THE VAMPIRES OF POVERTY
Agarrando pueblo
Thursday, Sept 12 at 2:00 PM
Cineworks (screens before OPEN SKY)
Director: Carlos Mayolo & Luis Opsina
Colombia | 1977 | Spanish with English subtitles | 28 min | Comedy/Drama
Sliding Scale Tickets:
$10 / $13 / $15
VLAFF membership required at the entrance
Fictional film 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.
Película de ficción que simula ser un documental sobre cineastas que explotan la miseria con fines mercantilistas. Una crítica a la “porno-miseria” y al oportunismo de realizadores deshonestos que hacen “documentales socio-políticos” en el tercer mundo para venderlos en Europa y ganar premios.
CARLOS MAYOLO (Cali, Colombia, 1945-2007). Carlos Mayolo was a director and screenwriter beginning his career in 1968 as documentary and narrative feature film director, and occasionally as an actor. Mayolo was part of the so called Grupo de Cali (Group of Cali), which was also integrated by Luis Ospina, Andres Caicedo and Sandro Romero, all of them film buffs. As an actor, he took part in the foundation of some film societies of his city and in the creation of the magazine Ojo al cine.
He was considered among the most prominent filmmakers of his country thanks to two narrative feature films La mansión de Araucaíma (1986) and Carne de tu carne (1983), both characterized by the sensual, baroque, and surrealist scenes.
Mayolo was considered by his colleagues and admirers as the best promoter of the audio visual work in Cali. His work received a great number of recognitions, among them 17 Simon Bolivar prizes and the National Prize for a Whole Life Dedicated to Cinema, granted by the Culture Ministry of Colombia. To his filmography, must be added the pedagogical works that he made with students from different Colombian Universities and a book of his memoirs Mamá ¿Qué hago?
LUIS OSPINA (Cali, Colombia, 1949-2019). Luis Ospina was a renowned screenwriter, producer, and film director who throughout his career directed at least 34 productions. He was co-director of the Cali Cinema Club (1972-77), professor of cinema at the Universidad del Valle (1979-80), director of the Cinemateca at the La Tertulia Museum of Modern Art in Cali (1986), film critic and writer for several specialized publications, some of which he co-founded, including Ojo al Cine, Kinetoscopio, El Pueblo, Cine, El Malpensante, Número, and Cinemateca. From 2009 until his death, he served as artistic director of the Cali International Film Festival (FICCALI). Among his most well-known works are Pura sangre (1982), Soplo de vida (1999), and Un tigre de papel (2008).