Needing a place to stay after a fight with his wife, a man knocks on his father’s door and is coldly welcomed by an old man and his sole companion, a dog named Whale. In the modest house, the son digs up memories of a missing brother, concealed in old Super 8 reels and LPs. Avanti Popolo approaches themes common to many Latin American countries: military dictatorships and the eternal wait for the return of the exiled and disappeared.
Needing a place to stay after a fight with his wife, a man knocks on his father’s door and is coldly welcomed by an old man and his sole companion, a dog named Whale. In the modest house, the son digs up memories of a missing brother, concealed in old Super 8 reels and LPs. Avanti Popolo approaches themes common to many Latin American countries: military dictatorships and the eternal wait for the return of the exiled and disappeared.
In 1989, just three weeks after the Tiananmen Square massacre, José Luis García attended the World Festival of Youth and Students in Pyongyang, North Korea. He documented the event with a VHS camera, inspired by the presence of Lim Su-Kyung, a student activist from Seoul who was boldly speaking out in favour of the peaceful reunification of North and South Korea. Su-Kyung created a further stir by announcing that she would cross the Panmunjom military border on foot, an act that would put her in danger of imprisonment or even death.
A football club, a transvestite brothel, and finally, the Jesus of Mercy Catholic chapel. Director Alicia Cano Menoni restages the happenings that led rather distinct tenants to occupy the same building at different points in time in the small Uruguayan village of Garbanzo. The Bella Vista blurs the boundaries between documentary and fiction, truth and acting, offering the audience a candid and good-humoured story. The film carries a compelling metaphor, diving into the lives of a few specific characters while at the same time, playing with the medium of documentary filmmaking.
Every day dozens of decommissioned yellow school buses leave the United States on a southward migration to Guatemala, where they are repaired, repainted, and resurrected as the brightly coloured camionetas that transport the vast majority of Guatemalans to work each day. Since 2006, nearly 1,000 camioneta drivers and fare-collectors have been murdered for either refusing or being unable to pay the extortion money demanded by local gangs.
The word inori in Japanese means “prayer, adoration, invocation,” and in this spirit director Pedro González-Rubio has created a breathtaking ode to a disappearing way of life. In the small mountain community of Kannogawa, Japan, the laws of nature reshape the human blueprint of what used to be a lively village. While the younger generations have migrated to the cities, the few people left perform their everyday activities with a brave perspective on their history and the cycles of life.
As a young woman, Eufrosina Cruz Mendoza decided to embark on a campaign to break the cycle of teenage pregnancy and domestic poverty that she saw growing up in Santa María Quiegolani, Oaxaca. To this end, the charismatic Eufrosina ran for town mayor in 2007, but her victory was rejected because she was a woman. Determined not to be ignored, she began a personal crusade for gender equality in indigenous communities, questioning the current system of “Uses and Customs” and becoming a controversial icon for many women.
Don Ca is the portrait of a man not easily classified under any label. A descendant of slave owners, Camilo Arroyo decided to turn his life into a manifesto of freedom by abandoning his social position and material wealth. He made his home in Guapi, a remote town on Colombia’s Pacific Coast, and became a teacher and mentor for the impoverished black youth of the region. But he learns that the world does not forgive you, paradises disappear and conflicts loom closer.
Closing Night Reception
8:30 - 11:30pm | Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre, Goldcorp Centre for the Arts | Film & Reception: $20
Celebrate the close of VLAFF 2013 with wine and hors d'oeuvres following the screening of Post Tenebras Lux. Featuring live music from MEZCLA.
