Don’t miss the Summer Latin Film Festival’s last film, “Machuca” showing August 28th! Please see a plot summary below.
Due to a problem with the film Alsino y el Condor, it will not be shown this week. We apologize. However, keep your eyes and ears open during the cold winter months when Horizons will offer community members the chance to see it again!
Machuca (2004) is a Chilean film written and directed by Andres Wood.
In 1973, in Santiago of Chile of the first socialist president democratically elected in a Latin-American country, President Salvador Allende, the principal of the Saint Patrick School, Father McEnroe (Ernesto Malbran) makes a trial of integration between students of the upper and lower classes. The bourgeois boy Gonzalo Infante (Matías Quer) and the boy from the slum Pedro Machuca (Ariel Mateluna) become great friends, while the conflicts on the streets leads Chile to the bloody and repressive military coup of General Augusto Pinochet on 11 September 1973, changing definitely their lives, their relationship and their country.
The film is not intended to provide an overview of this period in Chilean history. Rather, it shows the perspective of Gonzalo Infante, a privileged boy who catches a glimpse of the world of the lower class through Machuca, at a moment when the lower classes are politically mobilized, demanding more rights and forcing fundamental change. At the same time the upper classes, including Gonzalo’s own family, grow fearful of the growing socialist movement and plot against the country’s elected president, Salvador Allende. Infante’s sympathies, however, clearly lie with the poor based on what he has seen. When the military coup d’état is launched which brutally represses poor and activist Chileans, including his friends and Father McEnroe, his own class status comes into relief.
Horizons of Friendship’s Summer Latin Film Festival offers an Exciting Film Experience-and it’s FREE!
Four controversial films show the passion and resolution of marginalized groups in Latin America rising up against state-based oppression. Hosted by Horizons of Friendship, the Summer Latin Film Festival offers an alternative film experience and will take place every Thursday evening in August from 7- 9 pm at the Cobourg Public Library. Exploring the histories of Latin America and its current realities, the themes of cross-border corruption, state violence, globalization, violence against women, and human rights will be explored through these must-see films. Selected films will be followed by discussions lead by guest speakers.
On August 7, in homage to World Indigenous Day, two films will be shown. The first is a 17 minute documentary entitled, Land and Life, produced by Kathy Price for Amnesty International Canada in 2007. Filmed in the rainforest of Colombia’s Caribbean coast, this video examines the devastating impact of a hydroelectric project on the Embera Katío Indigenous people and raises disturbing questions about a Canadian crown corporation that provided financing. Kathy will join us as our guest speaker this evening, and will be available for questions and comments at the end of the evening.
Kathy Price is a former producer of current affairs programs for CBC TV, who has dedicated the last 15 years to solidarity with struggles for social justice in Latin America. Kathy is currently a campaigner with Amnesty International Canada, where she mobilizes activism on Colombia and Mexico.
The second film displays a powerful aboriginal movement in Central America, and parallels the efforts of indigenous groups all over the Americas. Sipakapa NO se vende (Sipakapa is Not for Sale) documents the Mayan people’s resistance to gold mining in San Marcos, Guatemala. Facing a government that is swayed by a Canadian/US transnational corporation, the Mayan Sipakapan people’s struggle for autonomy and freedom is an important story to tell.
On August 14, the award-winning film El Violin will be presented, touted by famed filmmakers as “one of the most amazing Mexican films in many a year” and as “filmmaking in its purest form.” Taking place in an unidentified Latin county, El Violin portrays three generations of musicians who support the guerrilla movement against the authoritarian state and how the oldest uses his violin in his struggle against oppression.
On August 21 the film Bordertown will be showcased. Starring Jennifer Lopez and Antonio Banderas, this controversial political thriller was not released to theatres due to its criticism of the US and Mexican governments, as well as the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Lopez plays the role of an American reporter who tries to tell the story of the systematic violence against women and impunity given to aggressors in Juarez, Mexico. Her character struggles against the powerful parties on both sides of the border that want to keep her quiet. Jennifer Lopez was awarded the Artists for Amnesty prize at the Berlin Film Festival for her role, an honour which is given by the human rights organization Amnesty International to an artist whose work brings light to a social justice issue.
Linda Janzen, Executive Director of Northumberland Services for Women, will be present this evening to speak about violence against women. For more information about Northumberland Services for Women, please visit www.nsfw.ca.
August 28 marks the Festival’s closing night, and we will be showing Machuca. Unfortunately we are unable to show Alsino y el Cóndor at this time. We will offer this film at a later date.
Selected films will be followed by a guest-speaker lead discussion. Adults and youth are invited, but please note the mature themes mentioned above. For more information call Rachael Currie, Horizons of Friendship Community Outreach Coordinator, at 905-372-5483 ext. 24, or email at rcurrie@horizons.
This event has been made possible by a grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
