There are several Iberian and Latin American films in this year’s San Francisco International Film Festival which runs from April 25-May 9th. With screenings, panels, parties, and awards, the festival offers up a wide array of activities for the casual to the die-hard cinephile.
Some of the Iberian and Latin American titles include:
The Artist and The Model from Spain by Fernando Trueba. An agin painter and his wife discover a beautiful, waiflike young woman wandering the streets whom they take in as his model in this story by 1994 Oscar winner Fernando Trueba (Belle Epoque) about artists and their muses.
The Cleaner from Peru by Adrián Saba. As a mysterious epidemic kill Lima’s adult population- but spares its children- a solitary middle-aged forensic worker discovers an orphaned boy at one of his cleanup sites. When he takes in the traumatized boy, it eases his own isolation and a subtle transformation takes hold of both of them.
Crystal Fairy from Chile by Sebastian Silva. From the director of The Maid (Sundance Jury Prize winner in 2009), an American in Chile joins up with three lanky brothers and a spaced out hippie chick to seek out the perfect high of a desert psychedelic in this partially improvised road movie. Stars Michael Cera.
After Lucia from Mexico by Michel Franco. After this wife’s death in a car accident, Roberto moves to Mexico City with his teenage daughter Alejandra. While they are close, their repressed grief and lack of communication threatens to unhinge them when Ale becomes the victim of a brutal bullying at school.
La Sirga a co-production from Colombia/France/Mexico by William Vega A shy teenage girl, cast out of her home by a fire which also destroyed her parents, seeks shelter with a handful of denizens of the shores of a lagoon in this coming-of-age tale set in the lonely, enchanted landscapes of the high Andes where everyone quietly nurtures illusions of success and fantasies of intimacy with other humans.
Habi, The Foreigner from Argentina/Brazil by María Florecia Alvarez. In a film that explores what it means to feel like an outsider and examines the role of culture in self-definition, this is a coming-of-age story that traces 20-year-old woman’s spontaneous attempt to create a new identity for herself as a Lebanese orphan in Buenos Aires. North American Premiere.
Il Futuro from Argentina Through their relationship with a pair of bodybuilders, an orphaned brother and sister stumble on an opportunity they can’t refuse: seemingly easy money by way of a former Mr. Universe turned reclusive movie star. This is more than crime drame. It’s a meditation on time, aging, identity and the movies. An adaptation of Roberto Bolaño’s novella.
They’ll Come Back from Brazil by Marcelo Lordello A potent exploration of class and adolescence, Cris is a privileged teen, who after being left on the side of the road as punishment for bickering with her brother, embarks on a journey that will open her eyes to a world she never knew as she tries to find her way home.
Mai Morire from Mexico by Enrique Rivero. In the ethereal, nearly pre-Columbian landscapes of the Mexican town of Xochimilco, a stoic woman returns home to care for her 99-year-old mother nearing the end of her life. Haunting and meditative. The film shows the experience of her mother’s death as a beautiful, natural event.
Visit Festival.SFFS.org for more detailed information about the festival and these particular films.
