September 5 - 28, 2003

left: valentin

about the series | main program: film descriptions and times | a tribute to lita stantic | cuban music documentaries
Additional LatinBeat screenings at El Museo del Barrio

Sponsored by CONILL

LatinBeat 2003 is presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and sponsored by Conill with the support of the Instituto de Mexico and the Instituto Cervantes. Special thanks go to Anhel Collado-Schwarz.

With additional support by HSBC Republic and Fundación Amistad. Marketing support by El Museo del Barrio. Thanks go to Miramax Films, the Mex-Am Cultural Foundation, the Instituto Nacional de Cine y Artes Audiovisuales de Argentina (INCAA), the Consulate of Argentina, New York Women in Film and Television (NYWIFT), the Mexican Film Institute (IMCINE), Vanessa Corwin, and Andrea Chignoli.

Media partners Telemundo Channel 47 and 93.1 Amor WPAT FM.

The Film Society of Lincoln Center's fourth annual LatinBeat features outstanding recent cinema from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, and Venezuela. All films are in their original language with English subtitles.

The growing success of Latin American film nationwide is now overwhelmingly evident. Every major city in the U.S. seems to have its own Latin American Film Festival; some, like New York, have about half a dozen, offering Latin American film to a wide audience. This is also apparent in recent commercial successes like Brazil's City of God, Mexico's Y Tu Mamá También, as well as a number of recent Argentine films such as Nine Queens and Tan de repente (Suddenly). Argentine cinema, especially, has had an extremely impressive resurgence, which is also reflected in the eight Argentine films in LatinBeat 2003.

The 24 films from 11 countries in this year's LatinBeat are as diverse as Latin America itself. They range from romantic thriller (FRANCISCA, Mexico) to dark comedy (COPACABANA, Brazil), from melancholic drama (SATURDAY, Argentina) to riveting documentary (ALEX LORA: ROCK 'N' ROLL SLAVE, Mexico). As a special sidebar of this festival, we are paying a seven-film tribute to the work of Lita Stantic, one of the most important Argentine producers of the last three decades. We will also be presenting a selection of post-revolutionary Cuban musical documentaries, most of which have never left Cuba before. Please see the opposite page for further details on both sidebars. The festival also offers the opportunity to interact with some of the people involved in the filmmaking process, as we expect many of the directors to be present for their screenings. Furthermore, co-presented with NYWIFT, we've scheduled a panel on Sunday, Sept. 7, entitled WOMEN LEADING THE LATIN BEAT, to explore the accomplishments and challenges that face Latin American women filmmakers today.

So join us, beginning September 5, for more than three weeks of celebration of Latin American cinema.

LatinBeat 2003 has been curated by Cord Dueppe, Marcela Goglio and Inés Aslan.

SIDEBAR
A Tribute to Lita Stantic - September 5 - 28
The New Latin American Cinema was forged in Argentina in the 50s and 60s and was strangled by the dictatorship that followed and so brutally interrupted the country's development. Lita Stantic came of age in those dark days. Part of a generation decimated by repression, opposition, and retaliation, Stantic worked in advertising, made short films, raised a daughter, and dreamed of a day when Argentina could reclaim its birthright, politically and cinematically. When that day came in the 80s with the end of the dictatorship, Stantic was ready. So was Maria Luisa Bemberg, the gutsy woman who broke the gender barrier to become the first significant Argentine woman director. The producer who made that possible? Lita Stantic. A team for a decade, they made five films. Miraculously, in the past few years, Argentine cinema has had a second renaissance. The producer who has made this possible? Again, Lita Stantic. She has reinvented herself yet again, this time as the "madrina" (godmother) who shepherds the new directors' energies and enthusiasms onto the screen with a fierce rapidity that reflects the urgency of the task. In the past four years, Stantic-produced films have significantly relaunched Argentine cinema for an adoring global audience: Crane World, Bolivia, THE SWAMP, A RED BEAR and Tan de repente. The name of Lita Stantic as producer has become a guarantee of truly important cinema.- B. Ruby Rich, Rencontres internacionales de cinéma à Paris, Nov 7 - 17, 2002 Supported by HSBC Republic.
Many, many thanks to the hard-working staff at Lita Stantic Productions: Mattias Mosteirein, Milena Guerini, and Patricia Barbieri.
SIDEBAR
We Are the Music:
Cuban Musical Documentaries - September 13 - 19
The Film Society of Lincoln Center is very proud to present this unique and groundbreaking special sidebar within LatinBeat 2003, consisting of three feature-length compilation programs of classic, archival Cuban music films, most of these in their U.S. premieres. Indeed, many of these short films have never been seen anywhere outside of Cuba before. Each program in the three-week mini-festival will be comprised of three to six films, and all will be screened at the Film Society's Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center. The short films in We Are the Music span more than 30 years (1960 to 1991). Spearheaded by Rogelio Paris's feature NOSOTROS LA MUSICA, which includes glorious footage of some of Cuba's greatest musicians in the mid-1960s, all the documentaries are interestingly varied in style, musical genre and era, ranging from legendary Cuban music star profiles (Beny Moré, Bola de Nieve, Rita Montaner) to post-revolution free outdoor ballroom-dancing documentaries. They are incredibly rare, beautiful films, most of them pristine 35mm prints and directed by acclaimed directors such as Néstor Almendros, Juan Carlos Tabío, Octavio Cortázar, Fernando Pérez, and Oscar Valdés. All films are subtitled in English.
Supported by Fundación Amistad.

