Starting August 11 - Latin American Film Series
From August 11 to October 20 La Conexión de las Américas will be presenting a total of 8 Latin American films. Films straight from the heartland; films that speak about, and deal with many important themes….
The films will be shown on Thursday evenings at 7:00 PM
at our Minneapolis office:
3019 Minnehaha Ave, Suite 20 (directly below Glaciers Cafe)
Minneapolis, MN 55406
Download a PDF file of our Latin American Film Series poster.
August 11 - Suite Habana
We will be starting off our film series by showing the blockbusting Suite Habana: a beautiful film of Cuban origin, done completely without narration. The film is a well crafted homage to the battered but resilient people of this beautiful but battered and resilient island country. The film is rated G.
August 25 - Sin Nombre
Next we’ll be showing Sin Nombre, a Mexican/American film that tells the interlaced stories of two families, one a Honduran family struggling through Mexico, traveling illegally to enter the United States illegally as they look for better lives, and a faction of the Mara Salvatrucha gang as it hunts one of its members. Ultimately the two groups come into contact. The film is rated R.
September 15 - Sugar
Sugar is about an eager 19-year old Dominican Republic baseball player who signs with a Kansas City minor league team on his way to hopefully fulfilling his dream: playing for New York in the majors. Along the way to his dream, he experiences loneliness and isolation from his family, culture and girlfriend, as well as culture shock as he tries to create a new identity, in a new place, in a new culture, with a new language and friends. Rated R.
September 22 - Even the Rain
In this fascinating film, a Spanish film team comes to the Cochabamba region in Bolivia to shoot a movie about the treatment of the Bolivian natives by Christopher Columbus. During the filming protests break out about water and one of the actors on set is a leader of the protests. Something akin to a film-within-a-film, the movie talks about past exploitation while the crew ends up exploiting the natives as actors and extras due to their tight budget. Past and present are not so different after all. Rated R.
September 29 - Lista de Espera
Lista de Espera (Waiting List), a Cuban film that takes place in a Cuban bus station as passangers, all strangers, wait for a bus that never seems to come. All the buses that pass by are either completely full, or broken down. As they wait the strangers get to know one another better and romance is kindled and friendships developed.
October 6 - The Secret in their Eyes
In this film, a retired Argentinean federal justice is writing a novel based on a brutal case he helped solve. However, there is something about this case that will not let his mind rest; though he and his team caught the perpetrator. As he writes this book he knows that the historical facts are not the important part of the book, rather the process is all about closure. Rated R.
October 13 - Sons of Cuba
This week we will be showing Sons of Cuba, another Cuban film. This film, though its protagonists are 9-year old boxing students at the Havana Boxing Academy, one of the best in the world, deals with the more than boxing. At the Boxing Academy boys go from 9 years old to Olympic boxing champions, and all is well. Until their patron, Fidel Castro takes ill. Without the heart and soul of the country, the boxing champions of the past defect to the United States, leaving these boys as the holders of a legacy they cannot hope to fulfill at their young age, and Cuba wondering just what will happen. Rated NR (not rated).
October 20 - Machuca
Tonight we will show the eighth and final film of our series, a Chilean piece called Machuca. Set in the time of Salvador Allende’s short and ill-fated democratically elected presidency, the film tells of two boys who meet in a boarding school and strike up an unlikely friendship: one is an upper class boy of good blood, and the other is a poor boy, son of a proud socialist. Rated NR (unrated).
With the exception of the film Sugar, all films are in Spanish and have English subtitles. Sugar is in English and will be shown with Spanish subtitles.
There is no admission charge, but free-will donations are welcome.
Come, watch some films, listen to some Spanish, and have a great time!!
