Latin Beat: Chile's FLYING FISH And RUIZ, Terror Fest Peru, Mexico's Triumph

Managing Editor; Dallas, Texas (@peteramartin)
What is happening in Latin America? We have mini-reports from three of our expert correspondents who live in Chile, Peru, and Mexico. 

First up, we have news on the two latest local films opening in Chile -- reviews for both are upcoming -- courtesy of Jaime Grijalba Gomez. Next, we have information on an upcoming horror-themed shorts festival, Terror Fest Peru, thanks to Ernesto Zelaya Minano. Plus, we have information about Mexico's triumph at Locarno, as explained by Eric Ortiz Garcia. 

Read on for more!


Jaime Grijalba Gomez, Ernesto Zelaya Miñano and Eric Ortiz Garcia contributed to this story.

Now Playing: THE SUMMER OF THE FLYING FISH
By Jaime Grijalba Gomez

Just opened this past Friday in theaters in Chile is a Cannes entry about the mapuche uprising and claiming of lands, The Summer of the Flying Fish.

Here is the program note by Diana Sanchez from when it played at the Toronto International Film Festival last fall:

"In this subtle and atmospheric allegory by first-time feature director Marcela Said, a teenaged girl holidaying at a lake house in southern Chile experiences a bittersweet coming of age as she faces disillusionment in love and confronts the incoherency and intolerance of her affluent family's political views.

"Teenaged Manena (Francisca Walker) and her affluent family are holidaying at their lake house in southern Chile. It's a critical summer for Manena — a bittersweet coming of age as she faces disillusionment in love and the reality of her family's incoherent political views. She can also no longer ignore the behaviour of her father, Pancho (Gregory Cohen), who spends his time obsessed with ridding "his" lake of its carp, which he insists is a foreign infestation of his property. Manena also discovers the plight of the local Mapuche, whose indigenous land claim her family denies. As tensions simmer amongst the isolated forests and lakes, Manena is forced to decide who, and what, she will believe.

"Reminiscent of the films of Lucrecia Martel, Marcela Said's debut feature The Summer of the Flying Fish metaphorically depicts the political situation in present-day Chile, and the unequal balance of power that defines it. Through the story of a single family, Said gestures at the attitude of the country's oligarchy towards its indigenous peoples; their revolt is never discussed, and their claims are met with indifference or laughter. Theirs is a struggle that is constantly silenced, and, through Manena, we catch mere glimpses of it.

"Atmospheric and evocative, the film's subtle cinematography creates an almost-tactile quality, as the camera stops to ponder decaying animals, hot-water streams, and summer foliage — while the barking of dogs in the distance continuously reminds us of the omnipresent undercurrent of violence."

Screen Anarchy logo
Do you feel this content is inappropriate or infringes upon your rights? Click here to report it, or see our DMCA policy.
ChileMexicoPeru

More about Latin Beat

Around the Internet