Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Wilmington, N.C. - The University of North Carolina Wilmington Department of Film Studies, the Upperman African-American Cultural Center, and the Office of International Programs are hosting a Contemporary Latin American Film Festival, beginning Wednesday, Feb. 21.

The festival showcases four recent, critically acclaimed films from Cuba, Argentina, Chile and Mexico. All screenings are free and open to the public and will begin at 7:30 p.m., Wednesdays (Feb. 21-March 21), in the Lumina Theater, located in the Fisher Student Center. All films are presented in 35mm, in Spanish with English subtitles.

The series debuts Feb. 21 with Suite Habana (Cuba, 2003), Fernando Pérez's poetic homage to the city of Havana and the most acclaimed Cuban film of the last five years. In the tradition of city symphony films, Suite Habana is edited like a musical composition and oscillates between documentary and fiction.

Lucrecia Martel's La Ciénaga (The Swamp, Argentina, 2001) will be screened Feb. 28. Martel's debut feature offers an unflinching look at the world of Argentina's decadent bourgeoisie.

The series resumes on March 14 with Machuca (Chile, 2004), Andrés Wood's fictional account of the unlikely friendship of two boys from different socio-economic backgrounds during the 1973 coup against Salvador Allende. The film was Chile's official entry for the 2005 Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award.

The festival concludes on March 21 with a screening of In the Pit (Mexico, 2006), winner of Best Documentary, World Cinema, at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. According to Mexican legend, the devil demands that one soul be offered up for every bridge built, as a guarantee for the structure's durability. In this internationally praised documentary by Juan Carlos Rulfo, that legend takes on mammoth proportions. This film comes to Wilmington after a run in New York City theaters.

Contact Mariana Johnson, assistant professor of film studies, at 910.763.0554 for more information.