We would like to thank the Cuban Film Institute (ICAIC) and, in particular, Rosa María Rovira and Rogelio Paris, without whom this sidebar would not have been possible.



MINIMAL STORIES / HISTORIAS MÍNIMAS
Carlos Sorín, Argentina, 2002; 94m
Don Justo, an old man with failing eyesight, embarks on a 200-mile trek to retrieve his lost dog. He didn't lose the dog, he says, the dog left him - and with good reason. Roberto, a traveling salesman prone to jealousy, must get a cake redecorated as part of his plan to win the affection of a young widow. Shy Maria, lured by the chance to appear on a TV game show, totes her baby to the (not so big) city of San Julián. As their paths crisscross, these modern-day pilgrims encounter a world of surprising generosity. HISTORIAS MÍNIMAS is one of those gems of storytelling that too rarely find theatrical distribution.
The idea for the film occured when, while shooting a commercial in Patagonia, Sorin fired his cast and replaced them with locals. The improvisational spontaneity of his mostly nonprofessional cast are held in tension with the abstract beauty of the Patagonian landscape and the beguiling precision of Pablo Solarz's screenplay. Small negotiations and insignificant objects - a turtle, a stolen 50-peso note - resonate in unexpected ways, as the travelers' simple expeditions are revealed to be journeys of hope and redemption. - Tom Powers
Winner of 11 Condors (Argentinian Oscar).
Fri Sept 5: 1 & 9:30
Tue Sept 9: 7:30
Wed Sept 10: 1

ABOUT THE LIVING / SERES HUMANOS
Jorge Aguilera, Mexico, 2002; 80m
When six-year-old Dalia dies, her brother Damián enters therapy, her father Derek goes mad, and her mother Dulce plunges into her work as a TV hostess. Eleven years later, the family's efforts at resisting the pain start to collapse. Damián falls for teenage dancer Fabiana, who reminds him of his dead sister, Derek has a mystical encounter with Dalia's ghost, and Dulce realizes that her job - that converts pain into entertainment - is hypocritical. An intelligent, stunningly shot and well-acted film.
Fri Sept 5: 3
Tue Sept 9: 3:10 & 9:30

LILA STANTIC TRIBUTE:
THE SWAMP / LA CIÉNAGA
Lucrecia Martel, Argentina/Spain, 2001; 102m
Mecha (Graciela Borges) and her family are nearing the end of their summer holiday when her cousin Tali and her family are forced to come and live with them. In the stifling heat of the Argentine summer, two families aimlessly amuse themselves with liquor, kinky crushes, swimming in a filthy pool, hunting, and TV-watching. No one ever seems to get anywhere; indeed, parents and kids mostly lie abed, half-naked in communal, asexual sloth, but there are powerful undercurrents running beneath the seemingly languid country-house atmosphere. Lucrecia Martel's astonishing feature debut (Cannes 2001/NYFF 2001) constitutes a mesmerizing portrait, reminiscent of Buñuel, of the privileged class far gone in decay, unanchored from religion, nature, or marital or blood ties.
Fri Sept 5: 4:45 (Q & A)
Sat Sept 6: 8:45 (Q & A)

PANEL: WOMEN LEADING THE LATIN BEAT
For the past ten years we have witnessed a renaissance of Latin American cinema. But what makes it especially extraordinary is the unprecedented emergence of so many remarkable women filmmakers. The Film Society of Lincoln Center and Paula Heredia of New York Women in Film & Television (NYWFT) invite you to join us for a panel exploring issues of conception, financing and distribution of independent films from Latin America. Moderated by Richard Peña, Programming Director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center and Head of the New York Film Festival Selection Committee, panelists include Lita Stantic (producer), Eva López Sánchez (director of FRANCISCA), Sandra Gugliotta (director of A LUCKY DAY), and Albertina Carri (director of THE BLONDES).
Sun Sept 7: 11am, Brunch reception at 12:30pm in the Frieda and Roy Furman Gallery of the Walter Reade Theater following the panel.
Free for NYWFT and Film Society members, non-members $5.

