Latin Wave 16: New Films from Latin America
April 27—30, 2023
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Organized by the MFAH in association with the creative partner
Fundación PROA, Buenos Aires. Sponsored by Tenaris.
Programmed in collaboration with Cinema Tropical
The annual Latin Wave series provides the opportunity for Houstonians to see new films from Latin America, and to meet internationally acclaimed filmmakers. The nature of the festival allows audience members to interact with the filmmakers in Q&A sessions and informal conversations. These dialogues enrich the understanding of contemporary filmmaking in Latin America.
All screenings at:
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Brown Auditorium Theater at the Caroline Wiess Law Building, 1001 Bissonnet, Houston, TX
Lynn Wyatt Theater at the Nancy and Rich Kinder Building, 5500 Main Street, Houston, TX
Admission: General admission is $10. MFAH Members, students with ID and senior adults receive a $2 discount. Students with ID receive complimentary admission on Sunday, April 30 only.
ARGENTINA, 1985
A film by Santiano Mitre
(Argentina/USA, 2022, 140 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
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Winner of a Golden Globe and nominated for Best International Feature at the 2023 Oscars, Argentina, 1985 stars renowned actor Ricardo Darín. Inspired by a true story, public prosecutors Julio César Strassera, Luis Moreno Ocampo, along with their young legal team of unlikely heroes, engage in a David-vs-Goliath battle to prosecute Argentina’s bloodiest military dictatorship. Under constant threat, they dared against all odds and race against time to bring justice to the victims of the military junta.
Saturday, April 29, 1pm — Brown Auditorium Theater
CHARCOAL / CARVÃO
A film by Carolina Markowicz
(Brazil, 2022, 107 min. In Portuguese and Spanish with English subtitles)
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In the Brazilian countryside, a rural family living beside a charcoal factory accepts a proposal to host a mysterious foreign guest, a highly wanted drug lord. The household must keep up appearances of a normal routine. Carolina Markowicz’s accomplished debut feature—with an outstanding ensemble cast featuring Argentine actor César Bordón, Maeve Jinkings, and Rômulo Braga—is a captivating thriller, with poignant humor, and biting social commentary.
Saturday, April 29, 7pm — Brown Auditorium Theater
CHILE ‘76 / 1976
A film by Manuela Martelli
(Chile/Argentina, 2022, 95 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
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Set during the early days of Pinochet’s dictatorship, Chile ’76 builds from a quiet character study to a gripping suspense thriller as it explores one woman’s precarious flirtation with political engagement. Carmen, a bourgeois housewife, is inadvertently drawn into the dangerous world of political opposition and must face real-world threats that she is unprepared to handle. A hit at numerous film festivals, including Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes, the film marks the auspicious debut by director Manuela Martelli.
Sunday, April 30, 7:30pm — Lynn Wyatt Theater
THE ETERNAL MEMORY / LA MEMORIA INFINITA
A film by Maite Alberdi
(Chile, 2023, 84 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
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Winner of the Sundance Film Festival award for “World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary,” the latest by Oscar-nominated director Maite Alberdi (The Mole Agent) tells the story of a couple together for more than two decades. Augusto is a well-known television journalist who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Paulina, an actress and former minister of culture, is now his caretaker. A highly emotional film, The Eternal Memory is the tale of a man who has fought to prevent national atrocities by the military dictatorship but now struggles to preserve his own memory.
Sunday, April 30, 3pm — Lynn Wyatt Theater
I HAVE ELECTRIC DREAMS / TENGO SUEÑOS ELÉCTRICOS
A film by Valentina Maurel
(Costa Rica/Belgium/France, 2022, 101 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
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The award-winning debut feature by writer/director Valentina Maurel focuses on Eva, a 16-year-old girl who lives with her mother, her younger sister, and their cat, but who wants to move in with her estranged father. Clinging onto him, she seeks balance between the tenderness and rebellion of teenage life. Bathed in richly textured imagery and soaked in raw sensitivity, the film captures the thin line between love and hate, in a world where aggression and rage are intertwined with the vertigo of female sexual awakening.
