LACIS PRESENTS NEW CHILEAN CINEMA
In February, 2013, our annual series co-sponsored by the UW’s department of Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian Studies focuses in on several terrific new filmmakers from Chile, with a special emphasis on emerging women directors. The series will conclude on February 22 with the complete features of Pablo Larrain, Post Mortem, Tony Manero, and No, which together form a masterful trilogy about life in Chile during the regime of Augusto Pinochet.
- Sat., Feb. 8 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
Orphaned teenaged twins Bianca and Tomas aimlessly wander the streets of Rome searching for distractions in their upended lives. Intending to set-up the blind former movie star Maciste (Blade Runner’s Hauer) for robbery, Bianca instead finds comfort in the older man’s hermit-like existence. Strange surprises abound in this hypnotic, sometimes erotic, psychodrama, adapted from a novel by prize-winning Chilean writer Roberto Bolaño.
- Sat., Feb. 8 | 9:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
In the Chilean coastal town of Valparaiso, a group of international tourists find themselves fighting for survival after a powerful earthquake. Inspired by his experiences in Chile during the time of the devastating 2010 seismic activity, veteran horror filmmaker Roth produced, co-wrote, and co-stars in this intense, gory, and decidedly shocking update of the classic disaster movie.
- Sat., Feb. 15 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
A lush and atmospheric coming-of-age tale that doubles as a political awakening, The Summer of Flying Fish marks an exceptionally promising fiction debut for documentarian Marcela Said. Ensconced in her wealthy father’s vacation home in the south of Chile, rebellious teen Manela uncovers the underlying turf war between her family and the local Mapuche natives, who claim ancestral rights to the land. (MK)
- Sat., Feb. 15 | 8:45 PM4070 Vilas Hall
In a last-ditch effort to save their marriage, Fernando and Ana take their two kids in on a journey across the Chilean countryside in this uncommonly elegant road movie, much of which unfolds within the cramped confines of the family station wagon. A major prizewinner on the festival circuit, Sotomayer’s debut racked up awards at the prestigious Rotterdam, Valdivia, New Horizons, and Indie Lisboa film festivals. (MK)
- Sat., Feb. 22 | 2:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
In the days leading up to the 1973 military coup in Chile, a lonely bureaucrat working in Santiago’s morgue seeks out the companionship of his neighbor, an exotic dancer. As the country moves towards martial law and the bodies begin to pile up, our ambiguous hero is summoned to perform an important, historical task. This simple, direct, and powerful film evokes a troubling era with great precision.
- Sat., Feb. 22 | 4:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
In 1978 Santiago, under the rule of the repressive Pinochet regime, dancer Raúl (Alfredo Castro) stops at nothing to win a televised contest for the best impersonation of John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. Masterfully told and brutally honest, this is a powerful, violent, and sometimes frightening study of life under fascism with a main character who is equal parts fascinating and repellent. “An extremely dark meditation on borrowed cultural identity.” (Stephen Holden, The New York Times)
- Sat., Feb. 22 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
Advertising executive René (Bernal) convinces his firm to let him head up the television campaign to defeat Augusto Pinochet in the 1988 plebiscite. Instead of dwelling on poverty and other horrors of the Pinochet dictatorship, René produces a series of positive shows featuring inspirational music, dancing, and rainbow imagery. Shot on a relatively primitive video format, the Oscar-nominated No is nonetheless one of the most compelling and gratifying political dramas ever made. Larrain concludes his trilogy of life under Pinochet on a decidedly upbeat note.