FRANCISCA (...WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?) / FRANCISCA (...DE QUÉ LADO ESTÁS?)
Eva López Sánchez, México/Spain/Germany, 2001; 85m
Helmuth Busch, a former informant for the secret police of East Germany, lands in Mexico under a false identity. When he is caught, the Mexican secret service offers him an opportunity to spy on a political group of militant students in order to avoid deportation. As Bruno Müller, he becomes professor of history at the University of Mexico City. Bruno performs his unpleasant mission while his only wish is to survive, to come through. However, he falls madly in love with Adela, a young activist, and faces a dilemma when he is asked to execute Adela's leader. With its stunningly atmospheric cinematography and great performances, this romantic thriller is an unusual and gripping look at the student movement in 70s Mexico.
Sat Sept 6: 1 (Q & A)
Sun Sept 7: 8:45 (Q & A)
Mon Sept 8: 1

LITA STANTIC TRIBUTE:
A WALL OF SILENCE / UN MURO DE SILENCIO
Lita Stantic, Argentina, 1993; 107m
In 1976 Argentina is living under a military dictatorship. Julio, Silvia's partner, disappears. The young woman must raise her child alone, facing by herself solitude and uncertainty. In one of her university professors she finds the only confidant to whom she can express her agony. As time goes by, guilt gives way to oblivion. Twenty years later, Silvia has reconstructed her life. But her old confidant betrays her trust by giving her story to Kate, an English filmmaker. Under the weight of that past, the protective veil that Silvia had created around her memory shatters. An irreplaceable historical testimony, A WALL OF SILENCE brings forth the plight of the disappeared and their families, torn between the present, sometimes a synonym of oblivion, and the need to preserve memory. The narration skillfully weaves the past, Silvia's present and the scenes from Kate's film with images of the creative process behind a film that is in many aspects autobiographic. With Vanessa Redgrave, Julio Chaves and Soledad Villamil (actors of A RED BEAR, showing on Aug 19 & 20).
Co-presented with The Human Rights Watch International Film Festival.
Sat Sept 6: 3:30 (Q & A)
Tue Sept 9: 1

A LUCKY DAY / UN DÍA DE SUERTE
Sandra Gugliotta, Argentina/Italy, 2002; 94m
Filmed during the riots in Buenos Aires in 2000, this story is set against the backdrop of a country experiencing social, economic and political turmoil. Elsa is one of the many young people trying to survive in a country that has little to offer. Nevertheless, she wants to change her life and move to Italy the same way her Italian anarchist grandfather fled for Argentina decades earlier. In Italy, she hopes to find the man with whom she once had an affair. However, she needs help, and her friend Walter lends a hand, knowing he'll regret it. Sandra Gugliotta's accomplished feature frames Elsa against the wider cityscape, which both nourishes and oppresses her, the camera following her as she drifts through her days and nights. Award winner at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Sat Sept 6: 6:15 (Q & A)
Mon Sept 8: 3 & 9:30 (Q & A)

LITA STANTIC TRIBUTE:
CAMILA
Maria Luisa Bemberg, Argentina/Spain, 1984; 105m
Set in 1840s Buenos Aires, CAMILA chronicles the ill-fated romance between a Jesuit priest and the daughter of a wealthy landowner. Fearing reprisal from both their families and the leaders of the Church, the young lovers flee the city and decide to run a children's school in a small village. Based on actual events, the film strikes a curious balance between wildly melodramatic moments and darkly comic realism. Bemberg's passionate narrative reflects the oppression both of the Rosas-era government of the mid-19th century, which tyrannically upheld the order of Church and State, and of Argentina's contemporary reigning military dictatorship in the 1980s. This film earned Maria Luisa Bemberg an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Film.
Sun Sept 7: 1 (Q & A)
Wed Sept 10: 3
Fri Sept 12: 5

OPENING NIGHT FILM: VALENTÍN (Courtesy of Miramax Films)
Alejandro Agresti, Argentina, 2002; 86m
Cupid just turned eight: in a world of adults who don't quite seem to know what they're doing, eight-year-old VALENTÍN (Rodrigo Noya) sets out on a series of extraordinary missions to make his life a little better, becoming an unexpected matchmaker, macho confidante, philosopher, television repairman and, most of all, a spirited purveyor of hope and wisdom to those around him. Following in the tradition of such films as Kolya and My Life as a Dog, VALENTÍN is set in 1960s Buenos Aires, but mines the territory of the human heart. One of Argentina's most celebrated filmmakers, Alejandro Agresti, looks back on the chaos and wonders of his own 1960s and his vividly painted characters combine both the shimmering magic of nostalgia and the honest sting of real life.
Sun Sept 7: 3:45 (Q & A)
Thurs Sept 11: 9:30 (Q & A)

THE BLONDES / LOS RUBIOS
Albertina Carri, Argentina, 2003; 89m
Who were the Carris? How did they disappear? Were they blonde, brunette, tall, parent figures, revolutionaries, a son, a daughter, a couple of activists, heroes or merely a fiction of those who remember them? Fragments, fantasies, stories and photographs give shape to a hidden reality that, belonging to the past, slowly reaches the present. Pervaded by the loss of "the disappeared" (in this case, the director's own parents), the portrayal of this family is constructed (and deconstructed) through every remembering person, every past image, and every single fading photograph.
Co-presented with The Human Rights Watch International Film Festival.
Sun Sept 7: 6:15 (Q & A)
Mon Sept 8: 5
Tue Sept 9: 5 (Q & A)
THE BLONDES will open at Film Forum in the spring of 2004.