Saturday, April 29, 4:30pm — Brown Auditorium Theater
LA JAURÍA
A film by Andrés Ramírez Pulido
(Colombia/France, 2022, 86 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
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Eliú is incarcerated in an experimental juvenile correction facility in the heart of the Colombian tropical forest for a crime he committed with his friend El Mono. Soon El Mono is transferred to the same center, bringing a past that Eliú is trying to escape. Winner of the Grand Prize at Cannes’ Critics’ Week, the enigmatic debut feature La Jauría from Andrés Ramírez Pulido is a powerful tale of lost innocence.
Thursday, April 27, 5pm and Saturday, April 29, 9:30pm — Lynn Wyatt Theater
LOVE & MATHEMATICS / AMOR Y MATEMÁTICAS
A film by Claudia Sainte-Luce
(Mexico, 2022, 85 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
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Set in Monterrey, this satirical comedy about the ambitions and aspirations of upper-middle-class Mexican society follows former popular boy band member Billy Lozano, who is now a thirtysomething unhappily married man. His suburban routine, consisting of taking care of his infant son and loathing his wife’s poorly behaved lap dog, changes when he meets a fan of the band, who moves next door and inspires him to pick up the guitar again and make sense of his life.
Sunday, April 30, 5pm — Brown Auditorium Theater
HUESERA: THE BONE WOMAN / HUESERA
A film by Michelle Garza Cervera
(Mexico/Peru, 2022, 93 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
*Introduced by Michelle Garza Cervera with Q&A
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Valeria’s joy at becoming pregnant with her first child quickly dissipates when she’s cursed by a sinister entity. As danger closes in and relationships with her family become fractured, she is forced deeper into a chilling world of dark magic that threatens to consume her. Featuring a largely female cast and crew, this acclaimed, Tribeca-award-winning supernatural horror movie uses Mexican folklore to tell a terrifying and unexpected story about motherhood.
Friday, April 28, 9pm — Brown Auditorium Theater
PERLIMPS
A film by Alȇ Abreu
(Brazil, 2022, 80 min. In Portuguese with English subtitles)
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The animated Perlimps, Alê Abreu’s follow up to his Oscar-nominated Boy and the World, is a dreamlike and exuberant fantasy adventure that follows Claé and Bruô, two secret agents from enemy kingdoms sent to a world controlled by giants that is in the midst of a terrible war. They must work together to find the Perlimps, mysterious creatures who can ultimately find a way to peace.
Sunday, April 30, 1 pm — Lynn Wyatt Theater
VICENTA B
A film by Carlos Lechuga
(Cuba/France/USA/Colombia/Norway, 2022, 77 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
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The third film by director Carlos Lechuga (Santa & Andrés) presents the story of Vicenta, an Afro-Cuban woman who can see into the future. She lives harmoniously with her only son, until he decides to leave the country. Thrown into a profound existential crisis, Vicenta departs on a voyage to the heartland of a country where everyone seems to have lost faith. Anchored by an extraordinary performance from Linnett Hernández Valdés, Vicenta B is a compelling parable about healing and the power of letting go.
Friday, April 28, 7pm — Brown Auditorium Theater
THE VISITOR / EL VISITANTE
A film by Martín Boulocq
(Bolivia/Uruguay, 2022, 86 min. In Spanish and Quechua with English subtitles)
Presented by director Martín Boulocq and co-screenwriter Rodrigo Hasbún, Associate Professor, University of Houston
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Set in Cochabamba, Bolivia, The Visitor follows ex-convict Humberto, who makes a modest living by singing at wakes. He yearns to reconnect with his estranged daughter, but her grandparents—wealthy evangelical pastors—are unwilling to relinquish custody of their granddaughter. Humberto is forced to face his own demons while fighting a powerful religious institution to which he once belonged.
Thursday, April 27, 7:30pm — Brown Auditorium Theater
