Film Festival Programme

After months on planning, here comes a stronger-than-ever 8th Discovering Latin America Film Festival (DLAFF), knocking on our doors with its burning hot programme, inviting us once more to enjoy the best Latin America cinema in London.

This year we did not just want to showcase the best dramas, Latin American cinema is not just about violence and socio-political problems, so we challenged ourselves to bring you the best films in every genre.

Furthermore, in this edition we have decided to compose two thematic retrospectives. The first is entitled ‘Immigration Tales', formed by a wide range of flavours coming from Latin American immigrants' stories in the USA and in Europe. The second focuses on ‘Comedy in the Cinema of Latin America' and it includes films which we hope will bring joy to your day.

Who better to do so that than the industry professionals themselves; we have the pleasure of presenting the young Colombian director Jorge Navas with his feature debut Blood and Rain (La sangre y la lluvia), portraying Bogota through his two characters who redeem themselves on a rainy night; Argentinean director Lucía Puenzo who explores the relationship between two girls who fall in love and dream of fleeing to Paraguay stealing the family's fortune in her latest production The Fish Child (El niño pez). With us we will have one of the Brazil's most renowned producers, Paula Lavigne, who will introduce her 'romcom', Romance, with music by Caetano Veloso. Director Hernán Jabes comes all the way from Venezuela to talk about the strength of the Venezuelan working class with his film Macuro; Mexican director Alex Rivera reminds us that there are still many aspects of migration that have not been explored, with his outstanding sci-fi film Sleep Dealer.

Other dazzling features are the thriller Kill Them All (Matar a Todos), the fascinating experimental They All Lie (Todos Mienten), the ultra-modern I am Going to Explode (Voy a Explotar), the acclaimed story of migration, Paraíso Travel, and so many more which you just cannot afford to miss! This year, the DLAFF is devoting special attention to documentaries and short-films; we are likewise opening a space for discussions concerning film-related issues such as genre, ideology and cinema in Latin American cinema through our Masterclass sessions.

Another special mention goes to Alfonso Cuarón and Amat Escalante; the two director acclaimed worldwide, who will be discussing the multiplicity of  Latin American Cinema at the London's Tate Modern.

We are also very proud to be the first festival to premier Escalante's latest film, Los bastardos.  We are introducing a new section in this year's programme, the DLAFF Platform, a space dedicated to showcase shorts made by outstanding film students showing that the DLA is determined to support young, talented filmmakers and scriptwriters. With this in mind, this October we launched the Latin America Film Network with the aim of improving communications and networking between Latin American scriptwriters and filmmakers and European producers.

We are sure that there is something for everyone in this year's programme and for that reason we are very much looking forward to welcoming you.  Enjoy!

Isabel Ivars

Artistic Director

Download printable version of DLAFF '09 programme