THE FIRST NIGHT / LA PRIMERA NOCHE
Luis Alberto Restrepo, Colombia, 2001; 94m
This heartfelt and moving story of two peasants forced to move to the city slums tackles in an honest, straightforward way the recent history of violence and forced displacement that many Colombians are facing. Two brothers, Wilson and Toño, decide to take radically different paths in life. While Toño joins the army, Wilson goes off to fight with the guerrillas, leaving his wife, Paulina, and their child to be cared for by Toño and their mother. When their town is attacked, their mother is killed, but Paulina survives and leaves for Bogotá in search of a friend. Toño, her protector, follows, and when their plans for a new life go awry, they are forced into the worst conditions.
Wed Sept 10: 5 & 9:30
Sat Sept 13: 1

EL LEYTON
Gonzalo Justiniano, Chile, 2002; 95m
Leyton and his lifelong friend Modesto are both fishermen and as close as brothers, but very different in temperament. The braggart Modesto is a slave to progress, while the more unpretentious Leyton is content with the simple life. Modesto marries Marta, a beautiful young naïf, who longs for the sexual fulfillment Modesto (who is "like a rabbit - one jump up and one jump down") is incapable of providing. And, just as Modesto captures creatures from the sea in his net, it isn't long before the cruel web of destiny entangles Marta and her lover Leyton in a tragic triangle. Chilean director Gonzalo Justiniano spins a tragic tale of love, lust, friendship, betrayal and murder. Gorgeous market scenes of the bounteous seafood and observations of simple village life along the coastline make for a visual delight.
Wed Sept 10: 7 (Q & A)
Thurs Sept 11: 5 (Q & A)
Fri Sept 12: 1

COPACABANA
Carla Camurati, Brazil, 2001; 90m
Marcel Proust may have set the standard for life-encompassing reminiscences, but COPACABANA suggests he might have had some wilder remembrances of things past if he'd grown up in Rio de Janeiro. It is the eve of Alberto's 90th birthday, and his friends are preparing to throw him a surprise party as only residents of Rio can. Meanwhile, the honorée is drifting through time, lost in a raucous and poignant reliving of his long life as a photographer in the most storied district of South America's golden city. Lives, loves, and almost a century's worth of tumultuous Brazilian history drift in and out as the old man takes a loving, fun-filled journey through his past.
Thurs Sept 11: 1 & 7:10 (Q & A)
Fri Sept 12: 3

STRANGER / EXTRAÑO
Santiago Loza, Argentina, 2003; 87m
Winner of this year's Rotterdam Film Festival's prestigious Tiger Award, STRANGER continues Argentina's film renaissance with remarkable confidence. Axel is a fortyish doctor who's given up his practice and, it seems, everything else about life; rarely speaking or spoken to, he lives with his sister and her children. A chance meeting with a pregnant, much younger woman leads to a relationship based more on mutual resignation than apparent love; even after moving in with her Axel still seems ready to disintegrate at any moment, like a shadow caught without a sun.
Thurs Sept 11: 3
Fri Sept 12: 7:15
Sun Sept: 14: 8:45

THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA / EL FONDO DEL MAR
Nicholas Ray, U.S., 1957; 102m
Damián Szifron, Argentina, 2003; 90m
Toledo, 25 years old and future architect, suffers from acute jealousy. He lives obsessed with his girlfriend´s whereabouts and activities. His character gives the film a fantastic description of the paranoia that takes over some men's minds when they think that their women are cheating on them. One night after arriving home, his worst nightmare comes true: there is another man hiding under the bed. Paralyzed by the discovery, he leaves the house with a stupid excuse and waits outside until his rival comes out. A one-of-a-kind nocturnal pursuit will ultimately allow him to discover not only the man's identity but most important, his own. EL FONDO DEL MAR elegantly bundles together elements from genres lsuch as thriller, drama and delirious screwball comedy, reaching its climax in the scene when Toledo and his girlfriend's lover meet for the first time in the street.
Fri Sept 12: 9:15 (Q & A)
Sun Sept 14: 3:45 (Q & A)
Tue Sept 16: 1

OPENING NIGHT PRESENTATION: CUBAN MUSIC PROGRAM 1

We Are the Music / Nosotros la musica
Rogelio Paris, Cuba, 1965; 66m
In the early years of the Revolution, Cuban filmmakers marched with the same youthful enthusiasm and sense of mission as the volunteer brigades that went to the countryside to eradicate illiteracy. Rogelio Paris was one of these young filmmakers, and he corralled some of Cuba's greatest popular musicians in tenements, churches, nightclubs, concerts and the streets of Old Havana, recording their priceless performances. We Are the Music is editor Nelson Rodríguez's film, too, as he deftly weaves in shots of the five-century-old city, including a nifty tracking shot down a narrow downtown street bustling with life, rusty store signs from the capitalist era still hanging from the sides of buildings. The cast of characters includes Bola de Nieve, Celeste Mendoza, Chapottín, Elena Burke, Joseíto and Milacho Rivera, performing charanga, guaguancó, trova, rumba, danzón and bolero. One thing is very clear: These filmmakers made no concessions to white-bread images of Latin music. They show how very, very African it all is: the music, the dancing and the people. - Miguel Pendás

Ritmo de Cuba
Néstor Almendros, Cuba, 1960; 20m
In this film, directed and shot by the great Néstor Almendros, Alberto Alonso's ballet company performs different folkloric rhythms and melodies of Afro-Cuban origin, including the guajira, habanera and Cha Cha Cha.

