Pepe by Nelson Carlo de los Santos Arias
The 62nd annual New York Film Festival (NYFF) begins this Friday, September 27 at Film at Lincoln Center, showcasing productions from Latin America, including films directed by filmmakers from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico.
Two Latin American films feature in the NYFF’s Main Slate: Pepe by Dominican director Nelson Carlo de los Santos and Transamazonia, a Brazilian co-production directed by Pia Marais, a Swedish-South African filmmaker.
Winner of the Silver Bear for Best Director at the latest Berlin Film Festival, Pepe takes a highly unorthodox approach to a strange but true story—told from the perspective of hippopotamuses that escaped from the menagerie of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar after his death in 1993. The film skips across time and continents, from Pepe’s home country of Namibia to the Rio Magdalena in Colombia. Through a raspy narrator voicing the thoughts of the hippos, Pepe alternates between nonfiction and fantasy, posing provocative questions about the ever-shifting ecological stakes of life on Earth.
Pia Marais’s Transamazonia follows Rebecca, the daughter of a missionary who, as a child, survived a plane crash deep in the Amazon jungle and was declared a 'miracle.' Now an adult, Rebecca has become a healer sustaining their mission with her fame. But when illegal loggers invade Indigenous lands, her father maneuvers them into the center of the escalating conflict.
In the Spotlight section, the festival expands its vision beyond the Main Slate, showcasing anticipated and significant films. This year’s lineup includes four Latin American productions: I’m Still Here by Brazilian director Walter Salles, Apocalypse in the Tropics by Petra Costa, the French-Mexican queer musical Emilia Pérez by Jacques Audiard, and Maria by Chilean auteur Pablo Larraín.
Walter Salles's I’m Still Here, which won Best Screenplay at the 81st Venice Film Festival, adapts Marcelo Paiva’s memoir about his father. Set in 1971, it tells the story of Rubens Paiva, a former congressman and critic of Brazil’s military dictatorship, who was taken from his home by officials and disappeared. The film remains tightly wedded to his wife Eunice’s perspective, as she searches for the truth.
In Apocalypse in the Tropics, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Petra Costa examines Brazil’s political landscape, focusing on the evangelical movement that paved the way for Jair Bolsonaro’s presidency. Through interviews with figures like televangelist Silas Malafaia and President Lulu da Silva, Costa delivers an urgent look at the fragility of democracy.
Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Pérez, winner of the Jury Prize and Best Actress at Cannes, is a darkly funny crime drama and musical set in Mexico City. The film stars Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez, as a lawyer helps a feared cartel boss transition to the woman he's always dreamed of being.
Pablo Larraín’s Maria, the final in a trilogy of biopics about iconic women, stars Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas. Set during the final week of the opera singer’s life in 1977 Paris, the film explores the tension between her public image and private self.
The Currents section of contemporary cinema hosts the U.S. premieres of Lázaro at Night by Nicolás Pereda and You Burn Me by Matías Piñeiro, along with The Suit by Heinz Emigholz. In Lázaro at Night, Pereda explores art, storytelling, and the fragile bonds of friendship through a trio of characters who reunite over a writing workshop. Piñeiro’s You Burn Me reimagines the tragic romance of Sappho and Britomartis, blending performance and research in a contemporary setting.
Additionally, three Latin American short films will screen in the Currents section: Like an Outburst by Sebastián Schjaer, Vibrant Matter by Pablo Marín, both from Argentina, and Towards the Sun, Far from the Center by Pascal Viveros and Luciana Merino from Chile.
The 62nd edition of the New York Film Festival runs from September 27 - October 14, 2024, at Lincoln Center.
