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Welcome/Bienvenidxs/Bem-vindes to the first edition of LATIN CONNECTIONS FILM FESTIVAL!
Following our May and June seasons in 2022-23 (Adrift) and CinemaAttic’s unstoppable exhibition of Latin American and Iberian cinema during the course of the year, we are excited to announce the Latin Connections Film Festival. This new initiative presents us with the opportunity to review our programming over the year, the special events we’ve organised, remember our special guests, and finish the year with a bang!
This year of programming began in September to the clamour of “Ni perdón, ni olvido” – neither forgive, nor forget – a filmic commemoration to mark fifty years since the military coup in Chile and the vile assassination of Salvador Allende. The screening of Manuela Martelli’s feature film 1976 was accompanied by a selection of short films, and the rebellious music of Carlos Arredondo. In October and November we held a Colombian showcase with the short film programme “We Rent Washing Machines and Other Colombian Curiosities”, the Colombian Spooky Night for Halloween, and retrospective of Colombian artist Hernando Toro Botero, who graced Edinburgh with his confronting photographic portraits, and to present Toro, the award-winning documentary that tells his life. New Masculinities Short Films Programme with works from Ecuador, Spain, Colombia and Portugal said goodbye to 2023 with a powerful reflection on masculinity, exposing toxic patriarchal behaviours and bringing into dialogue different ways to be a man.
2024 kicked off with a beautiful – and we might say long-overdue – retrospective of celebrated and lesser-known works by the trailblazing Colombian filmmaker, Marta Rodríguez. This moving, but convative programme created by Cinemaattic and Invisible Woman was accompanied with special guests and was made in collaboration with different initiatives and organisations. The films prompted us to explore collectively the relationship between flowers and capitalism, land ownership and spectral presence, all through the powerful testimonies of the Indigenous and peasant peoples of Colombia.
In February, CinemaAttic focused on linguistic diversity in film with “Cànain-Gaya” a programme timed to coincide with the early stages of the UN International Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022 – 2032) and the annual celebration of linguistic diversity, International Mother Language Day (21 February). Building connections between minoritized languages here in Scotland and in the regions we spotlight through our film programming.
The IX edition of the annual Catalan Film Festival dominated our calendars – and hopefully some of yours! – during March and April, with invited guests of the calibre of director Juanjo Jimenez (Timecode), Nora Haddad Casadevall and Julieta Lasarte (La Casa Oberta), and Producer Marta Cruañas (Creatura). The festival had so many highlights this year, and we look forward to making the X edition next year equally special!
So, after all this explosion of cinematic events celebrating the filmographies of Iberia and Latin America we want to close the year with a festival dedicated to those filmmakers who use an arsenal of poetic styles to articulate their cinematographic thinking: hence Latin Connections!
Held over May and June, Latin Connections is a celebration of Latin cinema in its broadest and most diverse interpretations. This event will serve as a platform to showcase avant-garde Latin American filmmakers from different time periods, while remembering contributions from Southern Europe and across the diaspora.
Latin Connections Film Festival is not just a platform for sharing wonderful films though; it’s about celebrating filmmakers who have dared to transgress and explore new visions of the world, using their art as a political statement.
For the Latin communities in Scotland, this film season holds immense significance. It provides a space for the diaspora to come together, connect and seek out their cultural roots, and of course watch the best of Latin cinema in the broadest sense of the word. Through a curated selection of films – ranging from powerful dramas to innovative documentaries and thought-provoking shorts – we strive to build rich cultural exchanges centred on film and Scotland’s diverse communities.
With time – for we could never capture the range of experiences and film expressions in just one season – we hope to offer a glimpse into the multifaceted realities and stories of Latin America and Latin communities around the world.
As always with CinemaAttic, the festival will also present opportunities to share some food, a wee boogie, and music connected to the exciting film offerings that make Latin Connections. So get ready for an unforgettable CinemaAttic experience at the inaugural edition of the Latin Connections Film Festival! This year, 2024, we are thrilled to present seven captivating screenings featuring films from four different countries: Colombia, Chile, Spain, and Brazil.
This year we have joined forces with the Brazilian Consulate in Edinburgh, the Instituto Guimarães Rosa and Screen Scotland to make BRASIL: A Slow Film Festival a reality. A festival that screens avant-garde and contemporary Brazilian film every month; and the last two screenings of this season have merged with the Latin Connections Film Festival as an opportunity to foster cultural exchange and strengthen bonds between different communities.
First up, the opening screening in May will take place at the CCA, Glasgow, where we’ll project – that’s right, on CELLULOID! – the celebrated film The Year My Parents Went On Vacation (Cao Hamburger) in glorious 35mm. This film intricately weaves together football, religion, politics, and childhood against the backdrop of the Brazilian Dictatorship (1964-1985) during the 1970 World Cup in a Jewish neighbourhood in São Paulo.
Then we are proud to present a pre-release of the documentary Himno by the beloved and formerly Edinburgh-based residents, Chilean filmmakers Martin Farías (Director) and Eileen Karmy (Producer). This film explores the journey of the song “El Pueblo Unido” (“The People United”) as one of the most iconic anthems of social struggles around the world. All proceeds earned at the box office for this event will be donated to Medical Aid for Palestinians.
We’re also thrilled to present two amazing short film programmes at Craigmillar and Morningside Libraries – watch this space for dates and programme details.
In June, prepare to be spellbound at the CAMEO, Edinburgh, with Samsara, the latest work of the Galician filmmaker, Lois Patiño. Drawing inspiration from the Tibetan Book of the Dead, Patiño explores cinematic forms in a mesmerizing journey.
Our collaboration with Invisible Women returns to immerse us in the world of Brazilian filmmaker Eunice Gutman with a fantastic programme of 3 of her short films, curated by Camilla Baier. Gutman’s work delves into gender, aesthetic experimentation, and politics from a feminist perspective.
No film festival would be complete without a wrap party so join us to celebrate this first year of the festival at the historic Leith Dockers Club. We’re returning to the theme of memory in our final event of CinemaAttic’s season with the compelling story of El Peñol town in Colombia, damned to displacement owing to the construction of the Guatape-Peñol reservoir in 1978. Accompanied by live music from Chilean percussionist José Rojas, and curated by Isabel Restrepo, this event will feature an “unfinished” silent movie by Colombian intellectual Alberto Aguirre and filmmaker Carlos Aguirre, preceded by the experimental short film El recuerdo de los últimos by Simone Cardona.
Let’s bid adieu to the 2023-2024 season of CinemaAttic with a bang, gorging on Latin delicacies, a drink (or two), and a raffle. Mark your calendars now for this unique celebration of Latin cinemas and cultures!
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