TIFF 51: Latin American Gems, Part II – Queer Stories

by Cláudio Alves

Latin American storytelling at TIFF wasn’t just about great feats of actress-ing, as I explored in part one of this miniseries within the broader festival coverage. Another common thread found between several projects was an exploration of queerness in its many forms. From an Irish studio's attempt to honor a Dominican child’s journey of self-discovery to a French-Haitian tale of sexual liberation from the chains of Christian fundamentalism, the Toronto program had much to offer in matters of LGBTQIA+ representation. Honestly, having landed in Portugal from Canada and immediately jumped into covering Queer Lisboa for a local outlet, these ideas kept percolating in my mind, bolstered by such films as this year’s Queer Lion winner, the Brazilian provocation that is London, which I might need to find a way to write about before the fall festival season is over for good. 

Alas, tonight, let me recommend you Sharon Kleinberg’s I Am Mario, Louise Bagnall’s Julián, Gessica Généus’ Marie Madeleine, and Joaquín Ruano’s Nosotros…

Click to read more ...

Platino Nominees: La Llorona, New Order, etc...

Just when you think it's safe to leave 2020 cinema behind, another award pops up! This time it's the 8th annual PLATINO Awards which are for Ibero-American films and television. The Best Film nominees are...

Click to read more ...

Review: Guatemala's Oscar submission "La Llorona"

by Nick Taylor

Three cheers for the Boston Society of Film Critics, who kicked off this year’s wave of critics prizes with an amazingly idiosyncratic list of winners and runners-up. Capping their day off with their Foreign Language Film category, they honored Jayro Bustamente’s political ghost story La Llorona, with The Painted Bird in second place. La Llorona has been selected as Guatemala’s submission for International Film at the Oscars, making this the second of Bustamente’s films to be submitted after his astonishing debut Ixcanul in 2015. Three more cheers for Cláudio Alves, whose heroically long FYC thread on Twitter has informed a lot of my recent choices for which 2020 films to catch up with.

La Llorona’s opening credits are delivered over a black background with white text, while a woman’s quiet, hurried, forceful prayers can be heard. Our first real image of the film is a close-up on the speaker’s face, revealed to be an older white woman (Margarita Kenéfic), back straight and eyes unwavering as she stares directly into the lens and asks for protection for herself and her family against those who seek them harm...

Click to read more ...