"Reel" Latin American Film Festival

The Companion (El acompañante )
Director:  Pavel Giroud, Cuba, 2016
Length:  104 minutes

Showtime(s) and location(s):
Sunday, October 21, 12:30 p.m., Speed Art Museum's Speed Cinema
Introduction: Dr. Thomas Edison, Department of Classical and Modern Languages

Thursday, October 25, 7:00 p.m., Floyd Theater
Introduction: Dr. Avery Kolers, Department of Philosophy


Synopsis: 

Set in 1988 Cuba as the government dispatched HIV patients to AIDS centers under military rule, The Companion narrates the unlikely friendship between a boxing champion and a conflictive patient.

After failing a doping test, Horacio Romero has no other choice but to serve a sentence. His fate is in Los Cocos, a sanatorium under military rule where HIV patients are compulsorily confined, with the exception of a weekly pass to visit their families under the supervision of personal wardens called “companions.”

As a “companion,” Horacio is supposed to keep an eye on Daniel -the most conflictive patient in the ward- and get him to comply to the regulations. Their interests immediately collide as Daniel is set to spend his last days in freedom and is ready to do anything to make this happen.

Horacio, on the other hand, dreams about boxing again to get his champion’s status back. For that to happen, however, he must first win this battle out of the ring…

Synopsis from From Pragda, Spanish Film Club promotional site.

Delicate Balance (Frágil equilibrio)
Director:  Guillermo García López, Chile, Mexico, Spain, Uruguay, Japan, 2016
Length:  81 minutes

Showtime(s) and location(s):
Thursday, October 11, 5:00 p.m., Floyd Theater
Thursday, October 18, 7:00 p.m., Floyd Theater
Introduction: Dr. Christine Ehrick, Department of History


Synopsis: 

Centered around an extensive interview with Jose “Pepe” Mujica, the former President of Uruguay who gained notoriety on the world stage as a rare politician: one that lives according to the ideas and principles he preaches, Delicate Balance is a contemplative essay on the everyday reality of globalization.

Mujica’s ideas about modern society, where economic interests prevail over human values, are used to connect three stories: A Japanese salaryman in Tokyo, a sub-Saharan community trying to cross the borders into Europe, a family evicted from their own home in Spain. Three stories intertwined on three different continents.

The words of the President Mujica — a humble, soft-spoken figure who looks like a retired farm laborer rather than a retired politico — structure this clear-sighted documentary about the socio-economic mess we’re making of our world, but it also comes with suggestions from Mujica about how to change it for the better.

Ultimately, Delicate Balance is a proposal for change, from the particular to the general, that offers a powerful message of optimism for the future. This film is a reflection on the path that the human race is taking, on its habits and its relationship with the world.

Don’t Call me Son (Mãe Só Há Uma)
Director:  Anna Mulaert, Brazil, 2016
Length:  82 minutes

Showtime(s) and location(s):
Thursday, September 27, 7:00 p.m., Gheens Science Hall & Rauch Planetarium
Introduction: Dr. Gregory Hutcheson, Department of Classical and Modern Languages

Thursday, November 1, 5:00 p.m., Floyd Theater

Synopsis:  This poignant coming-of-age film from Brazil is focused on Pierre, seventeen and in the middle of puberty. Ever since his father’s death, his mother Aracy has looked after him and his younger sister Jacqueline, spoiling them both. But when his mother is arrested for having stolen him from a hospital when he was a newborn baby, Pierre’s life changes dramatically. His biological parents Gloria and Matheus have spent seventeen years searching for him; they are now desperate to make up for the lost years and spend time with their eldest son, whom they call Felipe. Observed from a critical distance by his younger brother Joca, Pierre/Felipe moves in with his well-heeled new family, who are determined to mould him according to their ideals. But Pierre has his own designs for his life.

The turmoil of adolescence is plumbed with wit and compassion by award winning director Anna Muylaert, whose earlier film, THE SECOND MOTHER , also in Pragda´s catalog, dealt with familial loyalty and class tensions as well.

Forbidden: Undocumented and Queer in Rural America 
Director:  Tyffany Rhynard, USA, 2016
Length:  82 minutes

Showtime(s) and location(s):
Friday, October 12, 11:00 a.m., 104W Ekstrom Library


Synopsis: 

Two hot-button issues come together in Forbidden: Undocumented and Queer in Rural America. As Donald Trump rails against Mexican immigrants and LGBTQ community, we are introduced to Moises Serrano, who came to America from Mexico when he was 18 months old. Since he was not born in America, Moises is not a legal immigrant. We soon learn that Moises also happens to be gay, and in North Carolina, that presents another set of challenges.
Moises’ larger crusade as an activist is to expand the rights of undocumented people trying to survive in America. An urgent and necessary documentary, Forbidden humanizes the issues, proving eye-opening and inspiring to audiences.
Touching upon relevant issues such as DACA, the DREAM Act, and DOCA, Forbidden highlights the need for advocacy and awareness surrounding immigration reform and LGBTQ rights.

