Latin American Film & Art Festival 2015
“In Latin America, the marvelous is at every turn”
- Alejo Carpentier
By Alejandra Vega
Latin America speaks with a loud and clear voice, scented by film, art and culture. It says many things. It tells its stories to the wind, stories that, in collaboration with the clock and several adventures, have woven the patchwork of contrasting colors that the region is today.
Political effervescence, tangos, bipolar cities, brave mothers and violent men; triumphs and disasters; baseball feats and ballrooms: it all fits in Latin America. These stories were begging to be told, and they were finally narrated in California this November by the Latin American Film & Art Festival 2015, presented by UNAM Los Angeles and the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at CSUN, in collaboration with the Catedra Ingmar Bergman in Film and Theater (UNAM) and the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication (CSUN).
The event took place November 12-15 in different venues at the campus of the California State University, Northridge.
“The festival was a great opportunity to share the amazingly diverse culture of Latin America not only with CSUN students but also with the larger community of the San Fernando Valley area… and beyond,” said Ph.D. Patricia Juarez-Dappe, who participated in the coordination of the event. “It was also great to be able to work in close partnership with such an amazing institution as UNAM-LA."
The festival was filled with movies, documentaries, art exhibitions and theatrical readings. All the events were free and open to the public. "I had not visited an art exhibition lately, so I decided to come—and I have no regrets," says smiley Ruth Alvarado, who was struck by the half urban-half fantastic paintings created by artist Eva Malhotra.
The opening reception occurred on Friday, November 13. It was held in the lobby of the Manzanita Hall, where attendees enjoyed the flavors of Frida Mexican Cuisine. Moments later, the white-walled hall opened its ears to the inaugural speeches addressed by representatives of the organizing institutions.
The feature screening of the night—equally delicious to Frida’s hot churros—was "Wild Tales," a dark comedy film written and directed by Argentine Damian Szifron.
Other highlights of the festival included the painting exhibition by contemporary artist Eva Malhotra, who through the intricate strokes of her artwork raised her voice to make us reflect on the issues of borders and the divisions humans build, which continually lead to black holes of violence; the Q&A session with Mexican actor José Pecina, star of "Carmin Tropical,” film directed by Rigoberto Perezcano; and the theatrical readings, coordinated by Abril Alzaga and Abigail Sanchez Cue from UNAM’s Ingmar Bergman Chair in Film and Theater, readings in which attendees could approach drama in an unconventional way, participating in the texts and becoming actors for a brief, but magical moment.
With four days full of activities, the Latin American Film & Art Festival, in its 2015 edition, greatly contributed to bringing to mind and to the edge of our lips the wise and trusted words of writer Alejo Carpentier: "In Latin America, the marvelous is at every turn...”
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