2008 MELBOURNE LATIN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL
The Latin American Film Festival screens at the Nova Cinema in Melbourne from Feb 28-March 3, 2008. Check local newspapers and program guides for screening times and details.
Our reviewers will provide regular updates and reviews of films screening throughout the Festival. Our reviewers include PETER KRAUSZ (PK).
LAST UPDATED MARCH 4, 2008
POSTALES DE LENINGRADO/POSTCARDS FROM LENINGRAD. Set in Venezuela in the 1960s the film deals with the two opposing political underground forces/guerillas that were endemic in the country, as seen through the eyes of a child determined to view all this as a fantasy game. Featuring scenes of torture as the capitalist government tries to force confessions out of these communist insurgents, the film, by Mariana Rondon, treads an uneasy line between political expose and humorous childhood observation.
The film opens with some fascinating newsreel and stock footage of Venezuela at the time, something that could have been developed further in the narrative. Although the film is occasionally quite entertaining, the attempts to make political/social comments about the era are submerged by a heightened reality style (and lots of visceral shots of animals being slaughtered) that is not satisfactorily resolved. The tensions in stylistic approaches are exemplified by the lack of cohesion in the underlying political issues and the structure of the narrative, which defaults to this odd fantasy/child level. Surprisingly, the film won the Biarritz Latin Film Festival, and was Venezuela’s official entry for this year’s foreign language Oscar. (PK)
JUDIOS EN EL ESPACIO/JEWS IN SPACE (or Why Is This Night Different From Other Nights?) Beginning and ending at a Passover celebration amongst a diverse group of Argentinean family and friends, set in both 1987 and 2003, this gently observed Spanish comedy from Gabriel Lichtmann, delves into the pressures and “tsuris” (troubles) that this group experiences from childhood to present day. The family and friends are drawn together by the grandfather, an amusing eccentric, whose Jewish practices and observances are coloured by past experiences and feelings of ennui. Various family members are reunited after 16 years, romances rekindled and issues exposed, but it is all done in a low key and unforced manner. The title refers to the name of the band formed by four of the family members. An enjoyable film, with a delightful, musical, end credits sequence. (PK)
SECRETOS DE LUCHA/SECRETS OF THE STRUGGLE. Writer-director Maiana Bidegain explores her own family’s troubled political history during the totalitarian regime in Uruguay in the 1960s and 70s, in this personal and compelling documentary. Featuring interviews with key family members, the film explores the tortures, deaths and imprisonment endemic to anyone who protested during that period. Unlike Chile and Argentina which had similar political struggles due to military intervention, Uruguay’s arose out of a democratically elected government that became more dictatorial and oppressive. During that time, Uruguay experienced the highest rate of imprisonment in any South American country.
Maiana’s film is tightly constructed, informative and thorough in her investigation of the period, in particular focusing on the oppression of the working class, University students and teachers. The remnants of this terrible period in history is shown by her family members not wishing to reveal all about those times, still fearful of the consequences of talking, despite a democratic and tolerant government now in place in Uruguay. There is one astounding sequence where Maiana records a telephone conversation she had with one of the military torturers during the 70s who had actually tortured her father. It is revealed that the torturer was a student in Catholic school where her father was the Priest. The irony of the situation and the role of time and history in coming to terms with the present are all brought to the fore by this riveting sequence in the film. Her father’s reaction to this recorded telephone call is quite instructive about contemporary Uruguay.
The film has some AFTRS credits, and Maiana who resides in France, travelled to Australia to study at AFTRS and do some post-production work on this film. A real highlight of this festival. (PK)
NUESTRA AMERICA/OUR AMERICA. German documentary director Kristina Konrad journeys back to Nicaragua 20 years after making a film in 1985, about the Sandinista movement to discover that the revolution is over and that the country has largely sold out to American commercial interests. The Contras, backed by the American government, tried to oppress the communist leaning Sandinista movement in order to further American interests and security in the region. Kristina is particularly interested in meeting again after 20 years, the two women in the photo she had taken as representing the resistance movement. The film meanders through contemporary Nicaragua eventually finding the two women and the positive and negative revelations that are made after the 20 years had passed. Kristina also interviews others around at the time who reminisce about the struggles then, and she also meets a German friend residing in Nicaragua who rails against the crime that is now part of Nicaraguan life.
Although not without some historical and political interest, the film seems padded and repetitive, and fails to really make any consistent points about the American “invasion”, the history of the Sandinistas and their legacy, or indeed how Nicaragua has developed over the period. A somewhat disappointing film, and a missed opportunity! There is some interesting archival footage, but it is used sparingly, and without any real revelations about the political changes in the country. (PK)