CineMÁS: Horror
November 1 and 4, 2023
Presented by The Loft Cinema, the UA Center for Latin American Studies and Cinema Tropical
Programmed by Orquidea Morales
The recent success of some Latin American horror films such as Jayro Bustamante’s La Llorona and Michelle Garza Cervera’s Huesera: The Bone Woman, have shed a light on the untapped and rich tradition of genre cinema in the region. The special series CineMÁS: Horror celebrates Latin American horror cinema with three wonderful titles from Brazil, Chile, and Mexico, which masterfully weave terrifying genre conventions with local traditions, histories, and stories to become larger national political allegories.
CineMÁS: Horror is the inaugural series of the larger initiative CineMÁS, presented by The Loft Cinema, the UA Center for Latin American Studies and Cinema Tropical to promote Latin American cinema in Tucson, and foster local audiences for its exhibition.
All screenings at:
The Loft Cinema
3233 E Speedway Blvd, Tucson, AZ
(520) 795-0844 / www.loftcinema.org
TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID / VUELVEN
(Issa López, Mexico, 2017, 83 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
Hailed by Stephen King as a “terrific film, both tough and touching,” Tigers Are Not Afraid is a haunting horror fairytale set against the backdrop of Mexico’s devastating drug wars. The film follows a group of children armed with three magical wishes, running from the ghosts that haunt them and the cartel that orphaned them. Filmmaker Issa López creates a world that recalls the early films of Guillermo del Toro, imbued with her own gritty urban spin on magical realism to conjure a wholly unique experience that audiences will not soon forget.
THE WOLF HOUSE / LA CASA LOBO
(Cristóbal León, Joaquín Cociña, Chile, 2018, 72 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
Combining stop-motion techniques, painting, and photography, this exquisitely handcrafted animation feature tells the story of Maria, a young woman who finds refuge in a house in the south of Chile after escaping from a sect of German religious fanatics. She is welcomed into the home by two pigs, the only inhabitants of the place. Like in a dream, the universe of the house reacts to Maria’s feelings, morphing and changing around her. The animals transform slowly into humans and the house becomes a nightmarish world. Inspired by the actual case of Colonia Dignidad during Chile’s darkest years under Augusto Pinochet, The Wolf House masquerades as an animated fairy tale produced by the leader of the sect in order to indoctrinate its followers.
GOOD MANNERS / AS BOAS MANEIRAS
(Juliana Rojas and Marcos Dutra, Brazil/France, 2017, 135 min. In Portuguese with English subtitles)
Filmmakers Juliana Rojas and Marco Dutra’s second collaboration (after the acclaimed Hard Labor) deftly integrates art-house and genre cinema to create a thrilling and dark gothic fable with sharp social commentary. Set in São Paulo, the film follows Clara, a lonely nurse from the outskirts of the city who is hired by mysterious and wealthy Ana to be the nanny of her soon to be born child. Against all odds, the two women develop a strong bond. But a fateful night marked by a full moon changes their plans. With powerful visuals and impeccable cinematography, Good Manners is Disney meets Jacques Tourneur, an unexpected and wild werewolf movie unlike any other, and a poignant class and racial allegory on modern-day Brazilian society.