Nostalgia del Cha Cha Cha
Miguel Torres, Cuba, 1991; 17m
This film follows the evolution of the Cha Cha Cha rhythm since its origins at the beginning of the 50s with La Engañadora by Enrique Jorrin, all the way to its subsequent developments with the Orquesta Aragón, the compositions of Richard Egues and Rafael Lay, as well as those of Rosendo Ruiz (junior) and other composers and singers.
Total Runtime: 103 minutes
Sat Sept 13: 8:15 (Q & A)
Sun Sept 14: 1 (Q & A) & Tue Sept 16: 3

CUBAN MUSIC PROGRAM 2

Del hondo del corazón
Constante Diego, Cuba, 1977; 20m
In this warm, informal gathering, several figures of the traditional trova (troubadours) talk about the old, or vieja trova, confessing what it means to them and their source of inspiration and delight us with an interpretation of some of their most well-known compositions.

Hablando del punto cubano
Octavio Cortazar, Cuba, 1972; 23m
The punto guajiro is the oldest traditional Cuban music of Spanish origin. This documentary explores its main characteristics and also offers telling portraits of its most well known interpreters.

Chicho Ibáñez
Juan Carlos Tabío, Cuba, 1974; 11m
The Cuban troubadour Jose "Chicho" Ibáñez (1875-1981) is 99 years old in this gathering of old and young troubadours in which he talks about his life and interprets four of his most famous compositions: Tus ojos (Your Eyes), Yo era dichoso (I Was Happy), Tonada abakua (Abakua Tune), En la esperanza donde el ave canta (Hope Is What the Bird Sings).


Yo soy la canción que canto
(Tribute to Bola de Nieve)
Mayra Vilasis, Cuba, 1985; 27m
Through the use of archival images, songs, photographs (most of which have never been seen before), fragments of his last interview and testimonies by relatives and close friends, this tribute to Ignacio Villa (Bola de Nieve) reveals aspects of the life, personality and exceptional art of one of the greatest creators of Cuban and Latin American music of this century.

Sobre Luis Gómez
Bernabe Hernandez, Cuba, 1965; 8m
This beautifully shot film shows the everyday life of Luis Gómez, the famous Cuban interpreter of the campesino rhythm known as punto guajiro.
Total Runtime: 112 minutes
Sat Sept 13: 3 (Q & A)
Mon Sept 15: 6:15 (Q & A)
Wed Sept 17: 1:30

CUBAN MUSIC PROGRAM 3

La última controversia
Sergio Nuñez, Cuba, 1988; 14m
A portrait of two of the most outstanding and well-known poets and interpreters of the décima campesina (singing duel). Justo Vega and Adolfo Alonso, the most admired décima artists in Cuba, are now retired but are remembered with affection and respect in this documentary that reveals unknown aspects of their lives and of the difficult art of the décima.

¿De dónde son los cantantes?
Luis F. Bernanza, Cuba, 1976; 32m
This documentary is a tribute to Cuba's greatest soneros: Miguel Matamoros, Ignacio Piñeiro, Nicolas Guillén and Beny Moré, amongst others. The son is considered by Cubans the most typical of its popular rhythms, and the Trio Matamoros, featured in this film, were the musicians who helped define and make it a universal rhythm. Tracing the history of the son from its very beginnings at the end of last century, throughout its evolution, it ends with the songs created in honor of the Revolution.

Con la misma pasión
Constante Diego, Cuba, 1980; 23m
Beny Moré, nicknamed El Bárbaro del Ritmo (The Barbarian of Rhythm), is considered by many to have been the greatest Cuban vocalist ever. Interviews and archival material reveal aspects of the life and artistic legacy of the widely popular Cuban singer and composer Beny Moré.

Rita
Oscar Valdés, Cuba, 1980; 19m
A star of radio, stage and film, Rita Montaner was celebrated all over the world as an interpreter of the most diverse musical genres from African rhythms to modern opera. This film follows her career along the trace of records left behind by the great artist, and shows us images of her life in Guanabacoa and Havana.

