The Biarritz Festival Latin America in France is presenting a special program on the Latinx and Latin American experience in the United States as part of its 29th edition, which combines in-person and online screenings. Featuring nine films—, the program titles “Focus: Latinos in the USA” includes a diverse mix of works made by U.S.-born Latinx filmmakers, Latin American directors residing in the U.S., as well as films about the Latino experience from directors based south of the border.
The lineup, programmed by Nicolás Azalbert, is comprised by Alex Rivera and Cristina Ibarra’s docu-thriller The Infiltrators, winner of two awards at the Sundance Film Festival and the Cinema Tropical Award for Best U.S. Latinx Film. The Infiltrators documents the true story of two young immigrants who get purposefully arrested by Border Patrol, and put in a shadowy for-profit detention center. The story follows Marco and Viri, members of a group of radical Dreamers who are on a mission to stop deportations. And the best place to stop deportations, they believe, is in detention.
Mathew Ramirez Warren’s We Like it Like That, winner of the Best Documentary Award at the Urbanworld Film Festival, tells the story of Latin boogaloo, a colorful expression of 1960s Latino soul, straight from the streets of New York City. From its origins to its recent resurgence, it’s the story of a sound that redefined a generation and was too funky to keep down.
The documentary film The Journey of Monalisa / El viaje de Monalisa tells the story of Chilean-born performer and writer Iván Monalisa who fully embraces his dual selves: scrappy, masculine Iván as well as diva, transvestite sex-worker Monalisa. A reunion with filmmaker Nicole Costa, Iván’s former college classmate, provides the opportunity for a journey through this undocumented transgender immigrant’s daily life of sex, drugs and poetry—as well as a quest for US legalization. Pragmatic and humorous, Iván Monalisa navigates the gritty underbelly of New York City with charisma and charm.
I’m Leaving Now
Armando Croda and Lindsey Cordero’s documentary I’m Leaving Now / Ya me voy follows Felipe, an undocumented Mexican immigrant, who has reached a crossroads: after 16 years in Brooklyn, working three low-paying jobs and sending the bulk of his earnings to his wife and children in Mexico, he's decided to return home to the family he hasn't seen in almost two decades. But when he informs them of his plans, he discovers that they've squandered the money, are deeply in debt and don’t want him to return. They need him to stay in the U.S. and continue to earn.
Matías Piñeiro’s Hermia & Helena follows a young Argentine theater director, travels from Buenos Aires to New York for an artist residency to work on a new Spanish translation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Upon her arrival, she quickly realizes that her work isn't compensating for the loss of her friends and the lover she left behind. When she begins to receive a series of mysterious postcards from Danièle, a former participant in the same residency, Camila second-guesses her artistic endeavors and begins to seek answers about her past.
Based on the homonymous novel by Edmundo Desnoes, Miguel Coyula’s Memories of Overdevelopment / Memorias del desarrollo tells the story of a Cuban intellectual who abandons the Revolution and underdevelopment only to find that he does not fit in his new life in the ‘overdeveloped‘ world.
Jerónimo Rodríguez’s non-fiction essay film Monument Hunter / El rastreador de estatuas is a droll yet profound exploration of memory, history, forgetting, and Raúl Ruiz. After seeing a documentary about Portuguese neurologist Egas Moniz while low on sleep, Jorge, a Chilean filmmaker living in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, suddenly remembers visiting a statue of Moniz in a park somewhere in Santiago with his father—who also happens to be a neurosurgeon. Jorge goes on a lengthy exploration of the city of his birth and all the way to Patagonia looking for the statue, all the while pondering memories of his dad and the imaginary territories between his homeland and New York.
Nobody’s Watching
Winner of the Best Actor Award at the Tribeca Film Festival, Julia Solomonoff’s Nobody’s Watching / Nadie nos mira tells the story of Nico Lenke (played by Guillermo Pfening), who at 30, leaves a promising acting career in Argentina, after a tumultuous break-up with his producer. He lands in New York, lured into believing that his talent will help him find success “on his own” and prove his self-worth. But that’s not what he finds. Too blond to play Latino, his accent too strong to play anything else, Nico falls through the cracks, and must juggle odd jobs to survive: from renting apartments for tourists, to waitressing, and working as a male nanny.
Closing the program is Los Lobos by Mexican director Samuel Kishi Leopo, winner of the Best Feature Film in the Generation competition at the Berlin Film Festival. The film follows Max and Leo, as they are taken by their mother, Lucia, from Mexico to Albuquerque in search of a better life. While waiting for her to return from work, the kids listen to tales, rules of conduct and English lessons recorded by Lucia on an old tape recorder. They also build an imaginary universe with their drawings and dream about mom’s promise of going to Disneyland.
The 29th edition of the Biarritz Festival Latin America is taking place September 28 - October 4.
