Presented by the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, with UWM Union Student Involvement and Union Cinema, UWM’s Latin American Film Series reaches its 41st year with a program of 10 films from April 5-11 at the UWM Union Theatre, 2200 E. Kenwood Boulevard. It is free and open to the public.
Presented in collaboration with the Chicago Latino Film Festival, films are shown in their original language with English subtitles. Subject matter is as varied as the cultures represented—from shaggy dogs to civil wars, from race relations to reality shows. Film series programmer Elaine Basa and her team have assembled this year’s lineup.
“This is probably the longest running film festival in Milwaukee. It started with one film and several people in a classroom at UWM. We celebrated our 40th year last year with our longest lineup,” says Basa. This year’s highlights include a pair of films by Cuba’s Eric Corvalán Pellé (co-sponsored by the Wisconsin Coalition to Normalize Relations with Cuba): Raza (Race) examines racism in Cuba and No es el camino (This is not the way) looks at physical and mental abuse within families. The filmmaker will be part of a conversation after the screening. Another intriguing title, La Negrada (Black Mexicans), delves into the concept of el queridato, the near-obsolete practice in Oaxaca where one man has a primary relationship but lives with more than one woman. Featuring non-professional actors, it is the first-ever fiction film from Mexico with an all-black cast.
Basa says the series wants to show films that may not play at bigger film festivals, and also show films that appeal to a wide variety of audiences, from art house film enthusiasts to viewers who just want to see a Latin American film.
“Another part of what we do is look for collaborations across countries to show diversity in Latin America,” Basa continues. The Mamboniks, co-presented with the Sam and Helen Stahl Center for Jewish Studies, is a U.S.A./Cuba collaboration that moves from New York to Havana to Miami Beach to the Catskill Mountains, and follow s Mambo dancers who continued to practice and dance into their retirement years. The film Dirty Dancing was in part based on this. “The Mamboniks looks at where are those folks today. It is a great way to look at how Latin influences have taken up their own rhythm in other cultures.”
Basa says the goal of the series is assembling a lineup showing “that Latin America and Latin American culture is just as varied as any other—race, faith indigenous culture, social activism. The opening night’s film Los Reyes (The Kings) from Chile focuses on two dogs at a skatepark that are the focal point of this extremely beautiful film.” It looks at urban life and skatepark life from the perspective of the dogs.”
On the lighter side, El Reality from Colombia spoofs television talent shows with the story of a well-to-do young singer who attempts to pass himself off as poor and blind in order to audition for the country’s biggest reality talent show.
Put on the spot, what film does Basa suggest? “Our closing night film José is a Guatemalan film with a Chinese director. It deals with gender, socio-economic status and growing up.” The story grapples with the challenges faced by Latin Americans in the LGBTQ community including poverty, sexuality, politics, religion and violence.
All films are screened at the UWM Union Cinema. Admission is free. For more information, visit uwm.edu.