The German Neighbor (El vecino alemán)
Director:  Rosario Cervio, Martin Liji, Argentina, 2017
Length:  94 minutes

Showtime(s) and location(s):
Thursday, October 4, 7:00 p.m., Floyd Theater
Introduction: Dr. Michal Kofman, Department of Sociology

Thursday, October 25, 5:00 p.m., Floyd Theater
Friday, October 26, 11:00 a.m., 104W Ekstrom Library
Synopsis: 

Integrating impressive archive material, The German Neighbor follows the steps of Adolf Eichmann’s awkward and unusual life in Argentina and his remarkable defense at the trial in Jerusalem.

Roberto Klement was a gentle and respectful neighbor in Buenos Aires. But Klement was actually Adolf Eichmann, the executioner of “the Final Solution to the Jewish Question” in WWII. In 1960, Adolf Eichmann was kidnapped illegally and taken to Jerusalem for the Nuremberg trial.

Fifty years later, Renate Liebeskind, a young German translator living in Argentina, is hired to translate that trial into Spanish. Eichmann’s vulnerable image and matter of fact testimony puzzle Renate. Entangled by certainty and ambiguity, she starts looking for answers in conversations with historians, reporters, philosophers, and family members. Not completely satisfied, she embarks on a journey that follows the one traveled by Eichmann after his arrival in Argentina. The film combines the exploration of Eichmann’s daily life during his exile in Argentina with images of the trial in which he was sentenced to death by hanging in 1961.

“Long live Germany! Long live Austria! Long live Argentina! These are the countries with which I have been most connected and which I will not forget. I had to obey the rules of war and my flag. I am ready.” – Last words of Adolf Eichmann, Thursday evening on May 31, 1962, at the gallows of Ramla prison.

Synopsis from From Pragda, Spanish Film Club promotional site.

On the Roof (El techo)
Director:  Patricia Ramos, Cuba, Nicaragua, 2017
Length:  75 minutes

Showtime(s) and location(s):
Sunday, October 28, 12:30 p.m., Speed Art Museum's Speed Cinema
Introduction: Prof. Joel Castillo-Díaz, Bellarmine University

Thursday, November 1, 7:00 p.m., Floyd Theater
Introduction: Prof. Beatriz Reyes Pérez, University of Louisville


Synopsis: 

In this feel-good ensemble dramedy, a flat rooftop in an old Havana neighborhood is the natural habitat for three friends who spend their days and nights dreaming about the future.

Yasmani is an amateur pigeon fancier who is too shy to talk to a girl he likes; Victor José has convinced himself of his Sicilian descent and now prefers to go by Vito; Anita is five months pregnant and pretends that she doesn’t care who the father is. In the midst of their boredom, without money and dreaming about success, they decide to set up their own business. The cost of this dream will finally lead them to personal maturity, but with some difficulty.

A deliciously off-beat romantic comedy, On the Roof doesn’t shy away from tackling the problems facing contemporary Cuban youth. The film offers an impeccable balance of colloquial charm and universal appeal. Patricia Ramos and her excellent cast have crafted highly relatable characters with varying degrees of ambition, ingenuity, and quirk.

Synopsis from From Pragda, Spanish Film Club promotional site.

Spider Thieves (Niñas araña)
Director:  Guillermo Helo, Chile, 2016
Length:  94 minutes

Showtime(s) and location(s):
Thursday, October 11, 7:00 p.m., Floyd Theater
Introduction: Dr. Trish Gray, Department of Political Science

Thursday, October 18, 5:00 p.m., Floyd Theater

Synopsis: 

Inspired by actual events, this teenage thriller is a unique social commentary on dreams, class, and unfulfilled expectations in contemporary Chile.

Three teenage girls from a Santiago shanty town set in motion a plan to climb buildings and plunder expensive apartments. All they want is to have all the cool and trendy stuff they see advertised in TV commercials and department stores. Word spreads and soon enough they became the notorious “spider thieves.”

Who is Dayani Cristal? (¿Quién es Dayani Cristal?)
Director:  Marc Silver, Mexico/USA, 2014
Length:  85 minutes

Showtime(s) and location(s):
Thursday, October 4, 5:00 p.m., Floyd Theater
Friday, October 5, 11:00 p.m., Elaine Chao Auditorium

Synopsis: 

Deep in the sun-blistered Sonora desert beneath a cicada tree, Arizona border police discover a decomposing male body. Lifting a tattered T-shirt they expose a tattoo that reads 'Dayani Cristal.' Who is this person? What brought him here? How did he die? And who? or what? is Dayani Cristal?
Following a team of dedicated forensic anthropologists from the Pima County Morgue in Arizona, director Marc Silver seeks to answer these questions and give this anonymous man an identity. As the forensic investigation unfolds, Mexican actor and activist Gael Garcia Bernal retraces this man's steps along the migrant trail in Central America. In an effort to understand what it must have felt like to make this final journey, he embeds himself among migrant travelers on their own mission to cross the border. He experiences first-hand the dangers they face and learns of their motivations, hopes and fears. As we travel north, these voices from the other side of the border wall give us a rare insight into the human stories which are so often ignored in the immigration debate.
Winner of the Sundance 2013 Cinematography award and nominated in the World Documentary Competition, Who Is Dayani Cristal? shows how one life becomes testimony to the tragic results of the U.S. war on immigration.
Synopsis from From Pragda, Spanish Film Club promotional site.