outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, the institution has developed unconventional treatments. Their limited medical resources are replaced with music and dance therapy that result in the patients performing at the local carnival procession. The film documents the interaction between the patients and the local community during Rio’s carnival, where madness clashes with collective craziness.

CuBata [Ireland/2010/10’] Director: Kevin Mc Sorley.
In Cuba, women have traditionally been prohibited from performing the Bata drums, due to religious and cultural taboos. In this documentary, female drummer Aleida Sucarrat Torres talks about her experiences of this taboo and 'the Chinitos', a family of Bata drum players and makers, gives the viewer an insight into the traditions and history of this sacred musical instrument.
The Director will be present to introduce CuBata.

Alto Gracia [Argentina/2009/25’] Director: Nicolás León.
Born in Rosario, Che had to move to the better climate of Alto Gracia to alleviate his asthma, on the advice of the family doctor, Dr. O Donnell and family friend. The life of Ernesto “Che” Guevara Lynch has been told from diverse points of view. Alta Gracia is a focus on the human aspect of the revolutionary leader, on his childhood and adolescence. The unpublished testimonies of Guevara´s closest friends as Quique Martín, Alfredo Moreschi, Calica Ferrer, Carlos Figueroa, and his babysitter: Rosario Lopez, play a major role in the path of the truth of who really was Ernesto Guevara.

Chasing Che [Iran/2009/ 78’] Director: Alireza Rofougaran.
After translating a biography of Che Guevara into Farsi, the Director embarks on a four year tour of Latin America and Europe, tracing the footsteps of Che. Comparison is made with the Iranian Revolution, and the omnipresence of Che t-shirts, with the iconic design by Irishman, Jim Fitzpartick and banners at demonstrations. [www.chasingche.com]
Jim Fitzpatrick, designer of the iconic Che image, based on a Korda photograph, has been invited to introduce the Alta Gracia/Chasing Che programme.

Latino Shorts 2

Karai Norte [Paraguay/2009/20’] Director: Marcelo Martinessi.
In Guaraní, an indigenous language in Paraguay, a casual meeting between two strangers at the end of the civil war in 1947 in Chaco, Paraguay revives memories.

Borboletas Infomitas [Brazil/2010/17’] Director: Daniel Chaia.
Untamed Butterflies features a hotel room, three beautiful women and a senator with strange habits.

Tembleque [Puerto Rico/2010/20’] Director: María del Mar Quinones Alos.
Idina Paz, a seven year old schoolgirl, tells her classmates and her teacher that she invented the recipe for one of Puerto Rico’s most famous dishes, the tembleque.

El Rio [Peru/2010/7’] Director: Adrian Saba.
A man struck between his dreams and his memories, struggles to find his lost wife.

Hotel Astur [Argentina/2010/10’] Director: Martina Seminara.
Ana and Maria say goodbye to their family’s hotel, The Astur Hotel in Mar del Plata, just before it is sold.
The Director, whose first short film, REVÉS was programmed in last year’s Festival. She will be attending the Festival with the assistance of the Argentine government.

En Defensa de la Madre Tierra [England/Spain/2010/31’] Producer: Native Spirit Foundation.
Defending Mother Earth records a tour of Spain and England by a group (the eldest was 115 years) of indigenous elders (Maya, Kuna, Mapuche and Aymara), co-ordinated by The Native Spirit Foundation, to re-affirm the message that has been said by so many before them – we must connect with Mother Earth in order to overcome global environmental disaster. 22nd April is International Mother Earth Day [www.motherearthrights.org].
Albert Pellicer, Director of Native Spirit Foundation will attend the Festival [www.nativespiritfoundation.org].

Interrogating the torturer [England/2009/25’] Director: Rodrigo Vazquez.
First Police Sergeant Julio Hector Simon (64) was the first torturer to be convicted for crimes against humanity in Argentina. In the 1970’s he was an extreme sadist working in the clandestine detention centres that functioned throughout the country. Today, he has been abandoned by family, friends and colleagues while he purges a life-sentence. His only acquaintances are his jailers, a former victim called Gerardo Bruzzessi, now interrogator, and myself.

Efecto Dominó [Germany/Cuba/2010/27’] Director: Gabriel Gauchet.
Night time in a quarter of Havana, a couple of men playing a game of dominos, but out of the blue, the night is shattered…

Casanare - Exhumando el genocidio [Colombia/2009/52’] Director: Bruno Federico.
Over and again, people are murdered in Columbia by the military or paramilitary groups, or they simply disappear - the perpetrators remaining innocent. In Casanare - exhuming the genocide, the residents of Casanare overcome their fears and tell the stories of their family members (www.colombiasolidarity.org.uk).

Quien Dijo Miedo – Honduras de un Golpe [Honduras/Argentina/2010/118’] Director: Katia Lara.
Who Is Afraid – inside the coup in Honduras follows René Guillermo Amador Padilla during the Honduran people's resistance against the military coup of 28 June 2009. René joined the National Popular Resistance Front (FRNP) on the first day of the coup. The story tells of a country awakened by the events that occurred and their constant battle against intervention by the United States in its territory.
Army generals had forced elected President Manuel ‘Mel’ Zelaya onto a waiting plane and whisked him away to Costa Rica. A military coup was underway. That’s when Katia Lara picked up her camera and began filming. “Quien dijo miedo” covers what the mainstream media didn’t: the story of how everyday Hondurans organized to restore democracy in the absence of the rule of law.
Juan Muñez Portillo from El Salvador, studying for a PhD in Politics at DCU, will introduce the documentary.

Tadhg Ó Cruadhlaoich [Festival Co-ordinator].

Le cabhair ó Foras na Gaeilge / With the assistance of Foras na Gaeilge.