A ver qué sale
Oscar Valdes, Cuba, 1974; 10m
Details of a recording session and making of a record of one of the most popular Cuban groups today, Los Van Van, and Juan Formell, their leader.
Total Runtime: 98 minutes
Sun Sept 14: 6:10 (Q & A) & Mon Sept 15: 9:10 (Q & A)
Fri Sept 19: 1

THE LAST TRAIN / ULTIMO TREN
Diego Arzuaga, Uruguay/Argentina, 2002; 98m
A big Hollywood studio has bought a 19th-century Uruguayan locomotive to use in their next picture, and the slick young Uruguayan owner-entrepreneur gladly shows off old "Number 33" to the TV cameras. Not so happy to see the old steam engine on TV, however, are the aging former railway employees now living on fading memories and dwindling pensions. Their feelings run so deep that they steal into the railway yard one night, load the locomotive up with water and coal and chug away. While two of their colleagues issue public statements, three old men and an eight-year-old boy make off with the hijacked engine, proclaiming: "Our National Heritage is Not for Sale!" And the chase is on. Héctor Alterio, Federico Luppi, and Osvaldo Soriano excel as the passionate, stubborn men who embark on the trip of their lives. Winner of Best Screenplay and Best Latin American Film at the 2002 World Film Festival in Montreal.
Sat Sept 13: 6
Mon Sept 15: 1
Sat Sept 20: 3



TO THE LEFT OF THE FATHER / LAVOURA ARCAICA
Luiz Fernando Carvalho, Brazil, 2001; 171m
"The film contains some of the most gorgeous imagery you are likely to encounter in any movie this year". - Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter.
An adaptation of the novel Lavoura Arcaica by the Lebanese-Brazilian writer Raduan Nassar, Father is set in the São Paulo province of Brazil in the 1940s, telling the relationship between two brothers, Pedro and André. Caught in the middle of a domineering father and a mother's suffocating attentions, and jealous of Pedro's privileged relationship with his father, André feels trapped. He rebels in a scandalous way, and then takes to the road. When he returns, all but his sister Ana welcome him back. Ana, however, has a dark secret.
Mon Sept 15: 3
Sun Sept 21: 7
Wed Sept 24: 1

SATURDAY / SÁBADO
Juan Villegas, Argentina, 2002; 70m
A lazy saturday in Buenos Aires and three couples seem to have little to say to each other. Leo and Camila bicker about whether he needs a haircut; Natalia and Martín can't seem to decide on what to do with a day rapidly disappearing before their eyes; and Gastón Pauls seems more interested in alternative female company than in the charms of Andrea. During the course of the evening, chance encounters create alternative pairings as domestic discontent and the thrills that come with meeting someone else push the characters towards a search for that elusive something that promises an escape from the monotony in which the characters feel trapped.
Wed Sept 17: 3:45 & 9:30 (Q & A)
Thurs Sept 18: 1

LITA STANTIC TRIBUTE:
AUTUMN SUN / SOL DE OTOÑO
Eduardo Mignona, Argentina, 1996; 103m
"One of the most memorable movie romances in several years...a film to both enjoy and treasure." - Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
What's a reasonably happy, single, fifty-something Jewish woman to do when her American brother, who thinks she's engaged, decides to pay a visit? Clara places a personal ad! From there she meets Saul, who is actually Raul, and decidedly not Jewish. He's thinking true love when Clara discovers his deception and quickly breaks it off. With her brother's visit looming, she takes him back, and, in a series of touchingly hilarious scenes, schools him in yiddishkeit. A tender and whimsical story starring two of Argentina's best-known actors, Frederico Luppi and Norma Aleandro.
Thurs Sept 18: 2:45
Sun Sept 21: 2

LOCO FEVER / LA FIEBRE DEL LOCO
Andres Wood, Chile, 2001; 94m
Chilean filmmaker Andres Wood has crafted a very engaging story about two Chilean con men who return to their hometown of Puerto Gala to buy the village's entire catch of loco, an endangered shellfish renowned for its legendary aphrodisiac qualities, for a bogus Japanese company. Soon the sleepy town is in a frenzy, with everyone desperate to catch as many loco as they can. News of quick money even reaches a traveling troupe of prostitutes who try to cash in on the locals - much to the chagrin of the village wives. Boasting wonderful performances by a large cast, precise comic direction, and sumptuous cinematography, Loco Fever is a terrifically enjoyable romp. - Ramiro Puerta
Fri Sept 19: 3 & 9:15 (Q & A)
Mon Sept 22: 9 (Q & A)

LITA STANTIC TRIBUTE:
A RED BEAR / UN OSO ROJO
Israel Adrián Caetano, Argentina/France/Spain, 2002; 94m
Although Bear is the only one counting, seven years have passed since he was jailed for armed robbery and murder. Not much of a one with words, unpredictable, naturally or necessarily violent, he's probably never told anyone what's behind his silence and sad eyes. Alice, his daughter, was a year old on the day of the assault, and Natalia, his wife, is unlikely ever to have forgiven him for it. Now, out on probation, Bear thinks that maybe he can start again. The Turk still owes him his part of the plunder; helped by his cellmate, he gets in touch with Güemes, who gives him a job as a chauffeur. Although he has lost Natalia, who now lives with Sergio, and Alicia can hardly remember him, Bear intends to try and get them back, or at least to repair the damage. A RED BEAR was selected for the 2003 New Directors/New Film Festival.
Fri Sept 19: 5
Sat Sept 20: 5

