BFI holding a South American Renaissance during August
06 August, 2010During the month of August BFI are holding a South American film festival featuring many of the classics of the genre. It seems a bit of a shame that they have decided to feature some of these classics in the line-up really as films such as Central Station and City of God have surely been seen by anyone with a passing interest in Latin American cinema. Still on the other hand it would be like having a Bruce Willis night without Die Hard, which is to say, just plain wrong.
These are some of the films to look forward to over March. My personal favourite is the dark Uruguayan pic Whiskey.
The Blondes
7 Aug 18:20
This compelling documentary follows the director’s investigation into her own parents’ disappearance during the Argentine dictatorship.
Bus 174
7 Aug 20:40
Shocking and sobering documentary which ponders the social conditions that turned a homeless street kid into a bus hijacker.
Central Station
7 Aug 15:50
17 Aug 14:00
A retired teacher reluctantly helps a young boy travel through Brazil in search of his father.
Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures
12 Aug 18:30
15 Aug 20:40
Two intrepid travellers sell aspirin in rural Brazil in the 1940s.
City of God
8 Aug 20:30
A sprawling, spellbinding chronicle of a Rio favela under the thumb of heavily armed drug gangs.
Dioses
23 Aug 20:45
27 Aug 18:20
Two spoilt siblings are observed with horror by their future stepmother, in a biting satire on Peruvian society’s social extremes.
Gigante
26 Aug 20:40
28 Aug 16:00
30 Aug 18:20
A supermarket security guard is drawn to a cleaner he observes on his video security monitors.
The Headless Woman
21 Aug 20:40
28 Aug 20:40
30 Aug 20:40
Lucrecia Martel’s compelling psychological thriller follows a middle-class woman in the aftermath of a car accident.
Liverpool
24 Aug 20:40
28 Aug 17:50
A solitary sailor takes shore leave for a journey across a bleak, frozen Argentine landscape.
Lower City
18 Aug 20:45
22 Aug 16:00
29 Aug 20:40
Sexy love-triangle drama, set amongst the hustlers, criminals and prostitutes of Brazil’s colourful port city Salvador.
Madeinusa
20 Aug 20:40
23 Aug 18:20
Hugely original, exquisitely shot fable by gifted Peruvian Claudia Llosa.
The Magic Gloves
8 Aug 16:00
11 Aug 20:40
A droll satire on capitalism in post-2001 Buenos Aires.
Minimal Stories
6 Aug 20:45
11 Aug 18:20
Three stories of individuals in search of a dream, beautifully performed by a largely non-professional cast.
The Motorcycle Diaries
10 Aug 20:20
14 Aug 18:00
31 Aug 20:30
Walter Salles’s wonderful road movie follows Che Guevara’s consciousness-raising journey around 1950s South America.
Paraguayan Hammock
8 Aug 18:30
9 Aug 20:40
A timeless contemplation of morality and memory realised through painterly compositions and austere storytelling.
Play
15 Aug 16:00
16 Aug 20:40
An enigmatic private nurse finds a briefcase and starts to stalk its owner around Santiago.
Tony Manero
25 Aug 20:45
27 Aug 20:40
29 Aug 18:20
A dangerous middle-aged loner hopes to dance his way to fame in Pinochet’s Chile.
Whisky
9 Aug 18:20
10 Aug 18:20
A factory owner desperate to impress his estranged brother enlists his dour-faced manager to pretend to be his wife.
All films are showing at BFI Southbank. Directions can be found here.
More info:
BFI website
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