Latin American cinema has experienced a remarkable resurgence in the last decade, no doubt catalyzed by the success of films such as Amores Perros (2000) or City of God (2002).
These two examples easily illustrate that our Latin lust is mostly satiated by films from Mexico, Brazil or Argentina, with the cinematic output from the rest of the continent(s) receiving little or no notice outside of the festival circuit.
Addressing this deficiency, the Instituto Cervantes is organizing a series of five screenings of recent Chilean films at Babylon Mitte from September 5-28.
Chilean cinema, like that of much of the Southern Cone, is deeply marked by the country’s experience of military dictatorship and the changes in national identity that this experience inevitably invites.
Fittingly, the series’ opening film, the Venice film fest hit Post Mortem (Sep 5, 20:00), is a harrowing and provocative portrayal of the country at the time of the Allende overthrow, that is, of the final days preceding Pinochet’s tyrannical, two-decade rule.
No less thought provoking is El Mocito (Sep 26, 20:00), a personal account from a man who as a teenager served as the coffee boy for a group of Pinochet’s professional torturers.
If, on the other hand, reflections on autocracy, mass killings and torture aren’t your cup of tea, then A un metro de ti (Sep 19, 20:00) is a safer bet. Like New York, Paris, Rome and countless other cities before it, here Santiago becomes the romantic backdrop for the budding love story between the film’s young protagonists.
All films are shown in their original language with English subtitles.
CHILENISCHE FILMREIHE, Sep 5-28 | Babylon Mitte, www.babylonberlin.de
