22nd Vancouver Latin American Film Festival, Sept 5-15, 2024

  • My Aunt Gilma (with Iris)

    My Aunt Gilma (with Iris)


    September 8, 2024

    13-year-old Isabel takes care of her aunt Gilma, who was beaten by her partner Raphael and admitted to a hospital in the turbulent city of Caracas. During the hospital stay, Isabel promises Gilma to keep a secret. Despite the chaos surrounding them, Isabel will do anything to save her aunt and accomplish her promise.

    Preceded by the short film IRIS (Montreal/Brazil, 17 mins) with director Gabriela de Andrade in attendance.

    The Cinematheque
    1131 Howe Street
    Vancouver, BC V6Z 2L7
  • Guián (with Three Rooms)

    Guián (with Three Rooms)


    September 11, 2024

    As a consequence of her grandma Guián passing away, Nicole starts meeting up with people who had known her. In them, Nicole finds a poetic resemblance between these members of the Chinese-Costa Rican community and her deceased grandma.

    From these conversations Nicole finds the need to go to Engping, the village in Southern China that her grandma fled amidst the rise of communism. This will be the first time Nicole steps onto Chinese soil. Having never learned Chinese, she must confront the reality of a country and culture she thought she knew.

    Received Special Mention as part of the Burning Lights Competition at Visions du Réel, 2023.

    Preceded by the short film THREE ROOMS (dir. Andrea López, 10 mins)

    Cineworks
    1131 Howe Street (entrance in back lane)
    Vancouver, BC V6Z 2L7
  • Open Sky (with The Vampires of Poverty)

    Open Sky (with The Vampires of Poverty)


    September 12, 2024

    A Peruvian father labours patiently, chipping at the white volcanic stone that forms an extraordinary landscape. His son is part of the modern world: he uses cameras and drones in order to create the digital model of a church on a computer. Separated by the mysterious death of the wife/mother figure in the family, these men do not connect, and yet their paths cross in a ghostly manner.

    Preceded by THE VAMPIRES OF POVERTY (1977, 28 min)
    A classic film of Colombian cinema by directors Carlos Mayolo & Luis Opsina that simulates being a documentary about filmmakers who exploit misery with mercantilist purposes. It is a scathing criticism of “porno-misery” and the opportunism of the dishonest documentary making “socio-political documentaries” in the third world to sell them in Europe and win prizes.

    Cineworks
    1131 Howe Street (entrance in back lane)
    Vancouver, BC V6Z 2L7
  • Open Sky

    Open Sky


    September 14, 2024

    Director Felipe Esparza Pérez in attendance!

    A Peruvian father labours patiently, chipping at the white volcanic stone that forms an extraordinary landscape. His son is part of the modern world: he uses cameras and drones in order to create the digital model of a church on a computer. Separated by the mysterious death of the wife/mother figure in the family, these men do not connect, and yet their paths cross in a ghostly manner.

    The Cinematheque
    1131 Howe Street
    Vancouver, BC V6Z 2L7