22nd Vancouver Latin American Film Festival, Sept 5-15, 2024
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Opening Night: La Suprema
Opening Night: La Suprema
September 5, 2024Director Felipe Holguín Caro in attendance!
A feisty teenage girl dreams of being a boxer, but life is not making it easy for her. She lives in the remote community of La Suprema, so remote, in fact, that it's not even on the map. When she learns that her estranged uncle is going to be boxing for the World Championship, she becomes obsessed with watching the match... There's just one hitch: no one in the village has a TV and there's no electricity for miles.
Winner of the Audience Award at FICCI - Cartagena Film Festival, 2024SFU Woodward's -
Skin in Spring
Skin in Spring
September 6, 2024Sandra, the new security guard at a shopping centre, crosses paths with a bus driver during her daily commute through Medellín. Through various experiences of desire, she begins a journey towards self-discovery and reclaiming her sexuality.
Nominated for Best First Feature Award at Berlinale, 2024.
The CinemathequeTomorrow Before After/Mañana antes despuésTomorrow Before After/Mañana antes después
September 6, 2024Director Alfonso Quijada in attendance!
In a post-apocalyptic world, a young woman, with the help of an abandoned dog, searches for other survivors while trying to cope with an unborn child growing inside of her.6:15 pm: English narration
8:30 pm: Spanish narration with English subtitlesThe CinemathequeMañana antes después/Tomorrow Before AfterMañana antes después/Tomorrow Before After
September 6, 2024Director Alfonso Quijada in attendance!
In a post-apocalyptic world, a young woman, with the help of an abandoned dog, searches for other survivors while trying to cope with an unborn child growing inside of her.6:15 pm: English narration
8:30 pm: Spanish narration with English subtitlesThe Cinematheque -
La Suprema (with Kuayé)
La Suprema (with Kuayé)
September 7, 2024Repeat screening of LA SUPREMA. Preceded by the short film KUAYÉ (13 min).
A short documentary film filled with the rhythm, flavour, and joy of the music of the Colombian Pacific. Fredy “Sebastián” Cuero, charismatic artist and marimba player, guides us from Guapi, Cauca, to Cali with his contagious smile and optimism, and his dream of being one of the best players in the world.The CinemathequeIgualada (with Three Rooms)Igualada (with Three Rooms)
September 7, 2024In Colombia, a nation marred by profound racial and socio-economic disparities, a Black woman from a rural background challenges the status quo by launching a presidential campaign. Re-appropriating the term “igualada,” Francia Márquez, catapults a movement to the upper echelons of power, by refusing to “know her place.” Fifteen years in the making, this documentary peels back the curtain on how unprecedented change can happen.
Nominee, Grand Jury Prize, Sundance Film Festival, 2024
Preceded by the short film THREE ROOMS (dir. Andrea López, 10 min)
The Cinematheque -
Offerings of Life
Offerings of Life
September 8, 2024Curated by Akira Iahtail & Masa’n Selene Galindo
A celebration of life and cinema, these short films showcase the traditions we cultivate and how we are affected by them. Through recreated memories, storytelling, rituals, resistance, and the confrontation of intergenerational cycles, they champion agency, autocriticism, and the possibility of happiness.
The CinemathequePaths of Bulla and Tambó / Al Sabor AfroPaths of Bulla and Tambó / Al Sabor Afro
September 8, 2024Producer Natalia Rodriguez Garavito in attendance!
The documentary PATHS OF BULLA AND TAMBÓ: The Moñitos Heritage is a compilation of portraits of Bullerengueros and Bullerengueras from Moñitos, Córdoba, Colombia. Through songs and drumbeats, it creates sensitive and musical journeys that encourage encounters and conversations among people of different ages, vocations, and social conditions.
AL SABOR AFRO unfolds the culinary history of Afro-descendant women in the municipality of Moñitos, Córdoba (popularly called “the paradise of the Caribbean”) through the eyes of Amalia, a young entrepreneur from the community.
The Cinematheque -
Meet Me There
Meet Me There
September 9, 2024The fate of a pumpkin-coloured parka, a dancing bird-like figure on a beach, a woman waiting for a promise carried in a tiny vial, messages sent to a faraway friend, an amphibian’s view of solitude, we all arrive here from different places with different desires. With precision and heart, these five shorts by Latin-Canadian filmmakers invite us into distinct, poignant, and wondrous versions of affinity.
CineworksThe Soldier's LagoonThe Soldier's Lagoon
September 9, 2024Directed by Pablo Alvarez-Mesa, this riveting experimental work delves deep into the misty Páramo region, into an ecosystem rich in water, but also saturated with oral narratives that populate the territory like foggy patches. Reflecting on the construction of oral history and its relation to the land, the film traverses a living and elusive archive, suspended between Simon Bolivar’s past and Colombia’s present.
