Cine Liberación Brings Socially-conscious Latin American Documentary to East London

By 28 May, 2015

A great day of Latin American documentary comes to London this Sunday 31st May at Rich Mix in Shoreditch. Cine Liberación, organised by our friends at Alborada and Movimientos, will feature films from Argentina, Honduras and Chile, with post-screening Q&As with the directors, as well as live music in the evening. Tickets are available for either individual screenings or for the whole day.

Cine Liberación gets things rolling at midday with the European première of Buenos Aires Rap, a self-explanatory title which delves into the underground hip hop scene in the Argentinian capital. Directed by Diane Ghogumo, Segundo Bercetche and Sebastián Muñoz, the film explores the culture of hip hop expression in Argentina, from gangsta rap collectives in the marginalised villas to the chart-climbing sounds of groups like Ilya Kuriyaki & the Valderammas that found commercial success in the 1990s. Last year S&C interviewed Ghogomu about the film, while she also put together a playlist for us of some of the artists involved. The screening will be followed by a 25-minute excerpt of the upcoming Alborada Films production Hip Hop Revolution, directed by Pablo Navarrete, which looks at music’s role in encouraging young people to engage with social and political issues in Venezuela.

The day’s second session, from 2.45pm, sees the UK première of Resistencia: the Fight for the Aguan Valley, Jesse Freeston’s film about land occupations and human rights struggles in Honduras following the 2009 military coup against democratic president Manuel Zelaya. As the Honduran elite moved to reestablish their historical dominance over the impoverished country, in the Aguan Valley a popular movement of citizens fought back against the abuses and repression carried out by the military and other armed groups. Freeston spent four years making the film, which forms a remarkable testament to the determination of a community to stand up for its rights.

At 5.45pm, the third session plays host to the London première of Ignacio Agüero’s astounding El Diario de Agustín (Agustin’s Newspaper), a critical examination of the role of Chile’s largest and most influential newspaper El Mercurio during the socialist government of Salvador Allende and throughout the subsequent military dictatorship of General Pinochet. In the early-1970s the El Mercurio media group was a channel for CIA funds to support the subversive campaign against the Allende government, before serving as a tool of state propaganda under military rule. If you would like to learn more, I recently wrote an in-depth article on the film – and the subsequent furore it provoked in Chile – here. As with the previous two films, there will be a post-screening Skype Q&A with Agüero on the reaction to his film in Chile and the wider influence of the media in modern societies.

To round off the day, local South American collective Banda Condorito will bring their fusion to the Rich Mix stage for the day’s final session from 8pm. For anyone interested in regional culture and politics, Cine Liberación ought to provide fascinating insight into just a few of the themes currently affecting Latin America. Tickets are available for the full day at £12 (£10 concessions) or for individual sessions at £5 (£4 concessions) through the Rich Mix website, via Eventbrite or on the day.


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