Latin American Films co-presented by Cinema Tropical:
SALERO
(Mike Plunkett, USA/Bolivia, 2015, 76 min. In Spanish and English with English subtitles. New York Premiere)
Witness 4,000 square miles of pure white, stretched out in a radiant expanse—Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni, the world’s largest salt flat. For centuries, day after day, the only workers on the Salar have been saleros, or salt harvesters. Following the discovery of giant untapped lithium reserves under the salt flat, Bolivia is poised to generate a fortune from this newfound resource, thrusting the Salar into the modern lithium-mining industry. Moises Chambi Yucra, one of the last remaining salt gatherers of the Salar, grapples with the desire to maintain a multigenerational tradition while feeling the pull toward new prospects and opportunities for his family. Stunning landscape imagery, coupled with Moises’s thoughtful ruminations and candid insights from his wife and family, create a poetic inquiry into the nature of identity and change in the modern world.
Preceded by SONIA'S DREAM (El sueño de Sonia, Diego Sarmiento, Peru, 2015, 14 min. New York Premiere)
Sonia Mamani lives on a small island in Lake Titicaca, along the southern border of Peru. As a teenager, she develops a passion for cooking that quickly outgrows her family’s modest career ambitions for her. In this energizing tale, Mamani turns her culinary expertise into a way of life—traveling the continent, teaching women how to prepare traditional dishes and appreciate their local customs.
Saturday, October 15, 5:30pm / Buy Tickets
FAREWELL FERRIS WHEEL
(Jamie Sisley and Miguel Martinez, USA/Mexico, 2016, 70 min. In Spanish and English with English subtitles. New York Premiere)
Mexican workers make up 80 percent of the labor force in the United States’ carnival industry, and for three decades nearly all of them have been recruited by one person using the controversial H-2B Visa program. New regulations have begun to put a strain on this arrangement, jeopardizing both the industry and the livelihoods of those who service it. Explore a nuanced, intimate view of this process and industry, where the search for better opportunities, the potential for exploitation, and the viability of struggling businesses collide.
Sunday, October 16, 12 noon / Buy Tickets