LITA STANTIC TRIBUTE: I, THE WORST OF ALL / YO, LA PEOR DE TODAS
Maria Luisa Bemberg, Argentina, 1990; 105m
"An erotically charged, impassioned work! Assumpta Serna is luminous!" - The Village Voice.
Based on the book The Traps of Faith by Nobel Prize winner Octavio Paz, I, THE WORST OF ALL is considered by many to be director Maria Luisa Bemberg's masterpiece. Set in a magnificent re-creation of 17th-century Mexico and based on a true story, I, THE WORST OF ALL is the portrait of a brilliant and beautiful poet, Sister Juana Inés de la Cruz (Assumpta Serna), who enters the convent to pursue her love of writing and goes on to gain international renown as one of the best poets in the Golden Age of Spanish poetry. However, this is the height of the Inquisition, and her intellectual prowess soon leads to clashes with the archbishop of Mexico. Sister Juana is protected only by the beautiful new Viceroy's wife (Dominique Sanda), who befriends and shelters Sister Juana, while simultaneously becoming her erotic muse. The very existence of their friendship flouts convention, but as long as the Viceroy's tour of duty lasts, Sister Juana is safe.
Fri Sept 19: 7
Mon Sept 22: 3

LITA STANTIC TRIBUTE:
MOMENTOS
Maria Luisa Bemberg, Argentina, 1981; 89m
Lucia (Graciela Dufau) is serious and professional, a somewhat taciturn landscaper who leads a quiet life with psychiatrist husband Juan Carlos (Hector Bidonde). "Living together is as easy as breathing --no conflicts, no surprises", she says to him one day, suggesting an incipient restlessness that sets the backdrop for the turbulent events to follow. Nicolas (Miguel Angel Sola) and his wife hire Lucia to landscape the garden of their new house. Nicolas, who is "bored with smiling girls" and evidently unhappy in his marriage, quickly becomes infatuated with Lucia and starts pursuing her. After Lucia doesn't resist his advances, the infatuation soon turns into an ardent love affair, which they live to its fullest at the seaside city of Mar del Plata. Sat Sept 20: 1
Tue Sept 23: 3

ALEX LORA, ROCK 'N' ROLL SLAVE / ALEX LORA, ESCLAVO DEL ROCANROL
Luis Kelly, Mexico, 2002; 105m
Luis Kelly's rousing ALEX LORA, ROCK 'N' ROLL SLAVE offers a portrait of the Mexican rock star as energetic as its subject, who for three decades has enthralled fans with his hard-driving anthems attacking government corruption and the upper classes and celebrating life, love and pride in la raza. Offstage and on, Lora revels in an earthy, uninhibited humor - his jokes are as outrageous as they are hilarious - and a gleeful defiance of authority. With his band El Tri, which includes his wife and singing partner Chela Lora, Lora draws crowds by the thousands in Peru, Spain and Mexico; they tend to become unruly, and never more so than at the House of Blues on Sunset Strip. - Kevin Thomas Sat Sept 20: 7 (Q & A)
Sun Sept 21: 4:15 (Q & A)
Wed Sept 24: 4:30

RED PASSPORT / PASAPORTE ROJO
Albert Xavier, Dominican Republic, 2003; 96m
A briskly paced, well-crafted crime drama, RED PASSPORT attests to the vitality of the N.Y. Latino film scene. Its strength lies in its excellent ensemble acting, its colorful characters and their milieu - the bodegas, cigar shops and brownstones of NYC's Washington Heights area. - Variety
The film tells the story of Fabio Reyes, a former counterfeit artist who after serving 10 years of a 25 year sentence wants nothing more than to rekindle his relationship with his long-lost daughter and live peacefully. But life isn't that fair and demons never die. As Fabio embarks on a roller-coaster ride of deception, lies, suspense and murder, nothing turns out to be as it seems. The film captures the truisms of a Dominican culture by shooting actual members of the community as extras and its players in authentic locations throughout NYC.
Sat Sept 20: 9:30 (Q & A)
Tue Sept 23: 1 & 8:30 (Q & A)

THE ARCHANGEL'S FEATHER / LA PLUMA DEL ARCANGEL
Luis Manzo, Venezuela, 2002; 92m
At a time when the telegram was the fastest way to connect with the outside world, a small town loses its telegrapher and sends for a replacement. Arriving a few days late, Gabriel, the new telegrapher, claims his post and enlists his assistant as his guide to the town. With a single stroke, he changes the lives of those who have been unjustly condemned for the better. By forging the wired messages, Gabriel restores their hope and light emerges from the shadows.
Mon Sept 22: 1
Wed Sept 24: 6:30

BAZOOKA
Mario Diaz, Puerto Rico, 2003; 61m
Arguably the best junior featherweight the world has ever seen, Wilfredo Gomez was not simply a boxing hero in his native Puerto Rico, he was a cause célèbre. His charisma and boyish good looks made him the fodder of sports pages and gossip columns alike. He fought hard and lived fast. After his retirement, Wilfredo was diagnosed with a progressive neurological disorder. This gripping story documents the meteoric rise and sobering fall of a man whose fiercest battles were fought outside the ring.
Wed Sept 24: 8:30 (Q & A)
Thurs Sept 25: 4
Fri Sept 26: 9 (Q & A)

