Latin American Film Festival 2009
The Melbourne Latin American Film Festival 2009 is running from 26 February to the 2 March at ACMI, and includes 12 feature films and documentaries, plus a few short films from Central and South America. It is presented by the Melbourne Filmoteca.
Visit: http://www.mlaff.org.au/
Last updated 22 February 2009
THE MUGGER (EL ASALTANTE)
This is an Argentinean film that for 67 minutes follows the real time exploits of an older man who robs a Primary School of its cash reserves. The narrative develops from the theft, providing some intriguing and compelling twists and turns along the way. This observational film using hand-held camera and a cleverly thought out narrative structure, with an elusive central character who is never defined in any detail, becomes an involving piece of symbolic and political film-making. Pablo Fendrick’s film was screened at Cannes last year at the Director’s Fortnight and is an impressive piece of filmmaking. Highly recommended. (Peter Krausz)
THE WOMEN OF BRUKMAN
A few years ago, the Canadian film “The Take” (2004, Avi Lewis and Naomi Klein) portrayed the financial crisis that overtook Buenos Aires and the collapse of many factories. The film then went to show how a group of automotive workers took control of one of the factories and made it a going concern despite political agitation. In this film, which plays out a similar story from 2001-2006, a group of predominantly female garment manufacturers and textile workers take control of a factory declared bankrupt and portray the steps they took to run the factory themselves. The film uses a combination of news and archival footage, plus many interviews, all in Spanish with English subtitles, with the factory workers and others. Various legal, political and personal issues are pursued in this well made documentary. Recommended. (Peter Krausz)
CUMBIA CONNECTION
From Columbia comes a film without much dialogue but instead replete with the music and rhythms of the country, This simple narrative concerns a young woman who is loved by both a “lower class” artist and a “middle class” photographer. The toing and froing of the respective relationships, movements around the city, and the explicit sensuality of the three of them becomes a fairly beguiling tale. Reminiscent, without the political overtones, of “Y Tu Mama Tambien” (2001, Alfonso Cuaron), this is a film that evokes a rhythmic view of a country and its inhabitants. Quite enjoyable, despite the hackneyed premise and the overlong and somewhat evocations it presents. (Peter Krausz)