The Cinematheque -
Skin in Spring
Skin in Spring
September 10, 2024Sandra, the new security guard at a shopping centre, crosses paths with a bus driver during her daily commute through Medellín. Through various experiences of desire, she begins a journey towards self-discovery and reclaiming her sexuality.
Nominated for Best First Feature Award at Berlinale, 2024.
CineworksShort Films in Competition: Program 1Short Films in Competition: Program 1
September 10, 2024Curated by Ana Tonso & Dani Rodríguez Chevalier
Beginning with disappearance, this shorts program delves into the various types of absence present in our lives. As we dive deeper, the exploration of grief intensifies, addressing processes of denial, internal and personal searches, and the reconstruction of losses. And then, what remains? What lingers as memories and stories we choose to tell? This showcase celebrates human resilience and the ability of cinema to capture and transform pain into something we can share and talk about, providing a meeting point for reflection and emotional connection.
Cineworks -
Guián (with Three Rooms)
Guián (with Three Rooms)
September 11, 2024As 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)
CineworksBridges Over the Sea (with Teresa's Choice)Bridges Over the Sea (with Teresa's Choice)
September 11, 2024Director Patricia Ayala in attendance!
Alicia and Michael, her teenage son, live in a palafitic neighbourhood in Tumaco, an area in the Colombian Pacific that concentrates all the beauty and also the terror of this country. She knows that the armed group, which controls her neighbourhood, can recruit her son at any time. It is why she guards him, watches over him and protects him. But one day, Michael does not return from school and she begins a frantic search that will lead her to face her worst fears, finding the way out in the love and solidarity of her people.Preceded by the short film TERESA'S CHOICE with director Marlene Castaños in attendance.
The CinemathequeFields of PresenceFields of Presence
September 11, 2024Director Jorge Lozano in attendance.
"This poetic experimental documentary is a tribute to my daughter, Briana Sarita, and her multifaceted life, a collaborative reflection intertwining fiction film archives, acting, and photographs to evoke memories and breathe life into moments and events. Her singing serves as a connecting thread, offering parallel interpretations. The film explores events since 1978, employing a non-chronological and non-linear approach, providing a unique artistic perspective. Shot in Colombia, Spain, and Costa Rica, it culminates in Victoria, BC, where she was tragically murdered in March 2021. However, the film focuses on celebrating her life and her essence employing diverse formats, including super 8mm, VHS, Super VHS, 3/4″, 4K HD, Drone 5K video, GoPro, and Instant 360."
The Cinematheque -
Open Sky (with The Vampires of Poverty)
Open Sky (with The Vampires of Poverty)
September 12, 2024A 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.CineworksShort Films in Competition: Program 2Short Films in Competition: Program 2
September 12, 2024Curated by Ana Tonso and Dani Rodríguez Chevalier
Water, access, being on the map, the first love, pleasure, history, and community are themes addressed in this collection of short films that illuminate various facets of the infinite and multiple realities that make up the experience of Latin American people. Through these narratives, the complexities and nuances of daily life are explored, highlighting the struggles and joys that define and recreate the region’s communities and individuals.
Cineworks -
Bridges Over the Sea
Bridges Over the Sea
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September 13, 2024Director Patricia Ayala in attendance!
Alicia and Michael, her teenage son, live in a palafitic neighbourhood in Tumaco, an area in the Colombian Pacific that concentrates all the beauty and also the terror of this country. She knows that the armed group, which controls her neighbourhood, can recruit her son at any time. It is why she guards him, watches over him and protects him. But one day, Michael does not return from school and she begins a frantic search that will lead her to face her worst fears, finding the way out in the love and solidarity of her people.
CineworksEmerging Filmmakers: Reconfiguring the RealEmerging Filmmakers: Reconfiguring the Real
September 13, 2024Sara Galvis, Maria Sarem, Kai Lium-Hall & Adrian Hoz in attendance!
This shorts program presents the work of local filmmakers whose creative narratives shed light on the ups and downs of relationships. Featuring: COSMIC LOVE (Maria Clara Saram), THE PERFORMANCE (Kai Lium-Hall), AZAI (Sara Galvis) & DOG SOUP (Patricio Cartas).
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Co-Presented with VQFF: Queer Pix: Queride
Co-Presented with VQFF: Queer Pix: Queride
September 14, 2024Directors Daniel E. Carrera and Ana Gutiérrez Salgado in attendance!
Queride—Darling in English— brings together five fierce filmmakers from Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, and Mexico to celebrate queer, trans, and non-binary stories. With fresh insights, these heartwarming films explore complex and intimate relationships, sharing insights into LGBTQIA+ Latine ways of loving, letting go, and finding joy with friends, lovers, and family.
International VillageOpen SkyOpen Sky
September 14, 2024Director 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