DESTINY HAS NO FAVORITES / EL DESTINO NO TIENE FAVORITOS
Alvaro Velarde, Peru, 2002; 90m
The protagonist of this deadpan comedy, Ana, is a rich, repressed, and bored housewife, who finds herself alone in her house with her two maids when her husband goes away on business. Much to her annoyance, he has rented their garden for the production of a TV soap: DESTINY HAS NO FAVORITES. In her dull solitude, Ana quickly finds herself absorbed by watching the shooting. The happenings of reality and fiction begin to intertwine when Ana gets entangled in a real-life soap opera of her own, while simultaneously trying to get everything back to normal before her husband's return.
Thurs Sept 25: 2 & 6:30
Sat Sept 27: 7

STONES IN THE SKY / ROCHA QUE VOA
Eryk Rocha, Brazil, 2001; 90m
By the early 1970s Glauber Rocha was one of cinema's most infamous filmmakers, founder of Brazil's Cinema Novo movement and Latin America's Godard, Pasolini and Rossellini rolled into one. This documentary by Rocha's son aims to reclaim his father's rightful place in the cinematic pantheon. Glauber Rocha's films Black God, White Devil and Antonio das Mortes were the cinematic equivalent of a bomb, shocking audiences worldwide with their mingling of Brazilian folk culture and revolutionary politics. The Brazilian dictatorship was angered enough to ban his films and threaten Rocha with imprisonment. The film explores Rocha's subsequent exile in Cuba, where he urged his Cuban comrades to embrace cinema as a tool for political and cultural change. With a visual aesthetic as aggressive as Rocha's own, STONES IN THE SKY portrays an intense, seductive artist with a burning desire to permanently end his country's - and the world's - political injustices through film itself, and brings to life a period when such goals were not only discussed and cherished, but seemed almost possible.
Thurs Sept 25: 8:30 (Q & A)
Fri Sept 26: 1:30
Sat Sept 27: 4:30 (Q & A)

HURRICANES / ENTRE CICLONES
Enrique Colina, Cuba/Spain/France, 2003; 122m
After a hurricane, hunky Tomas becomes an apprentice telephone technician to a disgruntled count while juggling the oppressive attentions of several women, including a pathologically possessive hairdresser, a wealthy Spanish art photographer and the count's Goth-rock daughter. Further complicating things is Tomas' scriminal brother, whose attempts to involve him in his schemes force Tomas to weigh the merits of straight and underworld careers.
Fri Sept 26: 3:45
Sun Sept 28: 1

CAIMAN'S DREAM / EL SUEÑO DEL CAIMÁN
Beto Gómez, México, 2000; 102m
"Beto Gómez's CAIMAN'S DREAM is an unexpected delight. Filmed in black-and-white, seemingly to evoke the golden age of 50s Mexican films, CAIMAN'S DREAM is a darkly comic farce about a Spanish immigrant caught in a web of lies. The film has a kind of Buñuel-meets-Cantinflas charisma, particularly when it veers into magical realism." - Ed Morales, The Village Voice
Iñaki, a stranded youth who makes his living from mugging in Spain, discovers through a letter written by his father that his mother has been lying to both of them. After being involved in an eventful robbery, he is forced to escape to Mexico, where he will meet up with his father and will discover a country full of contrasts. Without even knowing how, he will end up joining a funny group of people with very little luck and a lifetime of struggles, in search of the same dream - Caiman's dream.
Fri Sept 26: 6:15 (Q & A)
Sun Sept 28: 3:30 & 8:30 (Q & A)

EL BONAERENSE
Pablo Trapero, Argentina, 2002; 97m
From time to time Zapa, a thirty-something locksmith in a small Argentinian town, is pressured by his shifty boss to employ his safecracking skills on the wrong side of the law. Arrested during one such job, he's bailed out by his uncle, conveniently the former police chief of the town. Strings are summarily pulled, and Zapa is swiftly dispatched to Buenos Aires, where he joins the city's police force, the notorious la Bonaerense. There on in, the film follows his journey as the unworldly provincial man at first adrift and then drawn into a violent and corrupt environment. The second feature from Pablo Trapero (Crane World), EL BONAERENSE is a profoundly well-crafted moving tale about innocence lost that confirms the promise of his earlier films. One of the most popular features in Argentina in 2002, the film was awarded many prizes at festivals all over the world.
Sat Sept 27: 1:45 & 9 (Q & A)
Sun Sept 28: 6:15 (Q & A)
EL BONAERENSE will open at Film Forum on November 26, 2003.



Additional screenings at El Museo del Barrio
1230 Fifth Avenue at 104th Street, NYC, (212) 831-7272, www.elmuseo.org
RED PASSPORT
Albert Xavier, Dominican Republic, 2003, 96m
Sat Oct 4: 3 (Q & A)

BAZOOKA
Mario Diaz, Puerto Rico, 2003, 61m
Sat Oct 4: 5 (Q& A)

Admission $6 adults, $4 students, seniors and members of El Museo, Film Society, Instituto de Mexico, Instituto Cervantes, Fundacion Amistad.

For more information visit, www.elmuseo.org.

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