Cine Latino, the first Australian festival dedicated to bringing films exclusively from Latin America, will kick off in Sydney on 9 August and run through to end of the month in Melbourne. Palace Cinemas present over 30 films on the program, including offerings from Mexico, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Cuba, Uruguay, Colombia, Venezuela, Chile, Guatemala and Puerto Rico.
The Opening Night offering is NERUDA, by multi-award winning Chilean director Pablo Larraín (Tony Manero, No, The Club). Starring Gael García Bernal, the film is a noir-infused reimagining of the Nobel Prize-winning poet and politician Pablo Neruda’s struggle with the Chilean state. Check out the trailer below.
From Paraguay and Argentina comes GUARANI, an unexpected road trip movie that gently unwinds a quiet and deeply moving story about the real meaning of traditions and family bonds. Featuring veteran actor Emilio Barreto as Atilio a proud indigenous Guarani man who lives on the riverway and insists on maintaining traditional lines despite the ever encroaching modern world.
Echoing the experiences of Cuba over the last few decades, Irene Gutiérrez Torres and Javier Labrador’s poetic documentary HOTEL NUEVA ISLA sensitively deploys fly-on-wall techniques to compile an intimate portrait of Jorge de Los Ríos Vega, the last inhabitant of a once luxurious hotel who refuses to leave the now dilapidated guesthouse.
From official selection at the 2016 Berlin International Film Festival comes THE BRIBE OF HEAVEN by experienced filmmaker Lisandro Duque Naranjo (The Invisible Children). The black comedy takes place in a small and devoutly Catholic village in the Colombian Andes in the 1970s. It’s Easter when the family of a suicide victim tries to make arrangements for his burial only to find that the new local priest (a standout performance by Germán Jaramillo) holds fast to the doctrine of denying church burial to suicides.
Meanwhile, the Argentinian HOW TO WIN ENEMIES from rising star director Gabriel Lichtmann (Jews in Space) is a strong offbeat comedy with overtones reminiscent of early Woody Allen.
And from the island of Puerto Rico comes FRAGMENTS OF LOVE an erotic drama by Fernando Vallejo based on the novel by acclaimed Colombian writer, Héctor Abad Faciolince.
The full program will be announced on 12 July. For more information and to register for updates, visit cinelatinofilmfestival.com.au
The festival will screen exclusively at Palace Cinemas in these cities:
- Sydney: Tues 9 – Wed 24 August. Palace Norton St and Palace Verona.
- Canberra: Wed 10 – Sun 21 August. Palace Electric.
- Adelaide: Thur 11 – Wed 24 August. Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas.
- Brisbane: Fri 12 – Wed 24 August. Palace Centro & Barracks.
- Melbourne: Wed 17 – Wed 31 August. Palace Cinema Como and Palace Westgarth.
